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the thesis statemen in the poem is about racial equality, and how people are constantly judged that they are bad people or even murderess because of the color of heir skin and people had had enough and wanted to change that so they started a small friendly protest which led to hundreds of people joining in

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I think the poet supports what these people did.  "Though many were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace, national media coverage of the sit-ins brought increasing attention to the civil rights movement." The poet talks about how even though there were consequences for some people for the sit in, it helped out a lot for the civil rights movement. I thought the entire time while i read this story that there were no changes in tone. The poet seemed to have felt the same throughout this article. In the beginning it talked about how they made a lasting impact, and that idea never changed.

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He feels very good about it because he states the sit-in-ers as brave. The shifts in tone are at the bottom, where he starts talking about god. It goes from quiet and kinda depressing to "hallelujia!" The shift helps me understand the poem because it shows me how black people felt about the whole thing.

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The poet includes strong words and phrases, such as " You were the first brave ones to defy their dissonance of hate ," and metaphors, " The first to blaze a flaming path for justice ." These words infer that the author speaks in an inspiring tone. The shift in the text is when the poet changes from talking about the actions of the protestors, to what they have created... "of new southern history." This shift shows how big of a difference the people that participated in the sit-in made for blacks.

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Based on the poem, the speaker seems to feel proud of the people who participated in the sit-in. The speaker seems to be speaking to the people who participated because she says, " You were the first brave ones to defy their dissonance of hate " Finally, the speaker says how what the people who sat down did was a beginning to some thing that is going to lead to social justice. This is seen by this piece from the text " The first to blaze a flaming path for justice"

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It only takes one person to elicit a change. Throughout her poem, the  author continues to refer to the "first brave ones" that spoke out and sparked a change. Their bravery paired with their  "willingness to suffer" shows these students as heroes, and they very much were, in a sense. The way the author puts it; they were "those first bright young to fling [their] names across pages of new southern history..." All that is needed is for one person to start the flame, and others will follow and let it burn brighter.

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The author praises the 4 African Americans for being the first to stand up or more sit down against segregation and to start something within everybody to react and do the same thing they had, they made history.

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Anyone who wants to overcome a challenge must face the obstacles and consequences of their actions, even if they do not want to do the things they need to. For instance, the author of the poem states "with your willingness to suffer," clearly referred to the African-Americans, means that they have had to deal with suffering throughout this whole segregated society. However,  from common knowledge and analyzing the poem, their challenges paid off; "the first to blaze a flaming path for justice," as the author states, shows that the African-Americans finally took a stand on segregation and had the willingness to overcome these difficult challenges.

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The first person that takes a step towards a goal sets a path for others to follow. The poet creates the meaning by using the word first in every line that is making a new point, for example, "The first to blaze a flaming path for justice," The poet tells all that was done by the first to achieve where we are now. She talks about their bravery, intelligence, faith, etc.

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this poem shows pride through some figurative language like "first to blaze a flaming path for justice". This quote stuck out the most for me because it shows how they are brave enough to stand up for their freedom

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After reading this poem i really felt it in my head because it really made me think. The tricks the poem uses is writing in 3rd person, like they're writing about someone else and someone else being the 4 students. The figurative language in this was formally written and i could tell this was thought over time and not written in 10 minutes.

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in this poem the author is basically congratulating the four young men and thanking them for there courageous acts to help stop segregation from continuing.

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I believe that this poem is felt at the heart and head for a lot of people because although the poem was short it had a lot of meaning to it. There are many strong words being conveyed which makes the text more understandable from the speaker. For example one quote she used to demonstrate how I felt it at the heart was "with your willingness to suffer" because she is directly speaker to a dedicated audience, and tell them that she is proud of them.

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Personally, I feel this poem in my heart. Margaret Walker Alexander uses strong language to convey what she's trying to say, "courage, faith, convictions, and intelligence,   The first to blaze a flaming path for justice" She also mentions the name of God. She's asking him to protect her from whatever could be forth coming, "

Come, Lord Jesus, Bold Young Galilean

Sit Beside this Counter, Lord, with Me!"

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The speaker wrote the poem as if she is talking directly to the participants of the sit in. She also commends them for being willing to suffer in order to prove their points.

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The author uses a very inspiring tone. Words he uses like "With silence, with your willingness to suffer, without violence".  It starts off very inspiring and calmer. Towards the last few lines it gets more detailed and the tone has more purpose. Things the author says like "The first to blaze a flaming path for justice, and awaken consciences." It helps you understand more of what needed to be done and the whole stories purpose.