Immigration

1
The Power of Words The Effectiveness of
Rhetoric in Letters and Speeches of the Civil War
Period A WebQuest/KnowledgeQuest11th Grade
for AP English Language and Composition
Designed byVernal Pope and Evelyn
Scottvpope_at_cherrycreekschools.org escott5_at_cherryc
reekschools.orgGrandview High School
8/12/05
2
Directions for Students

• Click once OR press the space key to advance to
  the next slide
• Press the backspace key to go back one slide
• Use the buttons at the bottom of each slide to go
  back and review any steps AFTER you have gone
  through all slides individually.
• Follow the directions on each slide

3
Introduction for Students

• Do you remember when you were young what you
  might have said in response to someone who was
  teasing you or calling you names? Sticks and
  stones may break my bones, but names will never
  hurt me. Maybe you didnt use these exact
  words, but one thing to consider is that the
  words that were used did hurt. People use words
  all the time that heal or hurt or help or hinder
  etc. In other words, words are powerful! Words
  are what help us to communicate on a personal,
  local, national or international level.
• Throughout history words have been used to
  enslave a people or liberate a people. Prior to
  and during the Civil War, words influenced those
  who lived in the South as well as those who lived
  in the North. Here is a brief collection of
  letters and speeches from 1851-1864 for your
  consideration in understanding rhetoric and the
  power of words.
• What rhetorical strategies are used in a speech
  and a letter and what are their impacts on an
  audience or a reader?

4
The Task for Students

• Students will read an American speech and letter
  from 1851-1864 and write a reflection on both.
• Students will next write an analytical essay on
  either the speech or letter that they found on
  the website.
• Students will write a speech or letter to the
  person or organization of their choice that has a
  tone of persuasive political intent, or fosters
  community, or seeks to eradicate discrimination.

5
The Process for Students

• 1. Define rhetoric.
• 2. What does close reading mean?
• 3. What is the difference between a letter and a
  speech?
• 4. List the traits of a letter.
• 5. List the traits of a speech.

6
The Process for Students

• 6. For what purpose might an early American
  writer have used a letter to convey his or her
  message?
• 7. For what purpose might an early American
  writer have used a speech to convey his or her
  message?

7
The Process for Students

• 8. List the elements of an argument and
  persuasive appeals.
• 9. Read and discuss both early American speech
  and letter noting the authors use of language
  and rhetorical strategies.
• http//memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/words.html
  American Memory Collection on Frederick Douglass
• http//memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html
  American Memory Collection on Abraham Lincoln
• http//memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html
  American Memory Collection of George Washington
• http//memory.loc.gov/ammem/mcchtml/wombib.htmlEB
  American Memory Collection Womens
  History--Manuscripts

8
The Process for Students

• 10. Find both an early American speech and
  letter read it and write a reflection on both.
• 11. What are the rhetorical purposes of both the
  speech and letter that you found from the
  American Memory Collection?
• 12. What rhetorical strategies do the writers
  use to convey their purposes?

9
The Process for Students

• 13. Describe the audience for whom these works
  were intended to be read.
• 14. Identify words or phrases that give you
  clues about the authors purpose and audience.
• 15. Write an analytical essay on either the
  speech or letter that you found on the website.

10
The Process for Students

• 16. What purpose does each persuasive appeal
  serve in a letter and a speech?
• 17. Based on the early American speech or letter
  that you found in Part II, write a speech or
  letter to the person of your choice that has a
  tone of persuasive political intent, or fosters
  community, or seeks to eradicate discrimination.

11
Evaluation for Students

• Evaluation Rubric

12
Conclusion for Students

• Students will understand rhetoric and the power
  of language. Students will understand how
  writers or speakers use rhetorical strategies to
  convey their ideas and purposes. As students
  continue throughout the course of the year, their
  critical reading and thinking skills will gain
  more depth. As a result they will become
  stronger writers and better communicators.

13
Credits References

• Template created 2005 by An Adventure of the
  American Mind Colorado. Based on a template
  from The WebQuest Page and a PowerPoint project
  created by Sandy Breed, Library Information
  Specialist at Golden High School, Golden, CO.

14
The Power of Words The Effectiveness of
Rhetoric in Letters and Speeches of the Civil War
Period A WebQuest/KnowledgeQuest11th Grade
for AP English Language and Composition
Designed byVernal Pope and Evelyn
Scottvpope_at_cherrycreekschools.org escott5_at_cherryc
reekschools.orgGrandview High School
8/12/05
15
Directions

• Click once OR press the space key to advance to
  the next slide
• Press the backspace key to go back one slide
• Use the buttons at the bottom of each slide to go
  back and review any steps AFTER you have gone
  through all slides individually.
• Follow the directions on each slide

16
Introduction

• This lesson is designed as an introduction to
  rhetoric for AP English Language and Composition
  students to help prepare them for the national AP
  Exam. It is a collaborative effort to promote
  the library awareness within students and
  introduce them to the wealth of resources
  available to them on a local and national level.
• The purpose of this letter is to introduce
  students to rhetoric, close reading, rhetorical
  strategies, and the elements of argument through
  exploration of letters and speeches of the civil
  war era.

17
About Your Learners

• This lesson is for 11th grade AP English Language
  and Composition students.
• It may be helpful to lead students in a
  discussion of the purpose letters and speeches
  are used today.

18
Learning Standards

• Students will understand rhetoric and the power
  of language. Students will understand how
  writers or speakers use rhetorical strategies to
  convey their ideas and purposes. As students
  continue throughout the course of the year, their
  critical reading and thinking skills will gain
  more depth. As a result they will become
  stronger writers and better communicators.
  Students will write reflections, and analytical
  essay on rhetorical strategies, and speech or
  letter with political intent.
•  

19
Learning Standards

• 1. Students read and understand a variety of
  materials.
• using a full range of strategies to comprehend
  essays, speeches, autobiographies, and
  first-person historical documents in addition to
  the types of literature mentioned above.
• 2. Students write and speak for a variety of
  purposes and audiences.
• 3. Students write and speak using conventional
  grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation,
  capitalization,
• and spelling.
• 4. Students apply thinking skills to their
  reading, writing, speaking, listening, and
  viewing.
• 5. Students read to locate, select, and make use
  of relevant information from a variety of media,
  reference, and
• technological sources.
• 6. Students read and recognize literature as a
  record of human experience.
• knowing what constitutes literary quality based
  on elements such as the author's point of view,
  the author's selection of significant details,
  theme development, and the author's reflection of
  events and ideas of his or her lifetime and
• critiquing the content of written work and oral
  presentations.

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The Process

• This is a one to two week interdisciplinary
  lesson. There are three parts to the lesson. The
  teacher could end the lesson at any part if they
  chose to do so.

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The Process

• Begin by defining rhetoric. Allow the students
  to take notes.
• 2. Discuss what it means to do a close reading.
  Explain to students that this is what the AP exam
  asks them to do.

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The Process

• Next Discuss or have students answer these
  questions on paper.
• 3. What is the difference between a letter and a
  speech?
• 4. List the elements of an argument and
  persuasive appeals.
• 5. List the traits of a letter.
• 6. List the traits of a speech.

23
The Process

• Students should continue responding to the
  following questions
• 7. For what purpose might an early American
  writer have used a letter to convey his or her
• message?
• 8. Under what conditions might an early American
  writer have used a speech to convey his or her
  message?

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The Process

• 9. Students are to read and discuss both early
  American speech and letter noting the authors
  use of language and rhetorical strategies.
• 10. Read the letter and speech and excerpt from
  Lincoln, Todd, Douglass, and Wendell Phillips.
  The links are provided Write a reflection on
  both the letter and speech.
• 11. What are the rhetorical purposes of both the
  speech and letter that you found from the
  American Memory Collection? 9. Read and discuss
  both early American speech and letter noting the
  authors use of language and rhetorical
  strategies.
• 10. Find both an early American speech and
  letter read it and write a reflection on both.
• 11. What are the rhetorical purposes of both the
  speech and letter that you found from the
  American Memory Collection?

25
The Process

• 12. What rhetorical strategies do the writers
  use to convey their purposes?
• 13. Describe the audience for whom these works
  were intended to be read.
• 14. Identify words or phrases that give you
  clues about the authors purpose and audience.

26
The Process

• 15. Write an analytical essay on either the
  speech or letter that you found on the website.
• 16. What purpose does each persuasive appeal
  serve in a letter and a speech?
• 17. Based on the early American speech or letter
  that you found in Part II, write a speech or
  letter to the person of your choice that has a
  tone of persuasive political intent, or fosters
  community, or seeks to eradicate discrimination.

27
Resources Needed

• Hard Copies of the following are needed
• Lincolns Gettysburg Address
• The letter requesting Lincolns attendance to the
  dedication of Gettysburg
• Mary Todds letter to Lincoln requesting the
  removal of a general
• Wendell Phillips letter in the preface of the
  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
• Letter to Hodges
• Sojourner Truths speech Aint I a Woman

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Resources Needed

• If the lesson makes extensive use of specific
  websites, it would be appropriate to list,
  describe and link them here.
• It would also be helpful to link the names of
  books suggested to Amazon or other online sources.

29
Resources Needed

• The students will need access to computers to
  access the American Memory Collection.
• Laminated copies of copies the original documents
  would be helpful for students
• A list of rhetorical strategies terms and
  elements of argument will also be helpful for
  students.

30
Evaluation

• Learners will be evaluated on the following
  items Responses to questions, Reflections on
  Speech and Letter, Analytical Essay and their own
  speech and letter. A rubric will be used to
  score students individually.
• Students will understand rhetoric and the power
  of language. Students will understand how
  writers or speakers use rhetorical strategies to
  convey their ideas and purposes. Click the link
  for the Evaluation Rubric

31
Conclusion

• As students continue throughout the course of the
  year, their critical reading and thinking skills
  will gain more depth. As a result they will
  become stronger writers and better communicators.

32
Credits References

• Template created 2005 by An Adventure of the
  American Mind Colorado. Based on a template
  from The WebQuest Page and a PowerPoint project
  created by Sandy Breed, Library Information
  Specialist at Golden High School, Golden, CO.