LITERACY—READING SPEECHES, LISTENING TO SPEECHES AND…SPEECH

WRITING?Amy VujaklijaGovernors State UniversityIllinois Writing Project

Standard for Writing

My goal is to help students translate their skills of analyzing a speech into writing a speech.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Opening the Conversation . . . with Writing

Make a list of things you would like to change—either about yourself or the community.

Ideas: eating healthy, nail biting, bullying, food waste, homelessness

Student Samples

Opening the Conversation…about the Reading Standards

The Anchor Standards for reading ask students to do the following:

◦ CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

◦ CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

But where do we begin?

Two-Fold Problem1. Students have difficulty with understanding the

nuances of a speech.2. Students are confused as to how to use our

texts as models for writing their own speeches.

Addressing the ProblemFIRST STEP: Understanding nuancesWhat skills do students need to analyze speeches?

Let’s Become the Students…

…by squeezing multiple days of classroom instruction into about 45 minutes!

Listening Maya Angelou’s Eulogy for Coretta Scott King:

Write your impressions while listening. • Note words and

phrases that seem particularly strong to you.

• Write notes beside words that catch your attention.

• Write “?” beside places of confusion.

These are a few rhetorical devices that American Rhetoric.com defines

Alliteration Allusion Anadiplosis Analogy Anaphora Anesis Antimetabole Antithesis Aposiopesis Appositio Assonance Asyndeton Catachresis Climax Conduplicatio Diacope Distinctio Enthymeme Enumeratio Epanalepsis Epistrophe Epitheton Epizeuxis Euphemismos Exemplum Expletive Hyperbole Hypophora Metaphor Oxymoron Paradox Parallelism Personification Polysyndeton Rhetorical Question Scesis Onomaton Sententia Simile Symploce Synecdoche

However…let’s ZOOM into these devices:

◦Rhetorical Question◦Allusion◦Alliteration◦Hyperbole◦Metaphor and Simile

Activity◦With a BLUE highlighter or colored pencil, circle ALL the question marks in Maya Angelou’s eulogy for Coretta Scott King.

Rhetorical Devices—A Brief Review◦RHETORICAL QUESTION: a question whose answer is obvious or implied. ◦ALLUSION: a brief or casual reference to a famous person, historical event, place, or work of art (these must be well known).◦ALLITERATION: repetition of the same sound or letter beginning several words in sequence. ◦REPETITION: repeated words or phrases. The use of parallel structure (I wrote, and called, and met her frequently), in a sense, could be repetition for effect.◦METAPHOR: the comparison of two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other. ◦SIMILE or ANALOGY: one thing is like something else.

Teacher LearnersSmall Group TaskWith the colors indicated, highlight the following

rhetorical devices on your speech.◦ RHETORICAL QUESTION (already

completed)

◦ Group 1: ALLUSION◦ Group 2: ALLITERATION◦ Group 3: REPETITION◦ Group 4: METAPHOR/ SIMILE

Rhetorical Devices Continued!IndependentOn your copy of Maya Angelou’s Eulogy for Coretta Scott King◦Circle emotionally charged words

Listening…again◦Pay particular attention to the techniques.

◦How do Maya Angelou’s tone, volume, and other qualities change when she uses particular rhetorical techniques?

Post-listeningReturn to your original notes on the speech.Remember that you were asked to do the

following:◦ note words and phrases that seem

particularly strong to you, ◦ write notes beside words that catch your

attention, or ◦ write notes beside places of confusion.

Post-listening Journal Entry: Student Samples These are the questions I asked my students:

1. How does your most recent impression of the speech compare to your first impression?

2. What makes this speaker a powerful speechmaker?

3. What surprised you about the speech?

Next steps…We need to help students think beyond the

author’s metaphor and translate this to writing within their own texts.

Addressing the ProblemSECOND STEP: Using models for writing◦ Meaningful topics ◦ Revisit topics◦ Structured writing activities

Returning to our writing⭐ STAR one idea/topic/concept that you can return to.

Writing Tasks—Developing the Speech• List emotionally-charged words related to that object or

ideal (how do you feel about it?).• Describe the object or idea or ideal so other people can

visualize it; use figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification). Think of the 5 senses.

• List feelings that many other people would have about the change or topic you describe.

• What is your relationship with that object or idea of change?

• What did you learn while writing about change?• What do you want other people to learn or do after hearing

you speak?• List important words or ideas or sounds that you can repeat

(in addition to your object or idea).

Drafting and SharingCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

To celebrate our work, let’s share a piece of our drafts.

Finally

Worksheet style—reading/writing application

Information

Amy Vujaklija, Ph.D.Illinois Writing Project Leadership TeamAssistant Professor, EnglishCoordinator Secondary Education ProgramGovernors State Universityavujaklija@govst.edu