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The Hurricane

Date: May 04 2000

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

folks
hard

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Plot: Rubin, a champion boxer, is put in jail for killing three people. He says he didn’t do it. Four young people read his book about what happened, and devote their lives to getting him out of jail.
Clip: In this scene, Lesra comes to the jail to meet Rubin (Denzel Washington). Rubin asks Lesra about the three friends he’s living with. They are helping Lesra get educated, and Rubin is curious why.

Dialog

1. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Rubin

Lesra

Rubin: So, tell me about these folks.

Lesra: Oh, the Canadians. Yeah, I got pictures of them. Yeah, they’re cool. This is Sam, this is Terry and this is Lisa. They’re the greatest, man. I met them at the EPA in Brooklyn, and you know, they was doin’ business. They brought me home and stuff, and that’s what happened, man. That’s when my life changed, Rube (Rubin’s nickname).

Rubin: They just yanked a brother up and took him up to Canada, just like that?

Lesra: No, no. They asked my folks.

Rubin: I see. So what’d they do? Are they a religious group, or hippies in a commune?

Lesra: No, they fix up houses or somethin’, you know? They’re just people.

Rubin: Just people? Just workin’, eatin’, livin’ together.

Lesra: I don’t know. It’s just what they do, man. It’s their thing. *

Rubin: What’d your folks say?

Lesra: Oh my dad, you know, he’s happy.

Rubin: You see ‘em much?

Lesra: Yeah, but sometimes it’s hard.*

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Discussion

This conversation is between two men who are meeting for the first time. It’s not really polite, but it’s not casual either. Lesra has a thick accent and doesn’t finish a lot of his words. That’s why some are written like, “somethin’” instead of “something.” It might be a little hard to understand when listening, but written out, it’s a little easier. Denzel Washington does a good job in this movie. He was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars. But other than that, I wasn’t really impressed. The movie was long (3 hours) and it could have been shorter. There were some good, touching scenes in the middle, but the end was very predictable. I give it a 5 out of 10 (10 being the best, 1 the worst). From the front row, John