WJEC GCSE English Language

Oracy

Name:

English teacher:

Contents Page

Contents Page

Contents and key for annotation 2

Mark scheme 3

What makes a good speech? 4

Tracking progress and rating 5

Sentence starters 6

Kid President 7

Mila and Love Actually 8

Remember the Titans and Independence Day

9

Coach Carter and Armageddon 10

Dangers of Cell phones 11 & 12

Colonel Tim Collins 13

Emma Watson 14 & 15

Malala Yousafzai 16 & 17

Leonardo DiCaprio 18

Danny Glover 19 & 20

Barak Obama 21

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You might need to return to each speech and annotate for a different feature. Design your key to help you to identify different aspects of the criteria in each speech.

Persuasive features

Sentence length or structure for effect

Structure of speech

Topic sentences

Register adjusted for audience

Definition of ‘register’–

This means the choice of words you use in your talk, how you say them and the length and control of your sentences in relation to the people you are speaking to and the purpose, or reason why you are speaking to them for. During your talk you may be asked to speak to a formal or informal audience and for this you will need to change the ‘register’ you use to suit the situation and audience.

Let’s look at the mark scheme

Content and organisation: Register, grammatical accuracy and range of sentence structures:

Band

4(1

3-16

mar

ks) • I show confident awareness of the

audience that my speech is being presented to and ensure that the content of my talk is appropriately focused towards their needs;

• I am able to present my views confidently, going into detail about my chosen topic and by emphasising important points, ideas and issues. I have used and interpreted information from my research to support and develop my views when presenting my talk;

• I am able to present and explain my ideas with confident expression of understanding and personal thought;

• I have organised my speech with a structure that keeps the listeners of my talk focused and engaged throughout;

• I have a definite structure to my speech, which includes a greeting, introduction, several paragraphs of detailed and evaluative information and a conclusion in my talk and I make good use of this structure to ensure my listeners are involved and engaged in my talk.

• I have used a variety of simple, compound and complex sentences for effect in my talk;

• I have used a wide range of different words in my talk, including subject-specific ones with care and correctness;

• When speaking, my sentences are grammatically controlled;

• I have used the correct tense throughout my talk;

• When speaking, I have used pauses in places to help my talk make sense;

• I have shown consistent and suitable awareness of my audience and the purpose of my speech in my choice of words, sentence structures and in the style and tone that I have used when delivering my talk.

Band

5(1

7-20

mar

ks) • I show sophisticated and coherent

awareness of the audience that my speech is being presented to and ensure that the content of my talk is appropriately focused towards their needs;

• I am able to present my views coherently and confidently, prioritising and evaluating complex and demanding ideas and issues in my talk. I have used and interpreted information from my research perceptively, in order to support and develop my views when presenting my talk;

• I am able to present, analyse and evaluate many aspects of my speech topic with clarity and effectiveness.

• I have a confident and sophisticated structure to my speech, which includes a greeting, introduction, several paragraphs of complex, detailed, evaluative and prioritised information and a conclusion in my talk and I make excellent use of this structure to ensure my listeners are challenged by, and engaged in, my talk.

• I have used a variety simple, compound and complex sentences appropriately and effectively in my talk;

• I have used a wide range of ambitious and appropriate words/ vocabulary choices in my talk, including subject-specific ones with confidence and precision to develop my presentation;

• When speaking, grammar is confidently and securely controlled within my sentences;

• I have used and controlled the correct tense securely throughout my talk;

• I have shown confident and precise awareness of my audience and the purpose of my speech in my choice of words, sentence structures and in the style and tone that I used when delivering my talk.

3

What makes a good speech?What might we include?

4

Criteria to possiblyinclude

I saw a good example in the speech from…

Persuasive features

Openings

Conclusions

Sentence structures

Vocabulary building

Speech structure (counter?)

Appropriate register

Skills I will develop I have used this skill in my speech about…

Note taking (reducing information) for cue

cardsMarking and assessing

against criteriaUsing planning grids

Assessing your progress

5

Target Attempt 1

Attempt 2

Attempt 3

T1 – Appropriate to audience

T2 – Detail and depth to ideas

T3 – Understanding and thoughtful response to topic

T4 – Engaging structure

T5 – Variety of sentences for effect

T6 – Appropriate vocabulary

T7 – Pauses for effect

T8 – Appropriate register

T9 –

When you deliver a presentation, remember to self or peer assess against the criteria you will be marked on in your GCSE presentation.

Rate it!How many mics would you give the speech overall? Consider the

mark scheme on page 3.

Rate each speech as you hear and see them. You will see the symbol below by each speech in the transcript booklet and can shade the mics in for a score out

of 5!

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Useful sentence starters

To emphasise:CertainlySurelyDefinitelyUltimatelyUndoubtedlyEspeciallyFundamentallyEssentialUndeniablyIrrefutably

To conclude:ThereforeTo concludeThus,

To introduce a new idea:FirstlyFirst and foremostTo begin

To interest and engage:InterestinglySurprisinglyShockinglyAmazinglyFantasticallyUnbelievablyHorrifyinglyTerriblyFortunately

Linking ideas:This brings me to…Another reason…To move on…As a further point…

To expand and move on:In additionAlsoFurthermoreMoreoverSubsequentlyConsequently

To illustrate:For exampleFor instanceAs seen by……which is evident…From this, it is easy to see why…

Remember those intensifiers can help too!Common: so, very, really, quite.Alternatives: of course, absolute, unfortunately, without a doubt, undeniably

I think we all need a pep talk.

The world needs you to stop being boring. Yeah, you! Boring is easy. Everybody can be boring but you’re gooder than that. Life is not a game people. Life isn’t a cereal either, well, it is a serial. And if life is a game, aren’t we all in the same team? I mean really, right? I’m on your team. Be on my team.

This is life people. You’ve got air coming through your nose. Your heart beats. That means it’s time to do something.

A poem, “Two roads diverged in the woods… and I took the road less travelled.” And it hurt man! Really bad. Rocks. Thorns. And glass. My parts broke. Waaahaa. Not cool Robert Frost.

But what if there really were two paths. I want to be on the one that leads to awesome. It’s like that dude Journey said: “Don’t stop believing… unless your dream is stupid.” Then you should get a better dream. I think that’s how it goes. Get a better dream and keep going. Keep going. Keep going and keep going.

What if Michael Jordan had quit? Well, he did quit. No, he retired. Yeah, that’s right, he retired. But before that. In high school. What if he had quit when he didn’t make the team? He would never have made Space Jam, and I love Space Jam. What will be your Space Jam? What will you create that will make the world awesome? Nothing if you keep sitting there. That’s why I’m talking to you today. This is your time. This is my time. This is our time. We can make every day better for each other. If we’re all in the same team, let’s start acting like it. We got work to do. We can cry about it or we can dance about it. We were made to be awesome. Let’s get out there!

I don’t know everything; I’m just a kid. But I do know this: it’s everybody’s duty to give the world a reason to dance. So get to it.

You’ve just been pep-talked. Create something that will make the world awesome.

Pep Talk by Kid President

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o

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Rate it!How many mics would you give the speech overall?

Consider the mark scheme on page 3.

My Mom was like “Hey Mila, do you want to hit the gym?” I was like “Who’s Jim? What did he ever do to you?” What are these people doing? People running, and not getting anywhere! Do you know what Yoga is? It’s Hineys in your face. Yuck! Everybody is so sweaty. The teacher says it’s spiritual. I think I can smell the spiritual!

People! Everywhere! Bettering themselves. I thought… you can’t get better than this.

Then, this dude’s like “I can bench 200!” Whatever. I can sit on the bench longer than that. Like who are these people? Why are they so motivated? I don’t know. I’m happy for them.

Charles says the gym makes beefcakes. Well then, I’m a vegetarian.

Mila experiences the gym

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvFTJvXdF8U

Journalist - Peter: Mr President, err…has it been a good visit?

President: Very satisfactory indeed. We got what we came for. And our special relationship is still very special.

Journalist – Peter: And… Prime Minister?

Prime Minister: I love that word relationship. Covers all manner of sins, doesn’t it? I fear that this has become a bad relationship. A relationship based on the President taking exactly what he wants and casually ignoring all of those things that really matter to erm.. Britain.

We may be a small country, but we’re a great one too. Country of Shakespeare, Churchill, The Beatles, Sean Connery, Harry Potter, David Beckham’s right foot… David Beckham’s left foot, come to that. A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend and since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward, I will be prepared to be much stronger and the President should be prepared for that.

Love Actually Prime Minister’s speech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mc2IWZOWXA

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Anybody know what this place is? This is Gettysburg. This is where they fought the battle of Gettysburg. 50,000 men died right here on this field, fighting the same fight that we’re still fighting amongst ourselves today. This green field right here was painted red, bubbling with the blood of young boys. Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies.

Listen to their souls men. “I killed my brother with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family.” You listen and you take a lesson from the dead. If we don’t come together, right now on this hallow ground, we too will be destroyed, just like they were.

I don’t care if you like each other or not but you will respect each other. And maybe, I don’t know, maybe, you’ll learn to play this game like men.

Remember the Titans: Coach Boone’s speech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-ribYfC1AM

Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. ‘Mankind’, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interest. Perhaps, it’s fate that today is the 4th July and you will once again be fighting for our freedom, not from tyranny, oppression or persecution, but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the 4th July will no longer be known as an American holiday. But as the day when the world declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight.” We’re going to live on. We’re going to survive. Today, we celebrate our Independence Day.

Independence Day: President’s speech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t1IK_9apWs

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Coach Carter: You, shooting the ball…what’s your name Sir?

Jason Lyle: Jason Lyle, but I ain’t no Sir.

Coach Carter: You’re not a Sir? Well are you a Madam? As of now, you are a Sir. So are the rest of you. Sir is a term of respect and you will have my respect until you abuse it. Mr Lyle, how many games did you guys win last season?

Jason Lyle: Like 4 wins, 22 losses.

Coach Carter: Sir.

Jason Lyle: Sir.

Coach Carter: I’m going to give you contracts. If you sign and honour your side of them, we are going to be successful.

Worm: Damn, do I get a signing bonus for signing this contract?

Coach Carter: Yes, Sir. You get to become a winner. Because if there is one thing I know, it is this: the losing stops now. Starting today, you will play like winners, act like winners and most importantly, you will be winners. If you listen and learn you will win basketball games. And gentlemen, winning in here is the key to winning out there.

This contract states that you will maintain a 2.3 grade point average. You will attend all your classes and you will sit in the front row of those classes.

Coach Carter’s speech (*Do not watch beyond 1:31)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt6W53O4VUE

I address you tonight, not as the President of the United States, not as the leader of a country, but as a citizen of humanity. We are faced with the very gravest of challenges. The Bible calls this day Armageddon, the end of all things. And yet, for the first time in the history of the planet, a species has the technology to prevent its own extinction. All of you praying with us need to know, that everything that can be done to prevent this disaster is being called into service.

The human thirst for excellence, and knowledge, every step up the ladder of Science, every adventurous reach into Space, all of our combined modern technologies and imaginations, even the wars we have fought have provided us the tools to wage this terrible battle. Through all the chaos that is our history, throughout all of the wrongs and the discord, through all of the pain and suffering, through all of our times, there is one thing that has nourished our souls… and elevated our species above its origins, and that is our courage. The dreams of an entire planet are focussed tonight on those 14 brave souls travelling into the heavens… and may we all, citizens the world over, see these events through. God speed and good luck to you.

Armageddon: President's speech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zje91xTd6Lc

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It’s your constant companion. It’s in your pocket, in your bag, in your hands or against your head. You use it at home, in class, at the gym, before you go to sleep at night and first thing when you wake up in the morning. I’m talking, of course, about your cell phone. According to my class survey, everyone in this room has one, and all of us use it dozens of times every day. But what if your constant companion is dangerous? What if it’s hazardous to your health? Evidence is piling up that long-term use of cell phones can lead to tissue damage, tumours and even brain cancer. Given that there are over 4 billion people worldwide using cell phones, we’re looking at a problem of potentially staggering magnitude. According to Devra Davis, epidemiologist and author of the 1010 book Disconnect: The Truth Behind Cell Phone Radiation, we may be watching an epidemic in slow motion.

I never thought much about the possible perils of cell phones before I saw a CBS news report on the subject earlier this year. But doing extensive research for this speech made me realise that cell phones do in fact pose a danger to our health. Now, don’t worry, I’m not going to try to persuade you to abandon your constant companion. I still use mine on a regular basis and I probably always will. But I do hope to persuade you to make one simple change in the way that you use your cell phone: a change that will protect your health and could even make the difference between a long life and premature death.

But first, let’s look more closely at the health risks posed by cell phones. Those risks stem from the fact that cell phones emit small amounts of radiation that over time can damage tissue. Every time you use your cell phone you expose yourself to that radiation. The amount is miniscule in comparison to that given off by X-ray machines - about one one billionth of the intensity. However, Ronald Herberman of the University of Pittsburg Cancer Institute explains that the problem with cell phone radiation is not how much is emitted at a single time, but how much we are exposed to through repeated use, day after day, year after year. It’s this long-term use of cell phones that has led researchers to warn about their danger.

In one study, for example, the World Health Organisation traced 10,000 cell phone users over the course of 10 years. As reported in the New York Times on November 10th 2010, the data in this study indicated that subjects who used their cell phone 10 or more years doubled the risk of developing brain tumours. Other studies have reached the same conclusion. Perhaps most important is the 2007 study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that surveyed all the previous research on cell phone use. It found a consistent pattern of increased risk for developing brain tumours among people who used cell phones for more than 10 years. Alan Marks is one of those people. A 58-year-old real estate developer and father of three. He talked on his cell phone an hour a day for 23 years. Two years ago, doctors found a golf ball sized tumour in his brain. “There’s no question what caused it,” he says. “It was my cell phone.” And Alan Marks isn’t the only person to conclude that he is sick because of his cell phone. Ann Gittleman’s 2010 book Zapped, which deals at length with the health problems of cell phones, catalogues people who developed blinding headaches, dizziness, circulatory problems, nausea and cancer from the kind of radiation emitted by cell phones.Still not convinced about the potential dangers posed by your constant companion? Take a look, then, inside the thick manual that comes with your phone. You’ll see that all cell phone manufacturers warn against keeping the phone right next to your body. Apple, for example, recommends keeping the iPhone five eighths of an inch away from your body. Makers of the

Student speech – The dangers of cell phones

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cVxXUFIVUEI

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Blackberry recommend that you keep their phone a full inch away. Cell phone manufacturers don’t publicise this information widely, but they clearly recognise that their products are potentially hazardous.

So, what’s the solution? As I said earlier, it’s not to stop using cell phones altogether. I still use mine on a regular basis and I can’t imagine being without it. I’m sure you can’t imagine being without yours. You can, however, take seriously the risks of cell phones and find a way to minimise those risks. Time and again experts point out that the single most effective way to reduce the risk is not to press your cell phone against your head while using it. Since the phone emits radiation, the closer you put it to your head the more radiation you expose yourself to. At the very least, you should hold the phone one half an inch to one full inch away from your ear. But, ideally, you should get into the habit of not putting it up to your ear at all. I now use my ear buds almost every time I use my phone. Another option is to use your speaker phone.

As with breaking any habit, changing the way that you talk on your cell phone may be slightly inconvenient at first, but will soon become second nature. You’ll be able to enjoy all the benefits of your constant companion without suffering the fate of Alan Marks. If Marks had known the dangers of prolonged cell phone use, he would have done things a lot differently. “I wouldn’t have held it to my head,” he says. “I would have used the headset, I would have used the speaker phone, and I would not have had the problems I had.”

So, please get into the habit of keeping your cell phone away from your ear when talking, and encourage your friends and family to do the same. Start today, with your next phone call, and continue every day in the future. We can avoid this slow-motion epidemic that doctors and scientists are warning us about, as long as we remember to keep this away from this.

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We go to liberate, not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them.

There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly. Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others, I expect you to rock their world. Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle remember to be magnanimous in victory.Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will see things that no man could pay to see - and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing.

Don't treat them as refugees for they are in their own country. Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you. If there are casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly and mark their graves.

It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive. But there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow.

The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of hell for Saddam. He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity.It is a big step to take another human life. It is not to be done lightly. I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts. I can assure you they live with the mark of Cain upon them. If someone surrenders to you then remember they have that right in international law and ensure that one day they go home to their family. The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please.

If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer. You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest -- for your deeds will follow you down through history. We will bring shame on neither our uniform or our nation. Let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there.

Our business now is north.

Colonel Tim Collins’ eve-of-battle speech 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment in Iraq in 2003

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We want to end gender inequality and to do this we need everyone involved. This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN. We want to try and galvanise as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change. And we don’t just want to talk about it. We want to try and make sure that it is tangible. I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for UN women 6 months ago, and the more I have spoken about feminism, the more I have realised that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.

For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.

I started questioning gender based assumptions a long time ago. When I was 8 I was confused at being called “bossy” because I wanted to direct the plays that we would put on for our parents. But the boys were not. When at fourteen, I started to be sexualised by certain elements of the media. When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of their beloved sports teams, because they didn’t want to appear muscly. When at 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings. I decided that I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me.

But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to identify as feminist. Apparently, I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating and anti-men. Unattractive even. Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one?

I am from Britain and I think it is right that I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and the decisions that will affect my life. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the same respect as men. But sadly, I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights. No country in the world can yet saythat they have achieved gender equality. These rights I consider to be human rights, but I am one of the lucky ones. My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influencers were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. We need more of those. And if you still hate the word, it is not the word that is important. It is the idea and the ambition behind it. Because not all women have received the same rights that I have. In fact, statistically very few have been.

In 1997, Hilary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly, many of the things that she wanted to change are still true today. But what stood out for me the most was that less than 30% of the audience were male. How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feels welcomed to participate in the conversation? Men. I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation.

Gender equality is your issue too. Because to date, I have seen my father’s role as a parent

Emma Watson - UN speech HeForShe Gender Equality Campaign

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkjW9PZBRfk

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being valued less by society, despite my needing his presence as a child as much as my mother’s. I have seen young men suffering from mental illness unable to ask for help for fear it would make them less of a man. In fact, in the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 to 49, eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease.

I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality either. We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes, but I can see that they are. And that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence. If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled. Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong. It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, instead of two sets of opposing ideals. If we stop defining each other by what we are not, and start defining ourselves by who we are, we can all be freer. And this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom.

I want men to take up this mantel, so that their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice, but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too, reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves.

You might be thinking ‘Who is this Harry Potter girl and what is she doing speaking at the UN?’ And it’s a really good question. I’ve been asking myself the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem and I want to make it better. And having seen what I’ve seen, and given the chance, I feel that it is my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.” In my nervousness for this speech, and in my moments of doubt, I’ve told myself firmly. If not me, who? If not now, when? If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you, I hope that those words will be helpful. Because, the reality is that if we do nothing it will take 75 years or for me to be nearly 100, before women can expect to be paid the same as men, for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as children and at current rates it won’t be until 2086 before all rural African girls can have a secondary education.

If you believe in equality you might be one of those inadvertent feminists that I spoke of earlier and for this I applaud you. We are struggling for a uniting word, but the good news is that we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen and to ask yourself: ‘If not me, who? If not now, when?’

Thank you very very much.

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Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban* shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists* thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born.

I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. And my dreams are the same.

Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists* and extremists*.

I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohammed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This is the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.*This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa*. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

Dear sisters and brothers, we realize the importance of light when we see darkness. We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realized the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns. The wise saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword." It is true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society. And I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist why are the Taliban against education? He answered very simply by pointing to his book, he said, "a Talib doesn't know what is written inside this book.“

They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would point guns at people's heads just for going to school. These terrorists are misusing the name of Islam for their own personal benefit. Pakistan is a peace loving, democratic* country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. It is the duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what it says. Peace is a necessity for education. In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflicts stop children from going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world.

In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by extremism. Young girls

Malala Yousafzai’s Speech to the UN General Assembly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q60C2km4PWw [From 4:37 to end]

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have to do domestic child labour and are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems, faced by both men and women.

Today I am focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But this time we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women's rights, but I am focusing on women to be independent and fight for themselves. So dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favor of peace and prosperity*. We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals must protect women and children's rights. A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable.

We call upon all governments to ensure free, compulsory education all over the world for every child. We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism and violence. To protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of education opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon all communities to be tolerant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect, color, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for women so they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to embrace the strength within themselves and realize their full potential.

Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice. We believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world.

Because we are all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future.

So let us wage, so let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens. They are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.

Education is the only solution.

Education first.

Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr Secretary General, your Excellencies, ladies and gentleman, and distinguished guests. I’m honoured to be here today. I stand before you not as an expert but as a concerned citizen. One of the 400,000 people who marched in the streets of New York on Sunday, and the billions of others around the world who want to solve our climate crisis.

As an actor I pretend for a living. I play fictitious characters often solving fictitious problems. I believe mankind has looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away.

But I think we all know better than that now. Every week, we’re seeing new and undeniable climate events, evidence that accelerated climate change is here right now. Droughts are intensifying, our oceans are acidifying, with methane plumes rising up from the ocean floor. We are seeing extreme weather events, and the West Antarctic and Greenland ice-sheets melting at unprecedented rates, decades ahead of scientific projections.

None of this is rhetoric, and none of it is hysteria. It is fact. The scientific community knows it, Industry knows it, governments know it, even the United States military knows it. The chief of the US navy’s Pacific command, admiral Samuel Locklear, recently said that climate change is our single greatest security threat.

My Friends, this body – perhaps more than any other gathering in human history – now faces this difficult, but achievable task. You can make history ... or you will be vilified by it.To be clear, this is not about just telling people to change their light bulbs or to buy a hybrid car. This disaster has grown BEYOND the choices that individuals make. This is now about our industries, and our governments around the world taking decisive, large-scale action. Now must be our moment for action.

We need to put a pricetag on carbon emissions, and eliminate government subsidies for all oil, coal and gas companies. We need to end the free ride that industrial polluters have been given in the name of a free-market economy. They do not deserve our tax dollars, they deserve our scrutiny. For the economy itself will die if our ecosystems collapse.

The good news is that renewable energy is not only achievable but good economic policy. This is not a partisan debate; it is a human one. Clean air and a liveable climate are inalienable human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is a question of our own survival.

This is the most urgent of times, and the most urgent of messages. Honoured delegates, leaders of the world, I pretend for a living. But you do not. The people made their voices heard on Sunday around the world and the momentum will not stop. But now it is your turn, the time to answer human kind’s greatest challenge is now. We beg of you to face it with courage and honesty. Thank you.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Speech at the Climate Summit 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTyLSr_VCcg

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Good evening. Tonight I would like to discuss with you a practice that separates the United States from every other country in the Western Hemisphere. This, of course, is the use of homicide as an official tool of the state, otherwise known as the death penalty.

Since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in the 1970s, 741 people have been executed in the United States. Unfortunately, as I give this speech, that number is climbing to 743, courtesy of the states of Georgia and Texas.

And yet 98 people, or about one out of every seven executed, have walked off death row after new evidence emerged that proved their absolute innocence.

Let me be very clear here. I am not talking about people whose sentences or convictions were overturned on what some might call a technicality. I am talking about actual innocence.

Think about it. If one of every seven car tires sold in this country was subject to a blowout, if one of every seven chickens taken to market infected someone with salmonella, if one of every seven cars manufactured had a faulty engine that exploded every now and again, these things would be taken off the market.

But for every seven people executed since 1976, one actually innocent person has been sent to death row. Yet the death penalty remains “on the market.”

There are, of course, many reasons why I oppose the death penalty, in addition to the fact that I believe innocent people can be executed and in fact have been executed.

I'd like to share with you some of these reasons.

Many of you know I worked on the case of Gary Graham. Gary came from the fifth ward in Houston, Texas. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the robbery-murder of a shopping clerk. There are many things about Gary's case that are illustrative of the kind of problems caused by the death penalty.

Number one: Gary was a juvenile when it was alleged he committed the crime for which he was convicted. Only five other countries are known to have executed children in the past decade—Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Yemen. But in the U.S., 13 states, including Texas, allow for the execution of people who commit crimes as juveniles.

Number two: Gary was Black. Black people make up 12.1 percent of our nation's population—but comprise 43 percent of death rows across the United States. Racial disparities continue to define who lives and who dies under this punishment.

Number three: Gary was convicted on the very shaky eyewitness testimonyof one person. The Bible in the Book of Numbers says we shouldn'tconvict on the testimony of one eyewitness. But our courts sayotherwise.

Gary Graham was executed in the summer of 2000. His case pointed out then many

Danny Glover’s Death Penalty Speech

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/can-love-save-the-world/danny-glover-the-death-penalty-in-this-great-nation-of-ours

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problems the death penalty brings to our system of justice. Incompetent legal counsel, racial bias. The possibility—in this case the probability of innocence, the very issue of disproportionality—Gary probably would not have been executed if he was from a different state or if he had drawn a different prosecutor or a different jury.

But the tide is turning. The very same tide that swept up Gary Graham and so many like him is now turning.

It has been said that war is never the friend of social justice movements. When we fear, we clamp down on those who do not think like we think or do not look like we look.

Since September 11th, we have seen our federal government incarcerate without trial or access to bail more than 1,000 people, mostly of Middle Eastern or Southern Asian descent.

It is clearly a slippery slope we are on. We cannot be silent while such tactics are employed. We must stand vigilant and work onward and together toward abolition.

Thank you.

Danny Glover

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At his trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela closed his statement from the dock saying, “I have fought against white domination*, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

And Nelson Mandela lived for that ideal, and he made it real. He achieved more than could be expected of any man. Today, he has gone home. And we have lost one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth. He no longer belongs to us -- he belongs to the ages.

Through his fierce dignity* and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others, Madiba transformed South Africa -- and moved all of us. His journey from a prisoner to a President embodied the promise that human beings -- and countries -- can change for the better. His commitment to transfer power and reconcile* with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives of nations or our own personal lives. And the fact that he did it all with grace and good humor, and an ability to acknowledge his own imperfections, only makes the man that much more remarkable. As he once said, “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela's life. My very first political action, the first thing I ever did that involved an issue or a policy or politics, was a protest against apartheid. I studied his words and his writings. The day that he was released from prison gave me a sense of what human beings can do when they’re guided by their hopes and not by their fears. And like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set, and so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him.

To Graça Machel and his family, Michelle and I extend our deepest sympathy and gratitude for sharing this extraordinary man with us. His life’s work meant long days away from those who loved him the most. And I only hope that the time spent with him these last few weeks brought peace and comfort to his family.

To the people of South Africa, we draw strength from the example of renewal, and reconciliation*, and resilience* that you made real. A free South Africa at peace with itself --that’s an example to the world, and that’s Madiba’s legacy to the nation he loved.

We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. So it falls to us as best we can to forward the example that he set: to make decisions guided not by hate, but by love; to never discount the difference that one person can make; to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice.

For now, let us pause and give thanks for the fact that Nelson Mandela lived -- a man who took history in his hands, and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice. May God Bless his memory and keep him in peace.

Barak Obama’s Speech about the death of Nelson Mandela 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIbwXCbiklY

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