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Persuasion

Lesson Plan

Persuasion

Objectives

In this lesson, students analyze the use of persuasion in literature. Students will: [IS.4 - Language Function]

  • identify and analyze author’s purpose for using persuasion in particular literary selections. [IS.5 - Struggling Learners]
  • identify the persuasive techniques employed by the author. [IS.6 - Struggling Learners] [IS.7 - Level 1]

Essential Questions

How do strategic readers create meaning from informational and literary text?
How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?
What is this text really about?
  • How does interaction with text promote thinking and response?

Vocabulary

[IS.1 - Preparation ]

[IS.2 - ELP Standards]

[IS.3 - Struggling Learners]

 

 

  • Author’s Purpose: The author’s intent either to inform or teach someone about something, to entertain people, or to persuade or convince the audience to do or not do something.
  • Figurative Language: Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling.
  • Metaphor: A figure of speech that expresses an idea through the image of another object. Metaphors suggest the essence of the first object by identifying it with certain qualities of the second object. An example is “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun” in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Here, Juliet, the first object, is identified with qualities of the second object, the sun.

Duration

120–180 minutes/ 2–3 class periods

Prerequisite Skills

Prerequisite Skills haven't been entered into the lesson plan.

Materials

[IS.8 - ELL Students]

o   Text of Lyndon B. Johnson’s “We Shall Overcome” speech (http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/johnson.htm) [IS.10 - Struggling Learners]

o   Video and text of Shirley Chisholm’s speech “For the Equal Rights Amendment” (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/shirleychisholmequalrights.htm) [IS.11 - Struggling Learners]

o   “We Shall Overcome” recording by Pete Seeger at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhnPVP23rzo or by Mahalia Jackson at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmR1YvfIGng.)

o   “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

o   The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm

Related Unit and Lesson Plans

Related Materials & Resources

The possible inclusion of commercial websites below is not an implied endorsement of their products, which are not free, and are not required for this lesson plan.

  • “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” by Hillary Clinton

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/hillaryclintonbeijingspeech.htm

  • Marc Antony Addresses Roman Citizenry on the Death of Julius Caesar from the 1953 movie Julius Caesar

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechjuliuscaesarantony.html

  • “Scrutinize older drivers”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2007-04-16-edit_N.htm

  • “Seniors are more cautious”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2007-04-16-oppose_N.htm

Formative Assessment

  • View
    • Observe students as they work on the analysis of Martin Luther King’s speech to identify individuals who will need extra support. [IS.20 - All Students] The group presentations will indicate student understanding. Review or reteach as necessary.
    • Offer students the opportunity to revise their analysis of King’s speech after reading and listening to the observations of others.

Suggested Instructional Supports

  • View
    Scaffolding, Active Engagement, Modeling, Explicit Instruction
    W: Analyze ways in which persuasion is used in literature and the author’s reason for using it in particular selections. [IS.17 - Struggling Learners]
    H: Engage students by having them identify persuasive techniques used in a speech from a familiar movie.
    E: Have students work in groups to create written responses, [IS.18 - Struggling Learners] which provide support for the initial analysis and then provide an opportunity for students to discuss responses with their classmates and to revise their own response if necessary.
    R: Provide opportunities for students to reflect on their reading while writing their own observations about selected examples of persuasion and encourage students to reconsider their initial responses and to revise them if their thinking has changed. [IS.19 - Struggling Learners]
    E: Have students evaluate their work by deciding whether revision of their individual response is necessary.
    T: Provide for group work, class discussion, and individual performance.
    O: Structure the lesson by beginning with analysis of a familiar speech, followed by class discussion, having students write the first analytical responses with a group, and then write individual responses.

     

    IS.1 - Preparation
    Preparation: List the ELLs in this class and their level(s) of English proficiency.  
    IS.2 - ELP Standards
    Include the ELP standard(s) to be addressed in this lesson.  
    IS.3 - Struggling Learners
    Struggling learners need to have the vocabulary defined using a type of graphic organizer such as the Frayer Model, but also need to have the vocabulary reviewed daily and be afforded the opportunities to use the vocabulary through application.  A graphic   organizer  that contains both examples and non-examples will bring provide the students with a more clear understanding of the vocabulary words and meanings.  
    IS.4 - Language Function
    Include a language function objective for oral development in this lesson (e.g., language of persuasion).  
    IS.5 - Struggling Learners
    For struggling learners these terms will need to be defined in student friendly definitions with examples.  Teachers need to model what this looks like by demonstrating how to identify the author’s purpose and then analyze.  
    IS.6 - Struggling Learners
    For struggling learners these terms will need to be defined in student friendly definitions with examples.  Teachers need to model what this looks like by demonstrating how to identify the author’s purpose and then analyze.  
    IS.7 - Level 1

    Level 1

    Level 2

    Level 3

    Level 4

    Level 5

    Entering

    Beginning

    Developing

    Expanding

    Bridging

    Answer choice questions about rhetorical appeal based on illustrations with a partner

    Give examples of 3 types of rhetoric using graphic organizer with partner

    Apply examples of rhetoric from text in small group to complete graphic organiser

    Explain the part of an oral arguement that persuaded own decision in small group

    Defend own perspective on persuasive arguement presented in text in a small group

     
    IS.8 - ELL Students
    How are these materials relevant to ELLs? Use your answer to activate prior knowledge.  
    IS.9 - Struggling Learners
    Provide struggling learners with a text to speech or CD version of the text.  
    IS.10 - Struggling Learners
    Provide struggling learners with a text to speech or CD version of the text.  
    IS.11 - Struggling Learners
    Provide struggling learners with a text to speech or CD version of the text.  
    IS.12 - Struggling Learners
    Struggling learners need a graphic organizer  that fits the task it is to be used for but is not visually overwhelming. Choose a simpler but effective graphic organizer  to be used. 
    IS.13 - Struggling Learners
    Struggling learners may need to have these terms defined and reviewed for understanding.  Suggest the use of a graphic organizer such as the Frayer Model.  
    IS.14 - ELL Students
    ELLs would benefit from working on this in small groups for support.  
    IS.15 - Struggling Learners
    Provide struggling learners with examples of these.  The use of a text to speech or CD will provide support.  Allow students to use various forms of representation to complete the task.  
    IS.16 - Struggling Learners
    Allow struggling learners to represent their answers using a variety of representations.  
    IS.17 - Struggling Learners
    Provide struggling learners with a definition and examples of this term.  
    IS.18 - Struggling Learners
    Allow struggling learners to represent their answers in a variety of representations.  Such as verbal, pictures, etc.
    IS.19 - Struggling Learners
    Allow struggling learners to represent their answers in a variety of representations.  Such as verbal, pictures, etc.  
    IS.20 - All Students
    Use questioning as a form of formative assessment.  

Instructional Procedures

  • View

    Focus Question: How is persuasion used in both speech and written text?

    Begin the lesson by showing a video of the speech delivered by the president to the U.S. fighter pilots in the movie Independence Day. Then read through the brief text with students and ask them what the purpose of the speech is (to inspire pilots to do their best as they go into battle against the invading aliens).

    Ask, “How does the president attempt to motivate the pilots?” Suggested answers include the following:

    • He points out the importance of their undertaking: “the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind.”
    • He reminds them in several ways that they are all in this together: “united in our common interest.”
    • He makes the emotional connection to the Fourth of July.
    • He points out the consequences of losing the battle––annihilation.
    • He extends the idea of the Fourth of July to an Independence Day for the World in a final emotional plea.

    Part 1

    Say, “The power of language to persuade us, to mold or possibly even to change our thinking, has long been acknowledged. The ancient Greeks and Romans referred to the art of persuasion as rhetoric. Rhetoric has additional meanings today, but one definition is the artful use of language to achieve a desired result in an audience. Rhetoric employs three types of appeal:

    • logical (appeal to reason),
    • ethical (appeal of the speaker, whose words must convince the audience that the speaker is a sensible, trustworthy, benevolent individual), and
    • emotional.”

    Ask, “How does the president’s speech in Independence Day evoke emotion? Why could the speech be considered rhetoric?” Discuss students’ responses.

    Replay the video and ask students to identify the types of appeal used in the Independence Day speech. Be sure students identify the following:

    • logical: The people of earth must unite against an alien force to survive.
    • ethical: The speaker is the U.S. president; a young man who is about to go into battle himself.
    • emotional: The people of the earth are faced with extermination; connection to the Fourth of July; the final appeal not “to vanish without a fight!” and the declaration “We’re going to survive!” [IS.13 - Struggling Learners]

    Part 2

    Show students the video of Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his Nobel Prize acceptance speech and provide printed copies of the text. (Note that this speech was delivered in 1964, when masculine pronouns and the use of words such as mankind to refer to people as a whole were still standard usage. Also, the use of the word Negro rather than African American or Black American was standard usage. You may wish to point these words out to students.)

    Have students analyze the speech by completing one of the following: [IS.14 - ELL Students]

    • Annotate the speech by marking examples of logical, ethical, and emotional appeal.
    • Circle quotations that show King’s powerful use of language.
    • Underline the statement of the author’s purpose. [IS.15 - Struggling Learners]

    As an alternative, have students complete the Three-Two-One graphic organizer (L-L-3-2_Three-Two-One Organizer.doc).

    Have students work in groups to compare their observations and revise their responses if necessary. Have each group select an example to present to the class. Write the underlined headings on the board/interactive whiteboard. [IS.16 - Struggling Learners] Have students copy on sticky notes quotes from King’s speech. Then have students place the examples under the appropriate headings. Discuss any questions that arise. Possible responses include the following:

    • logical appeal
    • the comparison of the nonviolent behavior of the Negroes of the United States to that of the people of India
    • ethical appeal
    • “an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind”
    • belief that the Nobel Prize is being given to “the ground crew without whose labor and sacrifice the jet flights to freedom could never have left the earth”
    • accepting the Nobel Prize “in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners: all those to whom truth is beauty and beauty truth, and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold”
    • emotional appeal
    • reference to the deaths and brutal treatment of those who have struggled for freedom and justice
    • powerful use of language
    • “the long night of racial injustice”
    • hope that people will “transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood”
    • refusal to believe that “man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him”
    • author’s purpose
    • to press for the freedom and peace of Negroes of the United States
    • to press for the final triumph of peace in the world

    Collect students’ written responses or worksheets to be used as part of the Performance Assessment for the unit.

    Part 3

    As a follow-up to the discussion on civil rights rhetoric, have students refer to the lyrics of the “We Shall Overcome” recording by Pete Seeger or Mahalia Jackson. Have students analyze the importance of this song in the struggle for civil rights. Emphasize the strongly emotional connections and the connotation of a just struggle for freedom that will finally be rewarded.

    Extension:

    • Have students who need additional opportunities for learning do one of the following:

    o   Analyze Hillary Clinton’s speech “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” (see Related Resources) and create written responses. Have students work in small groups under your supervision. Provide feedback on students’ work.

    o   Use rap music or commercials to analyze the use of rhetoric.

    • Have students who are ready to go beyond the standard do one of the following:

    o   Analyze the funeral speech by Marc Antony from Julius Caesar (see Related Resources). Have students share their work with the class.

    o   Compare opposing editorials about senior drivers (see Related Resources) to analyze the effective use of rhetoric.

    o   Conduct classroom debates, using techniques of rhetoric.

Related Instructional Videos

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DRAFT 06/13/2011
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