the Plan:
Today after splitting into two groups, the third students who needed to catch up on the reading, we continued with the Literature Circle discussions.
Following the discussions students worked together to develop a collaborative essays taking into consideration the following questions or statements about Leymah. Post the essay here.
The film, which most students have not watched give another dimension to a woman who bares her soul to us--part 1, that is, in Mighty.
Questions
1. Develop a character profile of Leymah. Include references to her closest constituents or allies.
2. How does Leymah's life change significantly in this section?
3. How does Leymah realize her mission and come into her power?
4. Define power or empowerment using Leymah as key witness or example.
5. How is Leymah still a flawed heroine?
Use They Say, the "Framing Quotations" (45-47) to complete this exercise. Use at least two direct citations or a combination of direct quote and free paraphrase.
III. Hacker's Rules for Writers & They Say
Students completed several exercises from Hacker on-line exercises re: MLA.
IV. Freewrite: Stop Runnin' from Your Own Shadow
V. Homework: Keep reading. . . finish the book between Wednesday and Thursday. Tomorrow we will practice citing and doing more writing, developing questions for the essay we will write on Thursday.
We will also look at essay planning and complete tomorrow in class.
I am still looking for a place we can write. If possible, it would be great to complete the essay in class (smile). We will have peer reviews on Thursday as well.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 8:57 AM
4 Comments:
Tsgereda Leul
Josefina Belloso
Latasha Hodge
Yizhe Liu
Tiffany Chang
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A
26 June 2012
Part Two of Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War
In Part Two of Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gwobee, she experiences major changes in her life. First, she blossoms into a wiser woman and then she defines her power as a peace-builder.
Gbowee is a key witness to empowerment as she works with the women in her country of Liberia. She expresses how “when you’re depressed, you get trapped inside yourself and lose the energy to take the actions that might make you feel better” and uses that to fuel her ambition to fight for peace (85). Gbowee’s powerful voice gives her the ability to help the Liberian women overcome the hardships of the war, by saying no to violence and yes to peace. She is able to realize her peace-making mission with the help of those around her.
Gbowee becomes more independent and educated after she graduates for Mother Patern College. Her sisters and mother maintain an encouraging and supportive relationship while her father provides comments that allow her to work harder in order to prove him wrong. Daniel gives her the same negative energy as her father, with additional mental and physical abuse. Tunde, on the other hand, is a good listener, patient, and caring-- always boosting her to be the best that she can be. Reverend Colley, or “BB,” of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Liberia like Gbowee, is very passionate, talkative, and serves as a model which helps Gbowee shape her profile.
After realizing that the life the activist has with Daniel is just a fantasy, she sees that she wants to do more for her kids and herself. This is when she starts volunteering at the Federation’s Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Program, where she realizes her mission in life is to help others and bring peace. She notices how women were cast aside and started working with them. She “didn’t choose this role, [she] just fell into it,” she says (82). Leymah Gbowee sees the condition that her country is in and that she wants to do something about it.
Leymah Gbowee is able to help many people, but still possesses a flaw: falling and staying into bad relationships. She falls for Daniel and Tunde, even though they were both still married even though she knew about it. She commits adultery knowing that it was a sin. She gets reeled in by the financial and emotional support that they both provide and stayed caught up in the chaos with no commitment.
Works Cited
Gbowee, Leymah, with Carol Mithers. "Part Two." Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War--A Memoir. New York: Beast Books, 2011. 77-153. Print.
Charlie Cocks
Lori Nguyen
Mohammad Anwar
Donna Hang
Raymond Hui
Juan Santoyo
Saalihah Mays
Linde Huang
Professor Sabir
English 1A (7:30 am)
Nobody’s Perfect
In part two of Mighty Be Our Powers; How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee, the author begins her uphill journey to become the figure she is today. Leymah becomes a strong, confident woman who focuses on bringing peace to Liberia in any way she can. The characters that have the biggest impact on her in part two are: Daniel, Tunde, Geneva, Jill, her children, BB, and Thelma.
Leymah’s ability to forgive and move past Daniel marks the start of her transformation into the stronger, more independent woman that she becomes during this part of her story. Tunde provides vital support to Leymah when she is almost at her breaking point. Geneva and her children help to motivate her to work hard. Jill helps her realize the importance of women and how they can make a difference. BB plays another big role because he gives Gbowee her first significant job that eventually leads to her involvement in the peace effort. And finally, Thelma helps get her involved in WIPNET, which begins to make strides toward peace through the empowerment of women.
One of the crucial events in part two occurs when Leymah finds her abusive husband and forgives him. By separating from Daniel she comes to realize that she can do lots of things once she sets her mind to it. After she gets her first real job at THRP (Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Program), she starts to feel a sense of purpose, which continues to grow throughout the rest of the story. Her work with “Taylor’s boys” helps her learn to heal. Leymah begins to sympathize with the boys, even though they are guilty of committing terrible acts. “The war had destroyed their childhoods the way it had destroyed mine.”(p.93). This shift towards healing through forgiveness helps her to realize that she must forgive Daniel.
Although Leymah’s work at THRP starts her movement toward becoming a peacemaker, this truly becomes a part of her character when she joins WIPNET (Women in Peacebuilding Network). She explains, “WIPNET brought everything together for me: You can’t cure trauma when violence is ongoing, so the primary effort must be working for peace” (114). As this organization gains momentum, Gbowee not only realizes her mission, but she begins to feel actually empowered by the new organization’s increasing support, which is building a voice for women that will finally be heard.
As WIPNET gains more and more supporters, we witness the women of Liberia discovering their potential, and, more importantly, their power. In this case, the word “power” translates to these women’s ability to actually take peace-building matters into their own hands. These women discover their power by reaching across all tribal, religious, and socioeconomic lines to build a force that is too big to ignore. Despite this newfound power, Leymah still has moments of weakness in her life. This comes out when she gets home in the evenings and resorts to alcohol to cope with how she misses her kids so much. She has sent them to Ghana to be safe, but she doesn’t seem to ever get comfortable being away from them. It would seem that after spending everyday being a strong leader, she is left with little strength to cope with how much she misses her children. After all of this newfound power in one aspect of her life, she remains powerless when it comes to raising her kids.
Gbowee, Leymah. Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War. New York: Beast Books, 2011. Print.
Chie Shan Chan
Marisol Mora
Professor Sabir
English 1A: Summer 2012
26 June 2012
Part two: Mightly Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War
In Mighty Be Our Powers; How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War whom Leymah Gbowee, is the author and narrator of the story. At a young age, she already knew that she wanted to be someone big and she was ambitious on achieving that dream but she lost that ambition on the day the rebels invaded her home. She became weak and empty during the war times and she lost the will to do anything expect being obedient to her husband, Daniel. Daniel was an abuser and he made Gbowee feel worthless. But with her mother’s support and finally able to get a job, she gained confidence in herself and overcame her depression. Gbowee was not only determined to help others overcome their sufferings but she aspired to create a greater change for them. She became a leader to lead women through a fight for women. Throughout the events and experiences she had encountered, she grew stronger in the end and fulfilled the dream she had.
After ending her abusive relationship with her husband, Daniel, she was left to take care of her children alone. She went from being jobless to getting a job in the THRP, where she was able to actively come in contact with victims of the Liberian war. People began acknowledging her skills in her writing and speaking skills so she was offered more jobs that took on leadership. She was active in helping women find their place and overcoming their sufferings from the war. She created and became the leader of the women’s peace building network. Gbowee went from a worthless mom with many kids to a great leader for all women.
After witnessing and talking with many war victims, she was She finally got a job in the THRP where she had active contact with many victims in the Liberian war. In the training programs, they talked about their experiences during the war and Gbowee was able to finally put down her sufferings. This program allowed her to finally rediscover what her purpose was. Through her tiny job at the THRP, she was getting promoted slowly through her writing and advocating skills. She organized for group discussions and eventually created an officially campaign for women only.
There were many moments where power was displayed. “Soldiers would come to the house and the owner would give them money or food or whiskey. . .” (21). Everyone obeyed whatever the soldiers wanted because they were afraid of them. They had the power (guns) to control over many of the citizens and they did what they wanted. Another time was when Gbowee decided to go to work instead of listening to Daniel and stayed home. She was still continuously abused by her husband but as she did what she wanted to do. The more she defied him, the more distant her husband got and she seemed like she was slowly rising against and thus gaining more power.
Gbowee became a successful leader for women but she is still a flawed heroine. Everything had gone well for her when she got a job but there were times where she felt unconfident of herself and sometimes her emotions caused her to make reckless decisions. There was a time where she thought, “How could I have been so stupid as to think a handful of women could stop the war” (160). Throughout her focus on her career, she was able to earn enough money for her children to have a decent living but there were many times where she had neglected her family. Her sister, Geneva took care of Gbowee’s children for her and the kids acknowledge Geneva as a better mother than Gbowee is. Her main focus on her career caused her relationship between her children to drift off farther.
Work Cited
Gbowee, Leymah, with Carol Mithers. "Part Two." Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War--A Memoir. New York: Beast Books, 2011. P. 77-153. Print.
Monica Contreras
English 1A
Wanda Sabir
Part Two of Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War
Leymah Growee, women who was a witness of the cruelty of the Civil War was a victim of violence during and after the Civil War. She desperately made the wrong decisions during her early years. Leymah learned how to resolve the errors she made in her twenties. Lemahs’ father a conservative man who believed nothing will ever go wrong worked as a radio technician. Leymah’s father never doubted Leymah, he was true believer that Leymah will make him proud some day and she will not become like the rest of her sisters. Mama went to pharmacy school and works in a pharmacist dispensing at several recognize hospitals. Her grandmother raised her and hoped she would marry a wealthy man. This did not happen because she fell and married Leymas father. Mama had four daughters Geneva, Mala, Josephine, and Leymah. After the Civil Way Leymah met Daniel a wealthy man who manipulated Leymah with his gifts and his passionate nights. Leymah had four children with Daniel. Daniel abused Leymah both physically and emotionally. Daniel transformed Leymah into a insecure women the complete opposite of how she was.
During the Civil War Leymah lost hope. She lost her faith in god. Leymah hated everyone and everything. She was mad at Doe’s government soldiers, mad at her parents for not taking action, and mad at people in the village for taking everything things that was left. Leymah changes significantly by making decisions that turned her whole life around. She finally left Daniel her past husband who abused her and always made her feel less than others. She moved to her parents’ house taking her babies with her. Lewymah dad was disappointed with Leymah and constantly questioned what she was planning to do with her life. He assured her that his home was not a day care and that she had to do something with her life. Leymah starts taking action and her main motivation are her children. She does not want to see her children suffering like she did.
Leymah goes back to school. She got a job at THRP office, a program where teachers and health workers work together to repair society after the Civil War. Many people were victims of trauma after the Civil War. They were witness of all the scenery during the war. Leymah directed workshops women from Lofa County attended. She helped many women come out of theor shells and prepare them back to the real world. Leymah realized saw the impact and power she was giving these helpless women. She started to notice the change in women and the most conservative women would share her story and how she felt after the war had ended. Many women were terrified and refused to talk about their feelings after the war. Leymah these women by sharing her story hoping her experience will give women strength to continue to work towards their dreams.
Leymah is respected and seen as a hero to many women. She helped many women conquer their fear. After the war women became fradgile and many lost their independent. They were abused by their husbands. Leymah is a hero because she gave the, strength and hopes to continue with their lives. Many women reflected and could connect with Leymah past experience. She is an example of perseverance and this motivated other women to do the same.
Work Cited
Gbowee, Leymah, with Carol Mithers. "Part Two." Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War--A Memoir. New York: Beast Books, 2011. 77-153. Print.
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