Eloquence

Appendix

Standards

The Oklahoma State Department of Education uses the PASS (Priority Academic Student Skills) Standards, which my district follows. This unit meets the following Reading/Literature Standards for 11 ^th grade: 1.4 (through the Print Ad Analysis Activity, which requires students to expand their vocabularies by using context to understand the meaning of a variety of rhetorical devices), 2.1a, b, c and d (through the Speech Analysis Organizer, which requires students to analyze the organizational pattern of a variety of speeches, the author's position, and the devices the author uses to accomplish their purpose, and using note taking to transfer their understanding to a graphic organizer), 2.2.a and d (as students discuss the influence of the historical context on the content and strategies of the speech, making specific references to the text in their notes to support their interpretations), 4.4b and c (through the Speech Analysis activity, which requires students to analyze the structure of a variety of speeches, explaining how the organization and language affect the message, and 3.3a (through the Print Ad Analysis activity, which requires students to identify various rhetorical devices). The unit meets the following Research and Information Standards for 11 ^th grade: 4.1a and b (through compiling 'casebooks' and reading and gathering information from a variety of sources), and 4.2e (through developing their speeches based on their research of their chosen issue). The unit meets the following Writing/Grammar/Mechanics and Usage Standards for 11 ^th grade: 1.a,b,c,d and e (through the process of writing speeches, which requires students to develop an clear, well-reasoned argument through writing multiple drafts, being mindful of audience and purpose and editing to ensure clarity and standard usage), 1.6 (as students write their speeches, which requires them to structure their arguments in a persuasive way and support their claims with relevant examples) and 1.7 (as students give each other feedback on their writing, to strengthen content and style). The unit meets the following standards for Modes and Forms of Writing: 2.3a-e (through writing their speeches, which requires them to compose an effective persuasive composition which addresses opposing points of view). The unit addresses the following Oral Language/Listening and Speaking Standards: 1.1, 2 and 4 (through listening to the speeches of their peers, identify major ideas and supporting evidence and evaluate the message), and 2.1, 2, 3 and 5 (through delivering their speeches, which requires students to demonstrate an awareness of audience and purpose). Finally, the unit meets Visual Literacy Standard 1.1 (through the Ad Analysis activity, which requires students to interpret visual media as they apply the elements of the rhetorical triangle to print advertisements and headlines).

Rhetorical Devices

Parallelism – similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

Antithesis – the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure

Alliteration – repetition of initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words

Anaphora – repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses

Climax – arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance

Metaphor – implied comparison between two things of unlike nature

Simile – explicit comparison between two things of unlike nature

Personification – investing abstractions for inanimate objects with human qualities or abilities

Hyperbole – the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect

Rhetorical question – asking a question, not for the purpose of eliciting an answer but for the purpose of asserting or denying something obliquely Irony – use of a word in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning of a word Onomatopoeia – use of words whose sound echoes the sense Paradox – an apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains a measure of truth ³⁴