Revised Upcoming Assignments through November 13

For Tuesday, Oct. 30: View the following speeches and answer the questions below about them:

Ronald Reagan's Farewell Address (In class, I mistakenly called it the "Morning in America" speech; I was thinking "city on a hill." "Morning in America" refers to an ad from the 1984 presidential campaign.)

Barack Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address

If you wish, you may also read Reagan's speech here (scroll down) and Obama's speech here (scroll down).

Answer these questions about the above speeches. Write a paragraph for each answer.
1. Describe Reagan's persona in this speech, and identify at least two key moments where something in the text of the speech or his delivery of the speech make this persona apparent to you.
2. Obama makes effective use of all the tactics we've discussed for delivering a speech (e.g., persona, posture, eye contact, projection, enunciation, pitch variety, pauses, body language, and suiting the delivery to the words). Select three of these and explain how Obama uses them to reinforce the words of the speech.

For Thursday, Nov. 1: The threat of Hurricane Sandy pushed October 30's assignment to today.

For Tuesday, Nov. 6: Complete your speech in response to one of these prompts, which are also posted to the right.

For Thursday, Nov. 8: Read the New Yorker article on TED Talks handed out in class. Sorry, but it's not fully available on line. (You may also read this live chat  with the article's author, Nathan Heller. Give the chat transcript a minute or so to load.) Also, view two of the TED Talks posted here. Viewing these will take about thirty to forty minutes of your time.

For Tuesday, Nov. 13: You will write an in-class essay about your independent reading book. Introduce William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1.

Homework for Monday, Oct. 22, Wednesday, Oct. 24, and Friday, Oct. 26

For Monday, a slight change; you will not have to read Frederick Douglass's "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July"; it's just too long. We'll come back to it.  First, identify three to five successful qualities of King's delivery of his "I Have a Dream" speech. If you want to view it again, click here. Second, read King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and write a good paragraph analyzing one of his rhetorical strategies or his use of one rhetorical device. If you don't have the handout from class, you may have a difficult time finding a version on line. The King family has aggressively pursued copyright violations of King's writings, so it has become very difficult to find his writing online. The best source is the King Papers Project at Stanford University, but their site was not working when I tried to access it. Third, view Steve Jobs's 2005 commencement address at Stanford University (available here), and then read the text of the speech (available here). Fourth, write a good paragraph that evaluates Jobs's delivery of his speech. You may write about his delivery of the speech, the rhetorical success (or shortcomings) of the speech, or both.

On Wednesday, you will read to the class The Gettysburg Address, an excerpt from Kennedy's Inaugural Address, or an excerpt from King's "I Have a Dream" speech. If you choose to do an excerpt, it should be about the length of The Gettysburg Address, and definitely not longer than 300 words.

On Friday, you will read your adaptation of The Gettysburg Address.

Homework for Tuesday, October 16. and Thursday, October 18

As we discussed and began in class, write your Gettysburg Address. You do not have to include all of Lincoln's rhetorical devices by today, but at least have a statement that is about as long as the Gettysburg Address. We'll continue to work on adding the rhetorical devices in class. The complete version, with all of Lincoln's rhetorical devices, is due Thursday, October 18. You will read them in class on Wednesday, October 24.

Homework for Wednesday, October 10, and Friday, October 12

For Wednesday, complete at least one page of the narrative essay that is due on Friday, October 12. Click here for the essay topics; they are also posted to the right under "Syllabus and Assignments."

Homework for Wednesday, Oct. 3

If you so desire, turn in your revision of the summer assignment.