Eloquence

Class activities with performative responses

Rhetorical declar-RAP-tions

As a rhetorical device, reciting from memory has a place throughout our history as an act of public oratory that exudes great potential to call the listener to action. Reciting from memory using some of the greatest words ever spoken is a particularly challenging yet exciting learning experience for adolescents. Have students view the You Tube video of a group of Redan High School students reciting the Preamble of the Declaration of Indepepenence from memory, listed in the teacher resources.

In this class activity, students will work in small groups to memorize and craft a rap-like performance of a portion of the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence. Students in each group should be required to recite the exact words of their given segment of the Preamble from memory and to deliver it to the class in a performatively rhetorical mode similar to a contemporary rap song using expressive movements and facial gestures. No music should accompany the recitations, however, as the rhythms and beats, pauses and facial gestures of the group should convey a unique theatrical experience. The group should focus on the delivery of the words to the audience in a way that makes them feel like they are being uplifted and called to take a stand. Presentations to the class should be scheduled to occur in sequence according to the document and should be timed at no more than three minutes in length. Digitally record the recitations.

"Truth or not", the Declaration of Independence as visual rhetoric

In this class discussion the focus is on the painting Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, 1786-1820 by American artist John Trumbull. This work is on view in the Yale University Art Gallery. In light of the goals of this unit, this work affords a point of entry into the topic of rhetorical interpretation of a visual text through the aesthetic theory of Instrumentalism.

The printed Declaration of Independence that we honor and revere today as an artifact of American democracy has become largely separated from its oratorical and performative contexts. Yet, the physical presentation of this hand-written document to members of the Continental Congress was a performance act too. A famous painting of 1786-1820 by American artist John Trumbull depicts the presentation of the declaration to John Hancock, then president of Congress. This moment has become culturally appropriated as the signature moment of July 4, 1776. In actuality, the moment of signing did not take place until August, partly so that the 56 members of Congress, depicted in the scene, would not be held accountable for treason as "signers". ³⁴

As Trumbull recounted in his journal, Thomas Jefferson had been so greatly impressed with the artist's plans to execute a series of American history paintings that he invited the artist to stay with him in Paris. There, Trumbull wrote, "I began the composition of the Declaration of Independence, with the assistance of Jefferson's information and advice." In his composition, Trumbull represents the moment when the committee appointed to draw up the document submitted Jefferson's draft for consideration by the Continental Congress. Historically, Thomas Jefferson alone presented the document to John Hancock. However, conscious of creating an image for succeeding generations, Trumbull planned the composition to include the entire document writing committee that included John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Trumbull consulted Adams and Jefferson about who should actually be in the scene. They urged that all the delegates be included, even those who were not present or those who had opposed the Declaration and did not sign. Trumbull's goal was to preserve the exact likenesses of those extraordinary individuals of the time- aristocrats, lawyers, doctors, farmers, shopkeepers-who had put their lives and fortunes on the line. Trumbull worked on painting the Declaration for more than three decades, hoping to include all fifty-six figures, but he was unable to obtain all the likenesses. Of the forty-eight portraits represented in the painting, thirty-six were taken from life; others were copied from an existing portrait or taken of a son as a substitute. ³⁵

In contributing to students' understandings of the 'lens' of the aesthetic theory, this painting that, at first glance, may seem to be most valued for its Imitationalist qualities can also be judged effective or ineffective as an Instrumentalist work. As a piece of rhetoric it depicts the scene, not as it actually occurred, but as the moment could be positioned in the hearts and minds of Americans. Even the room was painted to look differently than it actually appeared during then meetings of the Congress. Ask students to discuss in small groups the specific things seen in this image that, in their opinion, might have served in its time to call viewers to action. What iconography is at play?

What about present day viewers? Consider how this image might be capable of communicating a call to action today. View the You Tube video of the John Adams Miniseries, 2008, or the video JFK Reading the Declaration of Indepepenence listed in the teacher's resources. Discuss the ideals proclaimed in the public reading of the Declaration of Independence. How do they still hold meaning today?

Allow each group to adopt a social activist identity, "truth or not", such as working women, the homeless, the 'fashion police', social media advocates, etc. Students will then collaborate to write and present a short three-minute speech in the style of the preamble to address the issues they will 'declare' as being pertinent to 'independence'. In writing and delivering their speeches have students focus on the three modes of persuasion, ethos, pathos, and logos. The delivery of the speeches should follow eloquent rhetorical style for voice, tone and gesture.

Three-on-three: ethos, pathos, logos

This activity is designed so that students experience the three modes of persuasion developed by Aristotle, ethos, pathos, and logos. In this activity students will collaborate to become expert teams on a work of art, ethos. Student teams will craft credible interpretive discourse for the purpose of persuading their audience, pathos. In rhetorically presenting a variety of judgments for a work students will appeal to reason in their listeners to determine the effectives or lack of effectiveness of a work against personally held definitions of art, logos. Students' selections of contemporary artworks for use in this activity may be chosen from a teacher-prepared list or students may be invited to openly explore resources such as the Art21 PBS website or You Tube videos to find an artwork that holds allure to the question, What is art?

Students will work in groups of three as a team of collaborative critics on a single work of art. Students will work together to select, view, and describe the artwork establishing the groups' ethos as experts on the chosen work. A worksheet or checklist may proove helpful as an instrument of assessment in documenting benchmark performance for this part of the activity. Each team member will then prepare a distinct and different interpretion on this single work of art. Team members will decide among themselves which philosophical framework each will choose to form the underlying premise for their individual interpretation. Each team member within the group will then craft credible discourse on the work to be presented before a peer audience. The intention is that Interpretations will be delivered as a set of three different perspectives on the same work thereby providing their peer audience with a variety of ideas to consider on one work.

In terms of practice, this requires that each student write their unique interpretation and then practice presenting it as a speech that is conveyed in a persuasive manner. Students should be asked to focus on their words, tone of voice, pauses, and facial and body gestures in attending to a purposeful delivery of the presentation. On the day of presentations, the group of three expert critics will each take turns delivering their interpretaions. Orations should be timed to be no longer than three minutes each. This allows an expert team to finish their orations within ten minutes. Digital video recording should be made as possible to serve as a record of demonstrated student growth.

Listening audiences will consist of two to three other teams, creating smaller, more intimate audiences within a full class. Prior to the orations, members of the listening team will briefly view the subject work. Students should contemplate the work alongside their personal working definition of art. Allow a three minute pause after the orations for members of the listening team to complete an effectiveness statement as was explained previously in step four of the art critical method. The format is repeated here.

• I think that this is an effective work of art. I think this because…
• I think that this is not an effective work of art. I think this because…

A Presentation Rubric should be used to assess individual presentations. See the list of teacher resources for a presentation rubric aligned to CCSS for English Language Arts.

LeBrun-style rhetorical self-portraits

Charles Le Brun, 1619–1690, was a French painter, designer, and art theorist, the dominant artist of Louis XIV's reign. Although Le Brun died in 1690, his manual "Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions" was published in 1702, after his death. In this volume are depicted Le Brun's Passions, prints made from his original drawings depicting dramatic theatric facial countenances of human emotions, pure pathos.

LeBrun believed that one of the most important steps in producing a painting consisted in breathing life into his figures, not just semblance of life but a veritable soul. In a lecture to the Academy of Painting on the subject, LeBrun stated '' ordinarily all that provokes passions in the soul has some effect on the body...''. ³⁶ Look at images of Le Brun's Passions (see the teacher resources). Have students take photos of each other showing dramatic facial expressions imitating the Le Brun countenances. Create rhetorical self-portrait images using the students' photos. Recommended processes include digitizing the photos then manipulating them in Photo Shop into LeBrun-like illustrations; use photo transfer processes on fabric or rag paper; use the images as the basis for monoprints. Display student works together as a 'rhetorical chorus'.

Action-toward achievement of rhetorical prowess in the classroom

In his 2012 report on "Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 2009-10", U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated that arts education is essential in stimulating the creativity and innovation that will prove critical to young Americans competing in a knowledge-based, global economy. The rhetorical interpretation of works of art is democratizing for students. In talking critically about art, students grow in appreciation of works of art as powerful communicators of ideas across time and culture. They inherently recognize the democratizing effects of credible interpretations of works of art and how eloquent public speaking can be a source of personal empowerment. A well-rounded education is simply too vital to our students' success to let the teaching of the arts and humanities erode. Let's talk about art!