11

th
Grade Magnet American Lit Common Assessment

Persuasive Declaration of Sentiments






The Assignment:
You will write a speech to your classmates that you will deliver in 3 minutes. You will try to convince
your classmates that your idea would work wonders to improve the lives of people in your community
as you give details, evidence, examples to support your idea. You must write the script for the speech
there will be no winging it! Your topic must be original. You may not deliver a speech on the same topic
as someone else.
Your SUBJECT: (identify a single subject to center your argument around)
The OCCASION: (response to an immediate need for the change you are suggesting)
Your AUDIENCE: your classmates
Your PERSONA: YOU!
Brainstorming:
Consider problems that you see in your community. List as many as you can think of:



What do you think needs to change? What would help people to make that change?



CHOOSE a topic and a solution. What is your favorite one that you came up with?
Writing Situation: In our day and age we are inundated with crisis. From political divisiveness to struggles for
civil rights to worldwide revolutions, we are in a state of transition and many peoples lives are in upheaval. As a
culture, we are in desperate need of reminders of ways in which we can improve our lives and the lives of those
around us.
Directions for Writing & Presenting: Write a speech to your classmates in which you take a position about one
specific thing we should all do to improve life for others and ourselves in our community.
11
th
Grade Magnet American Lit Common Assessment

Requirements:
Script (essay) should follow the 5-paragraph structure

1. 5-PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE:
a. Introduction in which you provide context for the idea and a thesis statement
your specific idea that you will then prove would have a positive effect on your
community. (1 paragraph)
b. 3 major points complete with ample support (details, evidence, examples) for the
idea you offer. (3 paragraphs)
i. A counter-argument (acknowledgement/counterpoint) A response to your
nay-sayers! Identify the argument someone might have against your
position. Mention it to show you have thought through the issue and can
see both sides. Then, break it down! Let the audience know how your
position is superior to those that oppose you. (3
rd
body paragraph)
c. Conclusion / Call to Action in which you address the possible results of your idea.
How will this idea actually have an effect on your community? The conclusion needs
to address a call to action in which you get your audience riled up to agree with
you and take action. (1 paragraph)

You must use persuasive rhetoric: In addition to the three basic appeals (logos, pathos, ethos),
you must use at least 5 different rhetorical devices (choose from the list of Persuasive Rhetoric
Vocabulary on Quizlet http://quizlet.com/_s7yil ). On your typed script, you must highlight each
of them and add a note in the margin to say what it is and how it affects the persuasive purpose.
For example:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these
truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the
sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice,
sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that
my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character. I have a dream today.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington, D.C., 28 August

Type and submit the script digitally to Turnitin.com as a Microsoft Word file.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Your speech must be submitted to Turnitin.com AND you should be prepared to deliver your speech on:
A Day: 9/17 (1A) B Day: 9/18 (1B + 3B)
Please review your syllabus for a reminder about Academic Integrity at Riverwood.
11
th
Grade Magnet American Lit Common Assessment