ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments
This multi-session lesson features the opportunity to analyze a variety of famous speeches. Students will look carefully at tone, rhetoric, propaganda techniques, and historical context as they write an analysis paper....
University of North Carolina
"Life and Times of Frederick Douglass": Text
HTML full text of the "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass," the autobiography of the 19th century African American abolitionist (1818-1895).
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Albert Einstein: Address at the 5th Nobel Anniversary Dinner
This is the text and audio of Albert Einstein's speech at the fifth Nobel anniversary dinner on December 10, 1945, at the Hotel Astor in New York City.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Aaron Swartz: Address at F2 C: Freedom to Connect Conference
This is a speech by Aaron Swartz "How We Stopped SOPA" delivered on May 21, 2012, at the Freedom to Connect Confence. He explains their efforts to stop the passage of the COICA: The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeit Act. It...
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: Statement at the Smith Act Trial
This is the text of the testimony of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a member of the USA Communist Party, who spoke in her own defense at her trial for being a Communist on April 24 1952, in New York.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Jimmy Carter: "A Crisis of Confidence"
This is a speech by Jimmy Carter addressing the country about uniting the country to solve the Engergy Crisis on delivered July 15, 1979. It is offered in YouTube video, mp3 audio, and text [4:16].
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm: The Equal Rights Amendment
This is the text of Shirley Chisholm's speech to the House of Representatives on August 10,1970, supporting the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Elie Wiesel: "The Perils of Indifference"
This is the audio and text of Elie Wiesel's speech "The Perils of Indifference" delivered on April 12, 1999, Washington, D.C. He discusses his experience in German concentration camps during the Holocaust and the dangers on indifference.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Gerald R. Ford: Address Pardoning Richard M. Nixon
This is mp3 audio and text of Gerald R. Ford's speech to the nation pardoning Richard M. Nixon for his part in the Watergate coverup. It was delivered on September 8, 1974, Washington D.C.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Lyndon Baines Johnson: "Let Us Continue"
This is Lyndon Baines Johnson's speech "Let Us Continue," on the occasion of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 27, 1963; it is offered in a You Tube Video, an mp3 audio, and in text. [6:11]
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Eleanor Roosevelt: Adopting the Declaration of Human Rights
This is Eleanor Roosevelt's address to the United Nations on its adoption of the Declaration of Human Rights on December 9, 1948 in Paris, France; it is provided in a YouTube video, mp3 audio, and in text. [3:30]
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Robert F. Kennedy: Day of Affirmation at Cape Town University
This is the audio mp3 and text of Robert F. Kennedy's speech on June, 6, 1966 on the occasion of Affirmation day for South Africa.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: John Kerry: Statement at Senate Foreign Relations Committee1
This is a video and transcript of John Kerry's testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the topic of the horrors committed by American soldiers in Vietnam and the resulting anger and suffering their participation in the war...
CommonLit
Common Lit: President Obama's National Address to America's Schoolchildren
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each text is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see the...
CommonLit
Common Lit: President Bush's "Islam Is Peace" Speech
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story or article is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see...
CommonLit
Common Lit:"rfk's Speech Following the Death of Mlk" by Senator Robert F. Kennedy
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each text is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see the...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Elie Wiesel's Nobel Acceptance Speech
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each text is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see the...
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: William Jefferson Clinton: Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Address
This is President Clinton speaking at the prayer memorial for the bombing of Oklahoma City delivered on April 23, 1995, in Oklahoma City, OK. It is offered in YouTube Video, mp3 audio, and text [9:11]
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Emma Watson's Un: "He for She: Gender Equality Is Your Issue, Too"
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each text is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see the...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Scripps Library: Theodore Roosevelt: First Annual Msg [Pdf]
This is a 50-page transcript of Theodore Roosevelt's first annual speech as President of the United States on December 3, 1909. It is provided by Scripps Library.
CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Gettysburg Address" by President Abraham Lincoln
This speech was given in 1863 after the Union and Confederate armies had been at war for more than three years and several hundred thousand Americans had already died. Thousands of Union soldiers died at the Battle of Gettysburg alone. A...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Ronald Reagan on the Challenger Disaster" by President Ronald Reagan
President Ronald Reagan delivered this speech to the grieving nation on January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, leading to the death of its seven crew members. A specific purpose for reading...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "I Have a Dream" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to over 250,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In this speech, King discusses racial...
iCivics
I Civics: Mini Lesson: Filibusters
Students learn about filibusters and how and why senators use them, then they take a look at how news coverage of a filibuster can be transformed through neutral, positive, or negative framing.