Mohammad Ibrahim Razi
Ms. Maloney
English 10A
11/19/12
Reflective Blog Posts
Grade 7
Grade 7’s speeches were thought out very well beyond my expectations of speeches correlating to their ages. In my perspective the winner should have been Omer Nazir, as his speech was very well organized, he started of very well, his posture was fantastic, his tone about his topic was as if we knew nothing and he was the teacher. He related the topic of socialism very well to his own experiences such as in Canada. The judges picked Niya Raazee as the winner of the grade 7 speech competition, but it came to my attention that when she first delivered her speech, she forgot most of it as after 30 seconds into the speech and this seems as if she had not practised her speech enough. Furthermore out of the judge’s courtesy and of Ms. Maloney’s she was given a second chance, and she won. This seems very unfair as she was given a second chance and the others were not, the other speeches also might have improved if they were to do them again. Therefore I do not agree with the judges choices.
Grade 8
Grade 8’s speeches were the comparatively same to the ones I have heard before, such as Anna Timble’s speech about women’s rights, it did not catch my eye as it has been done many times before. In my opinion the winner should have been Amal Khan, as her speech was something that really got me thinking about how we are “neglecting” our home language, Urdu and speak other foreign languages. Amal’s speech was different to the other speeches and taught me a lesson that Urdu is something that should be saved and used more often in homes that other languages. Amal was pacing herself when speaking and was rewarded by being in the time barrier. She applied good examples identifying what we need to do to save Urdu and she showed us that Urdu has equal importance to any other language. Lastly, Amal said that the westernisation of television programs is affecting our language, so we need to watch more Pakistani/middle eastern shows or even neglect the western programs. Therefore I do not agree with the judges choices about the winner, although Celina’s topic was very nice, I firmly believe that the tables were laid out in Amal’s speech, she was just explaining what was already there and what we disregard in our lives.
Grade 9
Grade 9, had one of the best speeches I have ever heard. Asma Rekhif’s speech about “the silent killer”, described what rumours can do t people. She explained that they can tear people apart; they destroy friendships and distort the boundary between who is your friend and who isn't. Asma explained how rumours are built, that they are inside of people, waiting to burst and explode, showing their true colours. She had a nice even tone to relate to the topic. Asma showed that great understanding of the topic, through well researched and thought out facts. She delivered the speech very well and included a few hand gestures, but I preferably would want more gestures, to show the level of confidence. Asma had the best speech in grade 9, and it was very well planned out, she explained that rumours even happen in LAS and they break people of their bonds. . This is very true as I have seen this in my life as well. Therefore she has shown that you need to think before you say something. She related it to herself and exclaimed that it needed to stop. In addition, therefore I agree with the judges choices in awarding Asma winner of the grade 9 speech competition.
Grade 10
Grade 10’s speeches were very informative, each speech and topic stated its views very clearly and backing them up with many reasons and facts. I strongly believe that Fatima Bokhari was had the best speech. She compared teenage life in the 1950s to 2000s in Pakistan; this was a topic I really wanted to hear. All of Fatima’s points were correct and exact, and they were even backed up with evidence from her grandparent’s childhoods. She showed that teenage life in the 2000s has become more lenient, whilst teenage life in the 1950s was a struggle for teens as they were not allowed to see other girls, they must sit at the dinner table when eating. All of these points were clearly stated. She showed integrity in her grandparent’s childhoods as they abided by the rules. Fatima memorized her speech completely, whilst others did not, doing so she was able to show her confidence. She used many hand gestures to state points and divide facts to one side of the argument and then to the other. Her posture was straight and her speech was an informative and persuasive one as she asked us to respect and honour our grandparent’s rights and morals, such as honesty and principles that were set by their parents. Her tone of the topic was informative and persuasive, that of a well speaker. Furthermore her voice could be heard from the back, where I sat. Therefore I agree with the judge’s opinions in Fatima Bokhari winning the grade 10 speech competition.
Grade 11
Grade 11’s speeches were very different to each other and each topic and each speech clearly put forward their view about the topic with relation to the speaker. I believe that out of the three speakers, Daayam Sial had the best speech but there were minor errors with delivering. Although even with these errors he still had the best speech which was cleverly planned out. Daayam’s speech was about “why people do crazy things”, he explained in his speech that people to it to seek attention sometimes, and neglect someone of something, such as Malala being shot in the head because the Taliban wanted to deny her the right of education. Also Daayam related his topic to himself which was very good, and he said that he is a licensed scuba diver and he does it for the adrenaline. I liked Daayam’s speech above all because it was something that I have never heard off and was anticipating to hear. When delivering Daayam spoke loud and clear, but overtime, he increased the pace of speaking and this distorted some of the facts and things he said as I could not hear then clear enough. I believe he was speaking quickly but it was enough for everyone to still hear what he said. He threw his voice to the corners of the TAB, which was fantastic to hear. He had good eye contact and good hand gestures explaining his facts. He was doing an informative speech. In the end, I do agree with the judge’s opinion in saying Daayam was the best in grade 11 and therefore wins.
Grade 12
Grade 12’s speeches for me were under my expectations; I believe that they should be done with more though and have more facts and vocabulary. Nevertheless there has to be a winner and for the winner was Zohat Parvez, she did her speech on “be the change”, and this would mean that instead of saying you will do something, or saying you will change Pakistan to become a better nations, do it. Don’t talk about changes that you want them to happen, make the changes happen, get up and do something about it. This was actually a very nice speech, it talked about if you can talk about things that you want happening, you can make them happen. Zohat did an excellent job in relating the amount of demanded changes in Pakistan to other countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. She clearly and firmly stated that you should go abroad to study and learn, but then come back to Pakistan to make it a thriving nation as it was. Make changes in Pakistan that others could not make and have only talked about making. She related the speech to excellent examples such as a TED talk which she attended and also to LAS students. When giving the speech, Zohat was excellent with eye contact she had a persuasive tone in her voice. Her voice spread to the bowels of the each seat in the TAB, it would be heard clearly and the facts were well researched. Her hand gestures were slightly lacking in confidence but they were enough to persuade the audience. I agree with the judge’s views about Zohat Parvez winning the grade 12 speech competition, her speech was well researched and very well rounded off.
My Speech
My speech was about the YouTube ban in Pakistan and other countries as well. I believe that research wise; I did a good job as there were lots of facts examples and lots of relation to Pakistan and videos concerning Pakistan. When overlooking my thesis, I believe that it does not really back up and support the introduction, so in the future I would want to have a tighter introduction stating my views about the YouTube ban. The most exasperating thing for me is that I did not time myself properly, my speech was too long. I had too much information in the speech and I should have preserved time and then used it for practising and getting my speech in the correct time constraint. Next time in the speech competition I would only use information in places where it is needed. I would focus more on the thesis and the time limit and keep in mind the content of my work. Also I would use more hand gestures to explain topics and show views and also talk at a nice, moderate pace. Lastly, I would memorize my speech and try to deliver it without any notes or such and still keep my eye contact constant.
