1
Write an essay (500-700 words) about Julian Castro's keynote speech.
2
3
4
In your essay you must analyse the text and include the key words we have talked about
(pentagon, appeal forms, claim, data, warrant, etc.). Your essay should be structured with
an introduction, an argument with a number of points, and a conclusion.
5
6
7
8
Democratic National Convention 2012
9
September 4, 2012
10
Transcript of San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro's keynote speech at the Democratic National
11
Convention, as prepared for delivery:
12
13
14
Jason Reed/Reuters/Landov
15
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro delivers the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.,
16
on Tuesday.
17
My fellow Democrats, my fellow Texans, my fellow Americans: I stand before you tonight as a
18
young American, a proud American, of a generation born as the Cold War receded1, shaped by the
1
Recede: ophøre
19
tragedy of 9/11, connected by the digital revolution and determined to re-elect the man who will
20
make the 21st century another American century — President Barack Obama.
21
The unlikely journey that brought me here tonight began many miles from this podium. My brother
22
Joaquin and I grew up with my mother Rosie and my grandmother Victoria. My grandmother was
23
an orphan2. As a young girl, she had to leave her home in Mexico and move to San Antonio, where
24
some relatives had agreed to take her in. She never made it past the fourth grade. She had to drop
25
out and start working to help her family. My grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid, a
26
cook and a babysitter, barely scraping by3, but still working hard to give my mother, her only child,
27
a chance in life, so that my mother could give my brother and me an even better one.
28
As my grandmother got older, she begged my mother to give her grandchildren. She prayed to
29
God for just one grandbaby before she died. You can imagine her excitement when she found out
30
her prayers would be answered—twice over4. She was so excited that the day before Joaquin and
31
I were born she entered a menudo cook-off5, and she won $300! That's how she paid our hospital
32
bill.
33
By the time my brother and I came along, this incredible woman had taught herself to read and
34
write in both Spanish and English. I can still see her in the room that Joaquin and I shared with her,
35
reading her Agatha Christie novels late into the night. And I can still remember her, every morning
36
as Joaquin and I walked out the door to school, making the sign of the cross behind us, saying,
37
"Que dios los bendiga." "May God bless you."
38
My grandmother didn't live to see us begin our lives in public service6. But she probably would
39
have thought it extraordinary that just two generations after she arrived in San Antonio, one
40
grandson would be the mayor and the other would be on his way—the good people of San Antonio
41
willing—to the United States Congress.
42
My family's story isn't special. What's special is the America that makes our story possible. Ours is
43
a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation. No matter
44
who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward.
45
America didn't become the land of opportunity by accident. My grandmother's generation and
46
generations before always saw beyond the horizons of their own lives and their own
Orphan: forældreløs
Barely scraping by: knap og nap klare sig igennem
4 Twice over: to gange
5 Cook-off: madlavnings-konkurrence
6 Public service: offentligt embede
2
3
47
circumstances. They believed that opportunity created today would lead to prosperity7 tomorrow.
48
That's the country they envisioned, and that's the country they helped build. The roads and bridges
49
they built, the schools and universities they created, the rights they fought for and won—these
50
opened the doors to a decent8 job, a secure retirement9, the chance for your children to do better
51
than you did.
52
And that's the middle class—the engine of our economic growth. With hard work, everybody ought
53
to be able to get there. And with hard work, everybody ought to be able to stay there—and go
54
beyond10. The dream of raising a family in a place where hard work is rewarded11 is not unique to
55
Americans. It's a human dream, one that calls across oceans and borders. The dream is universal,
56
but America makes it possible. And our investment in opportunity makes it a reality.
57
Now, in Texas, we believe in the rugged12 individual. Texas may be the one place where people
58
actually still have bootstraps13, and we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. But we also
59
recognize there are some things we can't do alone. We have to come together and invest in
60
opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow.
61
And it starts with education. Twenty years ago, Joaquin and I left home for college and then for law
62
school. In those classrooms, we met some of the brightest folks in the world. But at the end of our
63
days there, I couldn't help but to think back to my classmates at Thomas Jefferson High School in
64
San Antonio. They had the same talent, the same brains, the same dreams as the folks we sat with
65
at Stanford and Harvard. I realized the difference wasn't one of intelligence or drive14. The
66
difference was opportunity.
67
In my city of San Antonio, we get that. So we're working to ensure that more four-year-olds have
68
access to pre-K15. We opened Cafe College, where students get help with everything from test
69
prep16 to financial aid17 paperwork. We know that you can't be pro-business unless you're pro-
70
education. We know that pre-K and student loans aren't charity18. They're a smart investment in a
Prosperity: velstand
Decent: ordentligt
9 Retirement: pensionsalder
10 Go beyond: kommer længere
11 Reward: belønne
12 Rugged: hårdfør
13 Bootstrap: rem/hank på støvlerne
14 Drive: drive/drivkraft/ihærdighed
15 Pre-K: pre-kindergarten – det vi i Danmark kalder børnehave
16 Prep: preparation = forberedelse
17 Aid: hjælp
18 Charity: velgørenhed
7
8
71
workforce that can fill and create the jobs of tomorrow. We're investing in our young minds today to
72
be competitive19 in the global economy tomorrow.
73
And it's paying off. Last year the Milken Institute ranked San Antonio as the nation's top performing
74
local economy. And we're only getting started. Opportunity today, prosperity tomorrow.
75
Now, like many of you, I watched last week's Republican convention. They told a few stories of
76
individual success. We all celebrate individual success. But the question is, how do we multiply
77
that success? The answer is President Barack Obama.
78
Mitt Romney, quite simply, doesn't get it. A few months ago he visited a university in Ohio and
79
gave the students there a little entrepreneurial20 advice. "Start a business," he said. But how?
80
"Borrow money if you have to from your parents," he told them. Gee, why didn't I think of that?
81
Some people are lucky enough to borrow money from their parents, but that shouldn't determine
82
whether you can pursue your dreams. I don't think Governor Romney meant any harm. I think he's
83
a good guy. He just has no idea how good he's had it.
84
We know that in our free market economy some will prosper more than others. What we don't
85
accept is the idea that some folks won't even get a chance. And the thing is, Mitt Romney and the
86
Republican Party are perfectly comfortable21 with that America. In fact, that's exactly what they're
87
promising us.
88
The Romney-Ryan budget doesn't just cut public education, cut Medicare, cut transportation and
89
cut job training.
90
It doesn't just pummel22 the middle class—it dismantles23 it. It dismantles what generations before
91
have built to ensure that everybody can enter and stay in the middle class. When it comes to
92
getting the middle class back to work, Mitt Romney says, "No." When it comes to respecting
93
women's rights, Mitt Romney says, "No." When it comes to letting people marry whomever they
94
love, Mitt Romney says, "No." When it comes to expanding access24 to good health care, Mitt
95
Romney says, "No."
Competitive: konkurrencedygtige
Entrepreneurial: iværksætter
21 Comfortable: godt tilfreds
22 Pummel: slå på
23 Dismantle: afmontere, nedbryde
24 Access: adgang
19
20
96
Actually, Mitt Romney said, "Yes," and now he says, "No." Governor Romney has undergone an
97
extreme makeover, and it ain't pretty. So here's what we're going to say to Mitt Romney. We're
98
going to say, "No."
99
Of all the fictions we heard last week in Tampa25, the one I find most troubling is this: If we all just
100
go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it. Because if we sever26 the threads27 that connect
101
us, the only people who will go far are those who are already ahead. We all understand that
102
freedom isn't free. What Romney and Ryan don't understand is that neither is opportunity. We
103
have to invest in it.
104
Republicans tell us that if the most prosperous28 among us do even better, that somehow the rest
105
of us will too. Folks, we've heard that before. First they called it "trickle-down."29 Then "supply-
106
side." Now it's "Romney-Ryan." Or is it "Ryan-Romney"? Either way, their theory has been tested.
107
It failed. Our economy failed. The middle class paid the price. Your family paid the price.
108
Mitt Romney just doesn't get it. But Barack Obama gets it. He understands that when we invest in
109
people we're investing in our shared prosperity. And when we neglect30 that responsibility, we risk
110
our promise as a nation. Just a few years ago, families that had never asked for anything found
111
themselves at risk of losing everything. And the dream my grandmother held, that work would be
112
rewarded, that the middle class would be there, if not for her, then for her children—that dream
113
was being crushed.
114
But then President Obama took office—and he took action. When Detroit was in trouble, President
115
Obama saved the auto industry and saved a million jobs. Seven presidents before him—
116
Democrats and Republicans—tried to expand health care to all Americans. President Obama got it
117
done. He made a historic investment to lift our nation's public schools and expanded Pell grants31
118
so that more young people can afford college. And because he knows that we don't have an ounce
119
of talent to waste, the president took action to lift the shadow of deportation32 from a generation of
120
young, law-abiding immigrants called dreamers.
Tampa: der hvor modstanderne (Republikanerne) holdt deres nomineringskonvent
Sever: klippe over
27 Thread: tråd
28 Prosperous: velhavende
29 Trickle-down: ”domino” eller (positiv) afsmitning
30 Neglect: undlader, bevidst overser
31 Pell grant: studiestøtte
32 Deportation: udvisning
25
26
121
I believe in you. Barack Obama believes in you. Now it's time for Congress to enshrine33 in law
122
their right to pursue their dreams in the only place they've ever called home: America.
123
Four years ago, America stood on the brink of a depression. Despite incredible odds and united
124
Republican opposition, our president took action, and now we've seen 4.5 million new jobs. He
125
knows better than anyone that there's more hard work to do, but we're making progress. And now
126
we need to make a choice.
127
It's a choice between a country where the middle class pays more so that millionaires can pay
128
less—or a country where everybody pays their fair share, so we can reduce the deficit34 and create
129
the jobs of the future. It's a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and guts
130
Pell grants—or a nation that invests more in education. It's a choice between a politician who
131
rewards companies that ship American jobs overseas—or a leader who brings jobs back home.
132
This is the choice before us. And to me, to my generation and for all the generations to come, our
133
choice is clear. Our choice is a man who's always chosen us. A man who already is our president:
134
Barack Obama.
135
In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay35. Our families don't
136
always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the
137
next the fruits of their labor. My grandmother never owned a house. She cleaned other people's
138
houses so she could afford to rent her own. But she saw her daughter become the first in her
139
family to graduate from college. And my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop,
140
I could hold this microphone.
141
And while she may be proud of me tonight, I've got to tell you, Mom, I'm even more proud of you.
142
Thank you, Mom. Today, my beautiful wife Erica and I are the proud parents of a three-year-old
143
little girl, Carina Victoria, named after my grandmother.
144
A couple of Mondays ago was her first day of pre-K. As we dropped her off, we walked out of the
145
classroom, and I found myself whispering to her, as was once whispered to me, "Que dios te
146
bendiga." "May God bless you." She's still young, and her dreams are far off yet, but I hope she'll
147
reach them. As a dad, I'm going to do my part, and I know she'll do hers. But our responsibility as a
148
nation is to come together and do our part, as one community, one United States of America, to
149
ensure opportunity for all of our children.
Enshrine: stadfæste ved lov
Deficit: statsunderskud
35 Relay: stafet-løb/etappeløb
33
34
150
The days we live in are not easy ones, but we have seen days like this before, and America
151
prevailed36. With the wisdom of our founders37 and the values of our families, America prevailed.
152
With each generation going further than the last, America prevailed. And with the opportunity we
153
build today for a shared prosperity tomorrow, America will prevail.
154
It begins with re-electing Barack Obama. It begins with you. It begins now. Que dios los bendiga.
155
May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
156
157
158
36
37
Prevail: komme succesrigt igennem
Founder: grundlægger