Objectives
The overarching objective is for my students to become empowered critics who feel confident to speak clearly and authoritatively about their perspective on an issue or piece of work. Through this, they will be able to speak knowledgably about a variety of literature as well as to write persuasively to a particular audience.
The students will examine how rhetorical tropes persuade and move us. We will achieve this goal by analyzing the rhetorical techniques of Abraham Lincoln and Kendrick Lamar, focusing on how they address the specific issue of mortality from violence. In Lincoln's case, the violence is the Civil War. In Lamar's case, the violence is from the gang culture of Compton. Both works loosely follow the same structure: mourning the dead followed by advice for the living. We will discuss how their rhetorical style influences the way we see these issues, as well as the successes and failures of the speakers to convey a sense of authenticity or "truth" to the listener. We will also lightly incorporate works that were less successful to provide rhetorical contrast: Edward Everett's Oration at Gettysburg, which failed to be remembered as the "main event" it was supposed to be, and Jay Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail," which went platinum before it was released but received mediocre ratings across the board. The students will compare and contrast the rhetorical approaches of two 19 th century speakers and two 21 st century speakers to enrich their understanding of rhetoric as it pertains to the lasting success of the work.
The students will gather and organize evidence to support a position, and the will present their position clearly and effectively in a written work or oral delivery. At the end of the unit, the students will choose one of two options: they may create a persuasive song that employs some of the tropes they have learned, or they may write a review of a musical album that effectively persuades the reader to listen (or not listen) to the album.
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