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Poem

Toys

I was like a brand new toy

Bought by a manipulative man.

He played with me day and night

But then I became boring to him,

He threw me away like a piece of old trash

He found a new toy

A toy to be nice to and play with

Until he realizes his power

And uses it against his toys

These toys are lonely and sad

Like a lost puppy

They have no one to love them

Or someone they can love

But one day,

A man will come and rescue a toy.

He's willing to take one with hm

That he can love forever 

And never abuse.

That toy he picked was me.

PWA Essay about Kindred

                                                                                                                        Angela Swenson
                                                                                6-2-2011
                                                                                Period 4 English
                Women and their Oppressors
    Have you ever wanted to go back  in time? What if you were transported to a time and place that was unfamiliar to you? Kindred is like this. Dana, an African American woman living in the year 1976. She lives with her husband Kevin who is white. She is one day transported back in time to help a boy named Rufus, who in fact is her ancestor. The point of this essay is to explain to you, the reader, about oppression, rape, hegemony and economic exploitation in the book Kindred.

    Economic exploitation is one of the big issues in Kindred. It states on page 178, “She got up after you and went straight to mister Tom. She knew better than to go to mister Rufe. He might have let you go. Mister Tom would never let a n***** go in his life.” This quote explains that Tom (the plantation owner) , never wants his slaves to escape because he needs them to make his money. Clearly, he is just using them for economic exploitation.

    During slavery, masters used to rape their slave women. According to this quote on page 117, “Off to my opposite side was a woman, black young- just a girl, really- with her dress torn down the front. She was holding it together as she watched a black man and a white man fighting.” This explains that Rufus tried, or did rape Alice (who was the girl with her dress torn). Even if Alice wasn’t his slave, he could still rape her because he had more power over her in the situation.

    Hegemony is also a big issue in the book Kindred. Just like in the early 1800’s, hegemony still exists today. I can be anywhere like an office. A woman and a man work at the same job, pace and time. When payday comes, the woman is paid less than the man even though they did the same amount of work. This is hegemony because men are thought of better and unequal to women. Her boss probably thinks that since she’s a woman, her work is less than that of a man’s. She can do everything she can but just can’t earn as much as her male co-worker. Hegemony also leads to abuse against women. Men feel that they are better then women so they can abuse them if they do something wrong. Seems like these men treat women as animals; less than humans.

    As you can see, world experiences can be linked to the same issues in Kindred. Hegemony, oppression, rape and economic exploitation are still major issues in the world to this day. I think if people helped out, there would be less hegemony and oppression against women. The book Kindred taught me that some men in the world are messed up in the head and treat many women like animals.

College means

                                                                                                  

                         Our Future is College Bound

                                           By: Angela Swenson

    “Good grades are just the tip of the iceberg. When you get down to it, it’s all about college.” Those words repeated in my head as my maternal grandfather lay in his hospital bed, dying. Tears flowed down my flushed cheeks as we heard his heart beating slower and slower until his pillow sank in from his head. We knew it was only a matter of time. My grandpa Bob had been struggling with cancer since the day I was born. I was only eight at the time, my brother was nineteen. He was already at an engineering college, only having two more years left. I always had big dreams even before I was even eight. Only to have stop when I was thirteen...

Living in Oakland, few options had been open to me. I always wanted to live where my mother’s parents lived. Out in the country, quiet, good schools. Having a house on 27th Avenue doesn’t help either.When there are drug dealers, addicts, and and alcoholics life seems to be so bad. It seems like just yesterday my friend Noah tried to commit suicide. He thought of himself as “lame” and “worthless”. He didn’t like it when people promised him because it brought up painful memories. After he moved to Paloma, California we kept in contact. He was such a nice guy, never willing to give in to anything. Until one day, he just gave up hope. As of right now, he is in his first year of college. I’m glad he didn’t drop out or anything like that. He does projects with spreadsheets on Excel and things like that (I only know this because he asked me if I could help him with his homework, but I don’t know how a thirteen year old girl is supposed to help an eighteen year old with college homework). Anyways, my dad always told me to never give up, so I decided to tell Noah the same way. Not all incidents can be solved the same when it comes down to suicide. Knowing this, I tried my hardest to help him through the rough spots.

    I found out it was all about a girl he used to love. They were neighbors living in a town close to Paloma. Her mom said they had to move and its been four years since he had last seen her. She promised Noah that she would come back, but she never did. He said he’d be happy as long as she was okay. When I heard this, I felt like he had dropped all the suicide thoughts and just forget about it. I was wrong, but at least he wasn’t  always wanting to kill himself. After solving this incident, I decided that I too, would never give in. However, this situation was hard on me mentally and emotionally. I couldn't think clearly knowing that a best friend could kill themselves at any moment. I fell into a deep  depression, making things take a greater affect on me after that. I tried to get out more into the world and meet new people. I took a visit down to a high school I chose to go to so I could find people to talk to. I met these two guys, Jody, Damian and Felix. Really nice, smart guys when you talked to them. One had light brown hair,another had blond and the last had blackish blond. I finally got the chance to talk to Noah. He seemed happier than before, and I too, was happier than before. I finally lived up to my dad’s saying, “Never give in to the challenges that approach you in your lifetime.”

    College for me is something to be pursued in life. My family had struggles with college as well. My mom had dropped out of high school and my dad stayed for awhile and then dropped out. My dad went to a college run by monks and he was the first to get a B in his History class. My brother was the first one to complete 4 years of college to become an engineer. We would always visit him and bring him food to his dorm. We went to his graduation and shortly after he got married to his girlfriend Christine. They moved to Texas and they have a wonderful life together. Him working as an engineer brought him fortune and luck. All thanks to his college education. I wished my parents would go/finish college, but they’re always too busy to do so. That is why I want to go to college as well.

   

    Going to college for me means going to school where I can learn fashion design. Fashion is a course I’ve always wanted to take and my dream job. Going on this trip could help me pick a good college and help look for other job options. This will help me choose the right school to pursue my dreams and become like my brother; Nice home and a loving family.

                            Sincerely,

                             Angela (Angie) Swenson

A slave thinking about the opinion of slavery in the early 1800's

In my opinion, slavery shouldn’t be allowed for two reasons. First, the ⅗ compromise counted slaves as 3/5 of a person. This gave masters more power over the slaves. This is wrong because everyone should be counted as 1 whole person. Also, the possibility of the slave trade ending in 1808 makes me upset because it should be ended sooner, meaning less than 20 years. Second, the fugitive slave clause brought runaway slaves back to their original owners. This gave the plantation owners an advantage over the slaves. This isn’t right because slaves shouldn’t be caught and brought back just so they can work from dawn to dusk.

Freedom

                          Freedom

                                    By Angie Swenson

        Free as a bird you

        Ran away from your oppression.

        Everyday there are no more challenges

        Everyday there are more chances for happiness.

        Down in sadness for a long time, but now it’s

        Over, knowing this you can

        Move on, knowing you have freedom always by your side.

This Mask...

I wear this mask to protect the truth,

The painful truth that lies within.

A child trapped in a broken heart,

Broken by unthoughtful love.

Causing strain on the users body.

A life is a simple thing,

One mask covering the face,

Can change it all.

Whether your happy or lonely,

The mask won't show it.

You'll just be another soul,

Lost in a sea of bodies and masks.

Your personality torn from yourself,

Torn from insensitive lies.

But in the end, You find a light

Realizing your lies were wrong.

And you become a new person,

Above and beyond those lies.

Becoming a leader of truth.