I, Too, Sing America” and “Still I Rise” Freedom Writers and Django Unchained significant connections (2024)

11BIU

Miss

3 Dec y

Achievement Standard 1.8

1.8 explain significant connection(s) across texts using supporting evidence

The power of swallowing pride is a timeless theme explored in many films and texts. It is portrayed in the texts “I, Too, Sing America”, “Still I Rise”, Freedom Writers and Django Unchained. All of these texts represent the theme in a different way.

In the movie Freedom Writers directed by Richard La Gravanese, a Latino girl named Eva along with other students has to overcome several obstacles in live. All of those teenagers had been raised in a gang live environment. Due to Eva’s father being arrested by white cops she learned to only trust people who shared her skin colour and despise everyone else.

Another actions that triggered her hate towards other races was when a friend of hers was shot right in front of her for putting his hands in the pocket. “It is all about colour. It is about people deciding what you deserve. About people wanting what they don't deserve.

About whites thinking they own this world no matter what. You see, I hate white people.” After stating that she hated white people in this line it is clearly portrayed that Eva is racist. Eva cried saying those lines showing how deeply she dislikes whites. It shows how she would never open herself up or accept help from a white person.

After Eva tells the truth in court, that Emilio, her Latino boyfriend, killed Sindy’s boyfriend, an Asian guy, she is not able to return home since her Latino tribe threatened to kill her. Eva needs to stay at her aunts house that lives even further away from school.

Eva than asks her white teacher, Erin Grunwell, if she can stay later after school in order to be able to finish her homework. This is were the theme of being able to swallow your pride comes in. She has overcome her pride and was not only able to ask for help but also to accept it from a white person.

Eva’s voice while asking for help was low and unstable communicating how hard it was for her to be vulnerable in front of somebody that she had hated for so long. All readers will be able to connect with this because everyone knows how hard it is to ask someone you don’t particularly like for help.

Eva’s decision to accept help shows the audience that it is okay to be vulnerable sometimes and that it is better to swallow your pride and accept help.

The aspect of swallowing pride is also portrayed in the poem I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes. The texts is about a black American servant who swallows his pride in order to grow strong. “They send me to eat in the kitchen, when company comes, but I laugh and eat well, and grow strong.” This quote states that even though he can’t sit at the table he still eats and grows strong.

Instead of being angry and wasting his energy on rage he laughs, swallows his urge to protest and grows strong. He waits patiently even though he is not treated fairly because he knows that one day his time will come and “They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed.” His hope that things will get better and he will soon be able to sit at that tables what helps him to do as told and swallow his pride.

Just like in Freedom Writers, the author shows us that pride can sometimes be in the way of success. Eva would have not been able to do well at school and maybe not even be able to graduate unless she asked for help. In I, Too, Sing America he swallows his pride order to grow strong and one day being able to show everybody how beautiful he truly is.

Another text revolving around pride is the poem Still I Rise by an African American woman named Maya Angelou. In this poem, Angelou states how important it is to accept and love yourself, and be proud of yourself no matter what colour you are, no matter where you are from just like she does.

In the poem, Angelou compares herself to “oil wells”, “gold mines” and “diamonds”. These things are often seen as expensive and valuable. Angelou is relating these to the value of herself stating that she is worth just as much as them and everyone else. Therefore she should receive just as much respect and love as others.

This shows how proud she is of her color and sexuality and how she sees herself worth of respect. Another quote in which she expresses how proud she is to be a woman is “At the meeting of my thighs”. She is expressing her sexuality. Angelou shows that she loves every part of herself, and “rises”, “dazzling” and “sexy” Two more word she used to show that she does not only accept herself but also loves herself and is proud of her sexuality and race.

If they would accept and love themselves just the way they were their lives would be much better. They could achieve more since they would have more confidence in themselves. Angelou tells us to love our body and soul accept and be proud of ourselves just the way we are.

Another Character showing a lot of pride is Dr. King Schultz in the movie Django Unchained. The movie is set in 1858 and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The movie is about a former dentist, Dr. King Schultz who buys the freedom of a black slave, Django, and trains him with wanting to make him his deputy bounty hunter.

Django's is looking for his wife whom he got separated from due to her being caught by someone. When they find out she is owned by Calvin Candie, a ruthless plantation owner the make plan to free her. Not everything goes to plan but in the end they still make a deal with her owner to buy her back.

Moving his hand in a gesture to shake Candies hand he instead pulls a gun and shoot him. Since Candie’s bodyguards are in the same room they kill the doctor directly after. Dr. King Schultz knew that if he would be killed and his lasts words to Django who was in the same room were: “I’m sorry.

I could’t resist.” Dr. King Schultz was to proud to shake Candies hand and he had to pay with his and many other lives. If he had just swallowed his pride and shaken Candies hand instead of killing him he would have walked out of the situation with everything he wanted.

He choose to rather die than shake a person’s hand that he disliked that much. Everyone in today’s society is faced with situations were they have to swallow their pride in order to get what they want. The Doctor chose not to and it cost him his life. This scene clearly portrays the power of pride and being able to control it.

King Schultz has.

The overall theme of pride was presented differently in all of those four texts. I learned that pride is good on a certain extend but it is a difficult thing to master and to be able to swallow when necessary. It can infect end in death. This is often see in gangs since someone is too proud to do something and ends up getting killed.

Or on different times in life when fighting with a friend and not wanting to apologise first resulting in breaking a friendship over pride.

Achievement standard 1.81