Treasure Chest of Thoughts

Persuasively Stated

January 20, 2009 · 1 Comment

44612701.jpgA time to reflect…that is what I will give my Pre-AP English 10 students as I ask them to study this Wordle of President Barak Obama’s speech and then to read his speech and gather evidence of the following persuasive techniques:

  1. Claim: State your argument.
  2. Big Names: Important people or experts can make your argument seem more convincing. 
  3. Appeal to Logos: Facts, numbers, and information can be very convincing.
  4. Appeal to Pathos: Getting people to feel happy, sad, or angry can help your argument.
  5. Appeal to Ethos: If people believe and trust in you, you are more likely to persuade them.
  6. Kairos: Try to convince your audience that this issue is so important they must act now.
  7. Research: Using reliable research can help your argument seem convincing. Yes, Antigone would be considered research in this essay.

Just wish I had thought to create this assignment for Martin Luther King’s speech as a prelude to Obama’s speech.  Another example of hindsight being 20/20!  Will have this lesson ready in four years, though!

Thanks to ReadWriteThink.org for this list.  A graphic organizer of the above techniques and Wordle may be found on my class wiki.

Partial credit for the Wordle also goes to the following two blogs:

  1. Daniel H. Pink, author of a A Whole New Mind
  2. Mrs. Huff’s English Classes, English teacher from Georgia and author of A Question of Honor

Thanks!

Categories: English 10
Tagged: , ,

Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)



1 response so far ↓

  •   lhuff // Jan 21st 2009 at 7:51 am

    Excellent idea. I forget to utilize Wordle. Having students create Wordles for an speech of their choosing would another great idea. Thanks for sharing.

    [Reply]

Leave a Comment

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-Spam Image