Freshman Survey Name:____________________________________
Persuasive Speech Project
Rationale
Effective speech-giving and critical listening are two skills that are highly emphasized in Animal
Farm. Orwell offers readers both positive (e.g. Old Major’s Speech) and abusive (e.g. Squealer’s speeches) examples of effective speech-giving. Likewise, Orwell offers readers multiples examples of characters who are duped because of their inability to listen critically. It is highly important for us, as citizens and future leaders of our communities, to develop effective speech-giving and critical listening skills. This Persuasive Speech Project will help us develop these skills.
Directions
Step 1: Choose a persuasive speech delivered by a historical leader or speaker
Step 2: Annotate your persuasive speech, identifying Monroe’s Motivational Sequence, rhetorical strategies, and logical fallacies.
Step 3: Edit your persuasive speech so it fits into a 3-5 minute window but without altering the meaning or reorder words. Additionally, your edited speech must include all five steps of Monroe’s
Motivational Sequence.
Step 4: Write a one-paragraph analysis, explaining how one rhetorical strategy or logical fallacy is used to communicate the speaker’s main message. Then, in a second paragraph, explain your rationale behind choosing this speech.
Step 5: Deliver your speech to the class (Friday Dec. 9, Monday Dec. 12, or Tuesday Dec. 13).
Before delivering your speech, introduce your speech and speaker with a powerpoint slide.
Step 6: Complete a Listening Sheet as other students deliver their speeches.
Challenging options
Option 1: Memorize your speech
Option 2: Revise the speech so it addresses a different audience for a different persuasive purpose. For example, change MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech for African American civil rights to an
“I Have a Dream” speech for gay rights.
Assessments and Deadlines
Edited Speech Annotations
Paragraph Analysis and Rationale
Intro Powerpoint Slide
Speech Delivery
Listening Sheet
Friday December 2, 2011
Thursday December 8, 2011
Thursday December 8, 2011 (email to Ms. Lau) by Tuesday December 13, 2011
Tuesday December 13, 2011

Where do I find a speech to analyze?
The internet: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speechbank.htm
http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/index.htm
The Library
Some Recommendations (more than one person can choose the following):
 Malcolm X: The Bullet or the Ballet
 Eleanor Roosevelt: 1948 Address to the UN on the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
 Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman?
 Winston Churchill: What Will We Do Now?
 Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address
 Susan B. Anthony: Women's Suffrage
 Elie Weisel: Speech given on the 50th anniversary of Concentration Camps
 John F. Kennedy: Ask Not What Your Country…
 Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrpearlharbor.htm
 Toni Morrison: Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech 1993 http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/63_folder/63_articles/63_morrison_nobel.html
 Barack Obama's: A More Perfect Union (Speech on Race) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18text-obama.html
 George W. Bush: Address to the Nation After 9/11 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010911-16.html
This list is only a start. You can choose any speech throughout history that has inspired you.
Your speech must fit the following criteria:
 It must have been delivered publicly by a current or historical leader.
 It must be persuasive, not informative.
 It must be at least 5 minutes long (1-1½ pages long single spaced).
 It must challenge your thinking, inspire you, touch you, or all of the above.
Note: You may NOT use MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech. Ms. Lau is using that speech to model assignments for our Persuasive Speech Project.