Poems
"We refugees" by Benjamin Zephaniah
A poem written and performed by Year 5 pupils at Avenue Junior School, Norwich in response to Benjamin Zephaniah's poem We Refugees.
Essay Writing and Thesis Statement
(Paddle)
Article about refugees
A South American Migration Crisis: Venezuelan Outflows Test Neighbour's Hospitality: The deepening of Venezuela's social, economic, and political implosion has resulted in the fastest movement of people across borders in Latin American history. Neighbouring countries have responded with a patchwork of policy measures, though the scale and growing diversity of Venezuelan arrivals have challenged regional actors, as this article explores.
Class Group
Julieta Dattoli Remón.
María de las Nieves Bazán.
Mariana Gimenez Foth.
Florencia Martínez.
Personal Metacognitive Reflection
In Benjamin Zephaniah's poem, people are supposed to believe that all of them can become refugees at any moment and place. This poem tries to develop a feeling of empathy in readers towards those people who are currently seeking shelter in foreign lands, or who have been forced to escape their country and are unable to return to it. To achieve this, Benjamin uses the personal pronoun "WE" to establish a close relationship between his own beliefs and origins and the audience. To reinforce this idea, the author provides some information about his natal country's social and geographical background. On the one hand, when the poem reads "my brother in my land has tortured my brother", readers can infer that the injustice comes from other social classes, perhaps the upper class or even the government. On the other hand, when Benjamin writes "I come from a beautiful place where the valley floods each year; and each year the hurricane tells us, that we must keep moving on", readers can realise how raw, unexpected and unstoppable Nature can be at times. Thus, no matter the current political or social situation of your country or where it locates; you could be a refugee too.
In Bilston's poem, the author first attempts to confuse readers' minds and then encourages them to re-think the negative idea concept that society has about Refugees. To achieve this, this contemporary poet makes readers confront the cruel misunderstandings which revolve around these unprotected and exiled people, referring to them as "Chancers and scroungers; Layabouts and loungers; With bombs up their sleeves; Cut-throats and thieves". Nevertheless, we readers know Brian writes and shares several poems in which he expresses his thoughts and beliefs on Twitter. In a tweet posted in June, he describes Refugees as strong and brave people, revealing that there is no correlation between his ideals and the poem itself. Moreover, the last stanza concludes "The world can be looked at another way", perhaps inviting us to reflect upon what we have just read and to twist it. Read it from bottom to top, and then you will see what amazing is to discover new ways of seeing.
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