Teen Pregnancy

Imagine finding out for the first time that you are pregnant, that you are carrying another life within your body. This should be a moment of joy and happiness, shouldn't it? Well, for about one million teenage girls, it's a nightmare.

The United States has the highest rates of teenage pregnancies compared to other countries of similar status, with just under one-third of all girls becoming pregnant in their teenage years.

With numbers like these, it's hard to believe that pregnancy rates are actually decreasing, that even more teenage girls were worrying about the birth of their child rather than graduating from high school or applying to colleges. Their future plans and goals halted, permanently.

Did you know that more than two-thirds of all teenage girls who have had a child will not graduate from high school? Imagine how many unwed teenage mothers are forced to work low-paying jobs in order to support their children, just on the brink of living in poverty. And to add to this burden, around twenty-five per cent of pregnant teenage girls will have another child within two years.

And yet, we don’t see this side of teenage pregnancy. The media glamorizes celebrities like Jamie Lynn, the younger sister of Britney Spears, who became pregnant at the age of sixteen. The tabloids and magazines showed the baby photos, mother and child out shopping or doing errands, but they did not show or explain the fear she must have felt when she found out that she was carrying a child, the fear of having to tell her parents that she was going to become a mother at such a young age. When did the tabloids show the morning sickness, the backaches, the hours of agonizing pain while in labor? Are the difficulties of raising a child at such a young age ever shown? Shows like 16 and Pregnant try to show these difficulties and problems, but they are overshadowed by the fascination and appeal of the children. How are teenage girls able to make the conscious decision to fervently prevent themselves from becoming pregnant when the difficulties of raising a child are not shown as they truly are, raw without any hope of disappearing?

Yes, you could argue that there are plenty of other avenues for a girl faced with this problem. There are always couples hoping to adopt children, and abortion is always an answer if it’s what you want. But sometimes, you can’t make those types of choices. Sometimes you can’t look into the eyes of the tiny child lying in your arms and allow someone else to take them home. And sometimes, you can’t live with the regret of terminating the pregnancy. For some, the only choice is to live with the consequences, however unintended or unintentional.

But the sad part is that some of these girls don’t protect themselves. They fall prey to the baseless objections to safe sex their boyfriends or partners tell them. Then they are left with the child, the responsibilities, the financial problems, the regrets of unfulfilled dreams, and more often than not, they are left without the father.

Some teenage mothers even end up suffering from depression later on in life because they were never able to fulfill their potential; they were never able to finish school, and experience the normal life of a young woman growing up and becoming an adult in the world. And in rare cases, this depression led to the drastic decision to commit suicide.

So let this be a lesson to you girls: protect yourselves, and don’t put yourself in a position where you will have to make decisions no young woman should ever be faced with.

Persuasive Speech, Teen Pregnancy

10 supporting points:

• Approximately one-third of young women in the United States become pregnant during their teens. More than 80% of teen pregnancies are unintended and unintentional
• approximately 1 million teenage girls become pregnant each year in the United States. About 13% of U.S. births involve teen mothers and about 25% of teenage girls who give birth have another baby within 2 years.
• Teenagers who have babies are more likely to not finish high school and have their future plans interrupted.
• the United States still has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies when compared to other counties of similar status
• The United States has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world.
• just under 1/3 of all girls in the United States will get pregnant in their teenage years
• Every year around 750,000 teenagers will get pregnant.
• More than 2/3 of all teenagers who have a baby will not graduate from high school.
• Finding out your pregnant as a teen can be one of the scariest moments in your life.
• teen pregnancy can lead to depression and even suicide

5 opposing points:

• teen pregnancy rates have been declining since 1990
• there are options if you become pregnant: adoption, abortion
• some teenagers purposefully become pregnant
• some teenagers are able to get proper help from their parents to support their child
• some teenage girls and the father of their children are able to support themselves and their child and create a good life

information found from:
http://www.pregnantteenhelp.org/

Speech Assignment

"I Have a Dream," Martin Luther King, Jr. (August 28, 1963)

• repetition of "I have a dream" and "let freedom ring," esp. in relation to the American dream
• imagery, "Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair."
• allusion to Abraham Lincoln, "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity."
• metaphors, "Instead of honouring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice."
• "Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquillity in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."

The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln (November 19, 1863)

• reflects on the past (American Revolution), "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
• emphasis, "But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."
• gives hope, "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
• respect for the country's soldiers, respect for those who have perished
• short and to-the-point

Inaugural Address, John F. Kennedy (January 20, 1961)

• pledging to different people (old allies, new states, those struggling to break bonds of misery, sister republics south, united nations, adversaries)
• "So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."
• quote of the command of Isaiah ("undo the heavy burdens...and let the oppressed go free")
• "All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."
• "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. "

"Liberty or Death," Patrick Henry (March 23, 1775)

• great opening, "No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope that it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. "
• "For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth -- to know the worst and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past."
• "We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer.
  Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope."
• use of hypophoria (posing questions and answering them), ex. "They tell us, sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us."
• great ending, "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

My findings:

By highlighting the effective elements in these four speeches, I found that these elements are exceptionally common for persuasive speeches. The use of repetition and emphasis is greatly used, repeating phrases to lend attention to an important point of the speech which gives emphasis. Hyphens are also extremely common in these speeches, delving deeper into one specific idea without getting off topic which enlightens the listener or reader but does not confuse them with the topic being discussed. Elaborate phrases and descriptive words are used to create imagery in these speeches, which help create very strong openings and endings. Allusions to past events gives a sense of knowledge to the speakers, as they were public and well-known figures at the time of the speech, and the use of hypophoria, or posing questions and proceeding to answer them within the following paragraphs, also gives the speakers a sense of wisdom.

My Limerick Poem

There once was a man from Limerick
He rhymed so much he made himself sick
He broke his pen in two
And threw away the glue
And taught his dog Buddy a new trick

Author and Style of Poetry

I chose to mirror the poetry of Edward Lear and his limerick poems. The reason why I chose this author, and more particularly this style of poetry, is because this style is very light and fun, as well as very comical. I enjoyed reading nursery rhymes as a child so being able to create my own was very appealing to me as I was researching the styles of poetry.

Styles of Poetry

Sonnet
-poem with 14 lines
-Petrarchean Sonnet (Italian) and Shakespearean (English)
-Petrarchean: abba abba abba cc, Shakespearean: abab cdcd efef gg
-abbreviation of the Italian sonetto, "little sound"-originated in Italy
-during the Italian Renaissance (1200 AD) poets wrote "sonnet sequences," groups of love poems
-sonetto was originally a poem recited with musical accompaniment sung to the strains of lute or madolin
-sonnets are usually about love and beauty but may also be about the effects of time and mortality
-Shakespeare most famous for writing sonnets, but during the English Renaissance, Spenser and Wyatt also emerged

• http://www.sonnets.org/sharp-b.htm
• http://vccslitonline.cc.va.us/sonnet116/history.htm
• http://www.oppapers.com/essays/History-Sonnet-History-Shakespeare/109054
• http://www.saskschools.ca/~otl_el/grassroots/poetry/pwrpnt/sonnets/sld002.html

Haiku
-earliest haikus were songs, prayers, and incantations to gods
-reached its highest popularity in the 9th to 11th centuries
-one of the oldest forms of poetry that is still active
-first there was tanka (5-7-5-7-7 syllable count), then there was renga (5-7-5-7-7-5-7-5) meaning linked elegance, with any verse in a renga known as hokku and haikai which was 5-7-5-in the beginning of the 19th century, M. Shiki declared renga officially dead, though it regrew 60 years later in North America and Germany
-Shiki combined the names hokku and haikai to create haiku
-in Japan, haiku are written in one line, but since other cultures do not hear the natural pauses at the end of each phrase, the foreign language haiku took on the 3-line shape
-some famous haiku poets include: Matsuo Basho, Shuson Kato, Kójó, Kijo Murakami, Raizan, Masaoka Shiki, and Kyoshi Takahama

• http://www.ahapoetry.com/haidefjr.htm

Limerick
-the content of many limericks are often bawdy and humorous
-limericks are forms of poetry that are simple and short (only 5 lines)
-the history of limericks is somewhat uncertain and doubtful
-limericks are said not to have a rightful place amongst 'cultivated poetry' due to the aforementioned characteristics of limericks
-can be traced back to the 14th century english history
-limericks used in nursery rhymes and various other poems for children
-limericks were often repeated by beggars/working class in British taverns and pubs of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, therefore the poets who created these limericks were often drunkards
-word limerick comes from the town of Limerick
-limericks consist of 5 anapaestic lines; lines 1, 2, 5 have seven to ten syllables and rhyme with one another; lines 3 and 4 have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each other
-the content of limericks can often be indecent, dirty or obscene but they make the reader laugh
-Edward Lear is famous for writing limericks; he wrote A Book of Nonsense which included many limericks

• http://www.poetry-online.org/limericks.htm

Poetry Slam Reflection

Overall, I believe the poetry slam went very well. Many of my classmates were able to clearly demonstrate the theme of madness through their poems, and a select few had poems that were very successful in portraying this theme; they evoked emotion in their words and they wrote cohesively as well as in a way to make their poem flow. As for me, I believe I was successful in portraying madness. I was concerned, however, that many students would not fully understand how my poem clearly connected to the theme because I based it off of a short story I read in my AP English class last year called "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This poetry slam was very successful and helpful in our understanding of poetry and conveying different themes.