Modern Political Speech

Here is a word document with the text of the Bush speech from 9/20/01.

Here is the AUDIO of the Bush speech from 9/20/01

Library Field Trip TUESDAY 10/30

Here is Sherry's email, in case you see it here first.

This is a second reminder about our field trip to the LA Public Library downtown next Tuesday, October 30.

• We need all students at the NoHo Metro Station (NE corner of Lankershim and Chandler) by 8:30 AM. Our train leaves before 9.
• Pick-up will be at the same location by 3 PM.
• Barry is making arrangements for those who are participating in the cross country meet at Pierce Tuesday afternoon.
• Your kids will need $5 (in ones or a five) for the subway, and either a sack lunch or money to buy lunch at Olvera Street. They should also have an LAPL library card.
• NO LAPTOPS or big backpacks.
• My cell phone is (818) 430-2254. I should be reachable except between 10-12 when we’re in the library, or when we’re on the subway.

Please let me know by MONDAY if you’re having transportation problems!

Shaper

Here is the Shaper Worksheet

Pre-Writing Worksheet for Julius Caesar Essay

Click here for the worksheet.

Find a political or motivational speech

Today (Monday for Block 5, Tuesday for Block 1) we used the internet to locate interesting political speeches. The speech you choose needs to contain themes that can be related in some way to Julius Caesar. The themes from the play that we've discussed most often are Power, Patriotism and Loyalty. However, if you have discovered some other theme you want to write about, go for it.

Here are the requirements for the work today:

• Choose a modern political speech that contains a theme that can be compared to those in Julius Caesar
• Copy and paste the speech into a new MS Word document
• Save and name the document; the document name must include the name of the person who made the speech, and the word "speech." For example, if the speech is by Barack Obama, you can call it ObamaSpeech.doc .
• Go through the speech carefully and make comments where the theme is most evident. To do this, select a few words of the text, then go to the Insert menu and choose Comment. A pink box will show up and that's where you write your comment; something like "this is an example of Obama's desire to shift the power from one group to the group he represents. (Note: You need to be viewing the document in Print Layout format to be able to see the comments.)
• When you are finished, and have made at least five comments (but you can do more) email to document to me at terry@bridges.edu.
• The Subject of the email must be the word SPEECH
  

Links you'll need today

Bush Speech
Rhetorical Terms

Pitch a Production assignment

English 9

October 1, 2007

Pitch a Production

You are a theater director writing a letter to someone who can finance your production of Julius Caesar. But you will only get the money if this person – sometimes called a “backer” – believes that your vision is worth it.

You already know that the backer will not go for a traditional interpretation because he/she feel like everyone has already seen the play done in togas with big Roman columns in the background.

This backer is looking for a high concept production. You can only change a few words of the original text (no more than were changed in the production we saw yesterday) but your set, costumes, special effects, casting… all of these things can be completely original.

You might decide that everything looks like the 1950s, with the women looking very housewife-y and the men in suits and ties. Or maybe it’s set in the Iraq war, and your Caeser is David Patreus. Maybe everyone will be played by children, and the “war” they are fighting takes place on a playground.

Be creative, be original. But remember that the basic ideas of loyalty, patriotism and power should still be able to come through, no matter how you dress up the play.

Guidelines

At the very beginning of your letter, boil down your concept to one convincing sentence, such as: In this exciting re-thinking of the themes of loyalty, power and patriotism, my concept is based on the characters of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, in which all the stuffed animal decide to assassinate Christopher Robin, for fear he is becoming too powerful.	5 points
Describe your set in detail. What type of locations will you try to create on this set?	5 points
Casting the major characters: Describe the age, gender and appearance (including race/ethnicity, if applicable) of each actor. The major characters are Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Marc Antony, Portia and Calpurnia – but you can do more characters if you want.	5 points
Describe the costumes. Are there uniforms? Styles specific to one place and time (i.e., a confederate soldier, or a Vegas showgirl)? Use costumes to further clarify your concept for this production.	5 points
Other Elements – choose some other element of stagecraft to help further your concept. You can use lighting effects, pyrotechnics, music, dance, video projection, theater-in-the-round. Think of memorable devices you have seen in other plays and see if they would work here.	5 points
Theme – In addition to your convincing sentence, you must regularly address one or more of the themes throughout your letter. You do not have to cover more than one theme if you don’t want to.	10 points
Formatting – This must be formatted like a business letter, with your name address in the top right and the recipient’s name and address on the left, below the date. Feel free to use one of the Microsoft Word templates for your format.	5 points
Total	40 points

Worksheet for Play Pitch

One-sentence concept
Set
Casting
Costumes
Other elements