Poem examples

To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar

Blog #6

In this marking period the goals I had set myself to do were to: improve my presentation skills, learn to present efficiently without any major difficulties, learn how to memorize speeches and learn different techniques that will improve my public speaking. 

Now that the marking period is nearly over, I am happy to say that I have completed most of these goals in my Public Speaking class. The first two goals were completed quickly when I worked on my senior speech. Practicing in class made the speech come more naturally to me, allowing me to feel more comfortable with it. Another benefit of practicing in front of my classmates was that they would give me constructive criticism on several aspects of my presentation, such as pacing, reducing the movement of my hands or body that made the presentation distracting and helping me make my speech sound more natural and personal. When I presented my speech officially in front of teachers and students, I found myself to be very comfortable with my presentation, taking into consideration what my fellow public speaking partners had told me. I also realized that during the presentation I did not feel nervous at all, which surprised me since I was the first student that had to present that day. This shows how well practicing it with my peers worked. I can now say that I feel extremely confident in my presentation skills, and that this class has certainly helped me achieve this. 

I also worked on my third goal, memorization. The monologue project that we did in class helped out a lot, and by choosing an iconic quote, I felt it was easier to do so. Memorization is something that does not come naturally to me, and I found myself screwing up many times when I practiced. One of the strategies that helped overcome this difficulty was memorizing small portions of the text one by one to make it easier for me. For example, I would memorize the first two or three sentences, repeating them many times before moving on to the next set. Eventually, I was able to memorize the entire speech after practicing for many days. This project helped me a lot, and has certainly improved my memorization.

As for my last goal, I hope that in the next marking period there may be more opportunities to learn techniques to make me better at public speaking. All in all, I feel that this has been a successful marking period, with three out of my four goals completed.

Speech

Gonzalo Rodriguez

I believe in speaking out against injustice. 

Since I was born, I have lived in the beautiful country of Venezuela, a country just at the northern tip of South America, full of beautiful landscapes and jaw dropping scenery. What was once a peaceful paradise has now turned into a warzone. When I was little I didn’t know much about the government, but I remember I was always told one thing, Hugo Chavez is a bad man. He came into power in 1998 after staging a military coup against the government. After he was elected he founded a socialist party with plans to “revolutionize” the country. Chavez manipulated the country to his benefits, violating the constitution he swore to defend to further his own agenda, promising riches to the poor in exchange for their loyalty. 

 As the years went on the situation got worse. Our country’s currency kept losing its value constantly, the insecurity kept getting higher and higher, there was scarcity for the most basic of goods and the government was completely oblivious to it, becoming more corrupt by the second. Over the years people spoke out against the government, but never succeeded. Quickly, Caracas became one of the most dangerous cities in the world, with people being robbed and kidnapped in broad daylight. As you can imagine, living in the middle of this was frightening. 

When I left Venezuela in the Fall of 2013, I was scared. Not because I was going alone to study in the U.S., but because my family would be staying behind. I feared that something might happen to them, that they would be victim to these terrible stories I heard about on the news. When I left, Hugo Chavez had just died a few months before, leaving his successor Nicolas Maduro in charge. With Maduro, the country’s situation declined more than before, showing how unprepared he was to run the country. 

In 2014, people took to the streets, organizing peaceful protests voicing out their opinions against the government. The government did not take kindly to these protests, and responded with violence. Instead of backing down however, the people fought back. I felt inspired by my fellow countrymen who were not afraid of an oppressive regime and stood for what they believed in.

When I came back to Venezuela last year over spring break, my friends were participating in the riots themselves. I decided that I wanted to join them, not because I wanted to be with them, but because I felt that it was my duty to be there. It was my duty to stand up for what I believed in, to stand up in the name of change. 

It was a Saturday morning, with the sun shining over the worn streets of Caracas. There were thousands of us marching along the avenue, walking toward the police at the opposite side of the street, their riot shields reflecting the sunlight into my eyes. Behind the column of shields were more of them holding shotguns, loaded with rubber bullets. One of them was holding a loudspeaker, ordering us to turn around. We kept going forward. That’s when the first canister flew through the air, landing in the middle of us, leaking out a white gas that hit us immediately. My eyes started watering and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Say what you will, but nothing can prepare you for the effects of tear gas. 

Eventually my friends and I made it out of there safely. It was moving to be a part of a turning point in my country’s fight for democracy. Something I will never forget was when I marched along with these masses of people, I felt ecstasy as I realized that even though I had never met the majority of these people, we were all joined by one ideal and what we believed in and that we were willing to fight for it. It was a sensation like no other. I believe in the power of people working together for a common purpose. 

Video link: https://youtu.be/wvCJi2ADmik