Introduction

Oppression goes on everywhere in the word and happens to many different people. Oppression is cruel or unjust treatment towards anyone. "Oppression can only survive through silence." -Joyce Mathews. This quote means that not enough people do anything about oppression and just turn their heads away from it. The main theme we look at in our Short Works unit is oppression.

Blowin' In the Wind

To Hard To Catch

This song is quite a repetitive song but with much meaning. Each verse is a question to the audience he is singing too. The questions he is asking really makes someone think about the song. The song talks about all the bad things that are going on in the world and how many times they have to happen before something is done about it. So many innocent people go through so many horrible things that they do not deserve just because others are greedy. In the second stanza it says "Yes, how many times can a man turn his head Pretending he just doesn't see?" This is saying people only really care about themselves and do not care about others that are being treated unfair, as long as people are okay, they do not worry about the others. A symbol i found in this song is the wind. The chorus says, "The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind...". The wind is a symbol of the answer. The answer too all of the questions he asks in the song is right in front of everyone but we just cannot catch it.

The Power of Words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

Small things give hope.

This video has a very strong message. I think the strongest symbol i found this video is the marker. I think that this marker is a symbol of hope. When the women takes the marker and changes the words she has hope that it will help him out. The marker is such a simple thing that can make such a big change. I feel like this man is being oppressed because just because he is blind people do not help him out. They simply are just throwing change at him. No one tookthe time to actually help him and make something better for him. It is not his fault he is unable to see.

Warren Pryor

Warren Pryor
The poem Warren Pryor by Alden Nowlan is a very ironic poem. It is about a boy who has worked on a farm his whole life because he is poor and could not do anything else. His parents feel he deserves a better life so they work like slaves just in order for they child to be able to go to school. He graduates and his parents are over the moon and excited to see his life move forward. This is where the irony comes in. The boy becomes a bank teller doing what his parents dreamed for him yet, he is not happy. His parents did all this for him to be happy but really he misses the farm and to be happy he wants to be there. A symbol in this poem would be the passport. The line is, "his passport from the years of brutal toil," meaning the passport is a symbol of his future. It is a symbol of his future because it is saying his diploma is his passport to getting away from his life now going into a new successful life. Some parents live their dreams through their kids but maybe they should see what the child wants first. I don't think that the boy is treated fairly because his parents never really asked him what he wants and just gave him his life the way they wanted it. I believe that everyone should be able to make there own choices without anyone trying to change that.

Berry

Connections Between the Oppressed
This short story is about a young black boy who is sent to the sanatorium just to be kitchen help. He is completely oppressed in this story because  the people running the sanitarium make him do all of the work that is around rather than just the work he is given. Adding to that he is supposed to get 10 dollars an hour but because of his skin color he is only getting payed 8 dollars. the people in charge at the sanatorium do not like Berry, the young black boy, very much because he is different than all of he rest of them.  It is funny odd though because the handicapped children that are in the sanatorium do like Berry even though he is different. I think this because Berry and the other children both have a connection, they both are treated abnormal and different than others are treated. A symbol in this short story would be the wheelchair. I think when the wheelchair breaks under the boy it really bring out truth. I think this because the boy wants Berry to push his wheelchair and when it breaks he goes to Berry for help proving that the truth is no matter what skin color you are, you can be just as friendly and helpful and comforting etc. Yet the white people in control still refuse to see that.

Oppression Art

The Big Fish
The meaning of the photo I chose is that if you group together people can end up with greater for then the man in charge. As you can see if the photo the fish alone is huge compared to all the little black fish but when they group together they make themselves bigger and able to over power. The word underneath says organize meaning in order to do something about unjust treatment going on hat you want to do something about, if something is organized and people come together it can make you stronger. A symbol I found in this picture is the crown. The crown is on the single fishes head showing that the fish has power. This means the crown would be a symbol of power and control. We find the crown a symbol of power because we always find the people in charge of us, like the king or queen, to be wearing a crown. Always thinking that the person with the crown is the biggest and on top meanwhile in this picture it is opposite, the little ones are getting rid of oppression and making themselves bigger.

http://pinterest.com/pin/90353536244074782/