Objectives
The principle objective of this unit is making the students better writers and thinkers. They will improve their writing skills in preparation for the state's standardized writing test. In doing this they will also gain mastery over the required Social Studies and Language Arts objectives. I hope to help them with this mastery by presenting the objectives and lessons in engaging and exciting ways by tying together the past and present through the use of written, spoken, and recorded words with technology that is familiar to them.
The first objective is to establish some background knowledge of those who were important in the history of rhetoric focusing on Aristotle and Cicero. Aristotle directly ties in with the Virginia Social Studies Standards of Learning (SOLs). While Cicero is not directly mentioned in the Va. SOLs we do study the ancient Roman civilization that he lived in and made a significant contribution to. The activities during this part of the unit will include direct instruction so that the students will be able to get learn the background information necessary for the next part of the unit.
The second objective is to look at the different parts necessary for a speech to be considered persuasive: ethos, pathos, and logos. These tie directly in with the first objective. We will learn to recognize the different parts of a persuasive speech by using excerpts from speeches from the past as well as the present. This is where we will be able to incorporate different forms of media such as television, recordings, and written texts. We will use different activities and tools such as graphic organizers and cloze activities in this part of the unit.
The last objective is to be completed after they have learned who has made significant contributions to the history of rhetoric and persons throughout history who through their words have made significant contributions to the world. After mastering the aspects of what it takes to write a persuasive speech we will tie them all together by writing speeches where the listeners, who will be their peers, should be able to recognize the key components of a persuasive speech. This unit ties in nicely to Virginia's SOLs because they are required to complete an oral presentation.
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