HSC English First Paper - Unit Seven - Human Rights
Unit Seven: Human Rights
Lesson 1: Are We Aware of These
Rights? –I
□ Look at the pictures below. What is happening in
each picture? What is common In the pictures?
□ If these are human rights violations, write a
paragraph on what you mean by human rights.
2. Group work. Discuss what you would do in the
following situations and why.
Some of your friends do not agree with you on
certain issues. They have their own belief but they are few in number. Will you
impose your own beliefs on them? Why/Why not?
Some people tell you that they do not like what you
are doing. Will you force them to keep silent as you are very powerful? Why/Why
not?
Some people dominate others who belong to different
gender or race or cultural identity. Do you support them? Why/Why not?
3. Answer the following questions:
a. What is the equivalent expression for Human
Rights in Bangla?
b. How are the following words related to human
rights?
i. freedom of speech
ii. freedom of belief
iii. freedom of press
iv. right to education
v. right to food
vi. right to safe shelter
vii. activism
viii. protection
ix. violation
c. Do you know what rights men, women and children
have as human beings? Make a list. If you don't know, imagine what the rights
may include.
For example
A human being has the right to express his or her
opinion without any fear.
i……………………………………
ii……………………………………
iii…………………………………
iv……………………………………
4. Fill in gaps in the following articles of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights with appropriate words from the box
below. One is done for you.
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal ...
dignity and rights. They ... endowed ... reason ... conscience and ... act
towards one ... in the spirit ... brotherhood.
Article 2: Everyone is entitled to ... the rights and
freedoms set forth in this Declaration ... distinction of any kind, such ...
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political ... other opinion, national or
social origin, property, birth or ... status. Furthermore, no distinction ...
be made on the basis ... the political, jurisdictional or international status
... the country or territory to which... person belongs.
Article 3: Everyone has the right... life, liberty and
security of person.
of without and should in are with shall to as other
or of another all
4.1 Work with a partner and discuss whether we
enjoy all the rights mentioned in the Declaration.
5. Read the texts in Column A and match them with
Column B:
|
Column
A
|
Column
B
|
|
a. No
one shall be held in slavery or
servitude;
b. No
one shall be subjected to torture
or to cruel, inhuman
c. Everyone
has the right to recognition
everywhere
d. All
are equal before the law and are
e. No
one shall be subjected
f. Everyone
has the right to freedom of
movement and residence
g. Everyone
has the right to leave any
country including his
h. Everyone
has the right to freedom of
peaceful
i. No one may be
|
i. within
the borders of each state.
ii. compelled
to belong to an association.
iii. own,
and to return to his country.
iv. entitled
without any discrimination
to equal protection of the law.
v. to
arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
vi. or
degrading treatment or punishment.
vii. as
a person before the law.
viii. assembly
and association.
ix. slavery
and the slave trade shall be
prohibited in all their forms. |
5.1 Work with a friend and check your answers.
5.2 Discuss whether these declarations are
essentials for human beings or not.
5.3 Write your arguments in favour of or against
these declarations.
Lesson 2: Are We Aware of These
Rights? –II
1.
Warm up activity:
□ Pick up the day's newspapers (at least two) and
find out stories about violation of human rights / rights of children, women,
the disadvantaged, ethnic minorities etc. and summarize them in a paragraph.
2. Read the following texts which are some of the
articles of the Declarations of Human Rights.
Article 12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks
upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the
law against such interference or attacks.
Article 14. (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to
enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of
prosecutions genuinely arising from nonpolitical crimes or from acts contrary
to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15. (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any
limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to
found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during
marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the
free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group
unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or
belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and
observance.
Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion
and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any
media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of
peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an
association.
Article 21. (1) Everyone has the right to take part in
the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen
representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right to equal access to
public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of
the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and
genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be
held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
3. Match the words in Column A with their meanings
in Column B:
|
Column A
|
Column B
|
|
a. asylum
b. arbitrarily
c. prosecution
d. dissolution
e. conscience
f. manifest
g. genuine
h. suffrage
|
i. conducting of legal proceedings against
someone.
ii. the closing down or dismiss of an assembly,
body etc.
iii. an inner feeling or voice which directs
one's behavior.
iv. protection granted by a nation to someone who
left his
or her native country or as a political refugee.
v. clear or obvious to the eye or mind.
vi. authentic
vii. the right to vote in political election.
viii. determined by chance, whim or impulse and
not by
reason or principle.
|
4. Refugees who have to leave their own countries for political, economic and other reasons have to lose many of the rights above. The provision of which articles above are denied to them?
5. What do you think freedom of expression and
freedom of assembly imply? Write a page explaining what you mean by the terms.
6. Write a paragraph on any of the ethnic groups in
Bangladesh. (150 words)
Lesson 3: Rights to Health and
Education
1.
Warm up activity:
□ Discuss in small groups what each of you think
the term 'Human Rights' means. See if the points you come up with are similar
to the ones described in the text below.
2. The following text has extracts from the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are about health and education. Read
them and say whether your country has been able to comply with these
declarations.
Article 25: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of
living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and of one's family,
including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social
services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness,
disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond one's control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to
special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock,
shall enjoy the same social protection.
Your opinion: I think my country has been able/not been
able to comply with this because..........
Article 26: (1) Everyone has the right to education.
Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.
Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education
shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally
accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full
development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding,
tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and
shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of
peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind
of education that shall be given to their children.
Your opinion: I think my country has been able/not been able to
comply with this because............
a. How many articles are there in the declaration?
b. How many have not been mentioned here? Briefly
discuss one of them.
4. Write an essay of 300 words using the answers to
the following questions:
a. What is the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights?
b. Which organization has formulated this
declaration?
c. Why is this declaration made? What do you know
about the intentions of the UN regarding the declaration?
d. Which are the most important declarations to
you?
e. Did you know them beforehand?
f. How will the knowledge of this declaration help
you as a citizen?
5. It is said that education makes an individual
aware of his / her own rights and the rights of others. Do you think this has
been the case with you? If not, why not?
Lesson 4: Amerigo, a Street Child
1.
Warm up activity:
Look at the pictures and then discuss the following
questions in small groups.
□ Who do you think are these children? What would
you call them tn your own language?
□ What are they doing?
□ Do these pictures contradict the idea behind the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
□ Have you got such children tn your locality? What
problems do they have In their lives?
2. Read the following story and answer the
questions that follow:
My name is Amerigo. I am 13 years old and I live on
the street, alone. My mother, who is separated from my father, doesn't want me.
She told me to go away.... Now she is married to another man. My father lives
very far away. I want to go to him, but he won't take me either. I begged him
to send me some money so that I could buy a bus ticket 1 am still waiting. He
hasn't answered.
The streets are now my home. Sometimes I find work.
I used to collect trash and sell it to a vendor. I stopped doing that after I
had a serious infection and a doctor told me to stay away from the trash dump.
Once I worked for an ice cream shop owner and sold ice cream on the beach. But
I got no money in return. The owner of the shop gave me something to eat, and
Let me sleep in his hut at night The work was difficult and painful. The ice
cream boa is quite heavy when it is full. I had to walk for hours, offering my
ice cream to whoever wanted to buy. There were days when I could not even sell
one ice cream.
In a way, I am lucky because I am alive. My friends
who work sorting rubbish in dumps often suffer from serious diseases. One of
them was recently killed after he fell into a hole that opened up in the pile
of trash. Many of us work for 10 to 12 hours, and get so little in return that
we can't even buy food.
Shoe-shining is very popular among the street kids.
A few of my friends also work in factories and workshops. A boy I know lost one
of his eyes after a piece of hot glass flew into his eye at the glass factory
where he worked. The owner refused to pay for medical help and fired him.
For me, like all other children on the street, it
is very hard. I am always hungry, and I don't know where I will sleep the next
night I would like to live in my own home and sleep there in peace. The nights
are very cold in the winter. You can die of cold in the street
[taken from
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3. Answer the following questions:
a. What is your impression about Amerigo's parents?
b. What was Amerigo's first job? What made him stop
doing that job?
c. How is Amerigo's experience of selling ice
cream?
d. How does Amerigo evaluate his life now? Does he
have any option to change it?
e. What does Amerigo desire now? Should he desire
such things? Why/Why not?
f. If you were Amerigo, what would you do?
g. Have you ever met a boy or a girl like Amerigo?
If yes, write about him/her.
h. What should society do for children like
Amerigo?
4. Make a list of the differences between yours,
and Amerigo's lives:
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Amerigo's
life
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My life
(similarities)
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My life
(dissimilarities)
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Now use these points and write a paragraph on the
similarities and dissimilarities you have with a street child.
5. Read the first paragraph of Amerigo's story.
What form of speech is used here - direct or indirect speech?
5.1 Now read the following text. What form of
speech is used here: direct or indirect?
His name was Amerigo .... His father lived very far
away. He wanted to go to his father, but he (the father) won't have taken him
either. He had begged him (his father) to send some money so that he could buy
a bus ticket. He was waiting. However, his father hadn't answered.
5.2 Convert the following text into indirect
speech.
Amerigo says, In a way, I am lucky because I am
alive. My friends who work sorting rubbish in dumps often suffer from serious
diseases. One of them was recently killed after he fell into a hole that opened
up in the pile of trash.'
6. Summarise Amerigo's story in 150 words and give
it a title which is different from the title of the lesson.
Lesson 5: Human Rights
1.
Warm up activity:
□ In a group talk about the child labour situation
in Bangladesh. You must have seen children as young as 7 or 8 working in
households, shops, rickshaw or motor garages and in a number of other
professions. Do you think they can exercise any of their rights?
□ How do employers treat child labourers? What
human rights do the employers violate?
□ Write a page on the plight of street children in
our cities.
2. Now read this poem and see what happens to a
young boy who was doing a man's work. The boy was working alone sawing wood in
a yard in rural New England. There were no adequate protections for him, and
the inevitable happened towards sunset one day when his sister announced the
time for supper.
The poem has been written by the American poet
Robert Frost (1874-1963), who is known for his poems-mostly set in New England,
in the North-Eastern part of USA - which depict the social realities and the
philosophical concerns of his time.
'Out, Out-' by Robert Frost
The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of
wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and
rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside him in her apron
To tell them 'Supper.' At the word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,
Leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap
He must have given the hand. However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
The boy's first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man's work, though a child at heart
He saw all spoiled. "Don't let him cut my hand
off
The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!"
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then-the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little - less - nothing! - and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
3. What happens to the boy at the end? Why?
4. What does the poet mean when he says "And
they, since they/ Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs?" Who are
'they'?
5. What attitude of society to the tragic incident
is reflected in the last two lines of the poem?
6. Poets use irony as a literary technique to
convey a meaning or attitude which
differs from or is opposed to the literal meaning.
Find out how Frost employs irony in lines 14-18, and to what effect.
7. Is there any significance in the way Frost
arranges the background landscape
in the poem, particularly the five mountain ranges?
8. Where is the poem set? Who are at work and what
kind of work do they do?
9. What is the role of the boy's sister in the
poem?
10. What poetic effect do the words "Little -
less - nothing!" produce?
11. What effect does the repetition of the line
"snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled" produce?
12. Find out the meanings of the following words:
a. buzz-saw
b. snarl
c. rattle
d. apron
e. spill
f. plight
13. Do you think the boy should have been allowed
to do the dangerous work? Who is responsible for his death? Which of his rights
have been violated?
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