The class will watch and discuss an animation that explains the importance of strong visuals in persuading an audience. Students will be assigned to affinity groups. Students will work together in these groups to decide how they will collaborate to prepare their final presentations. They will write speaking notes that they will use for the oral component of their presentations.
The focusing question for this lesson is: How will we collaborate to create a group presentation? In the previous lesson we finished our speeches. Today we will talk about how members of the Assembly gave speeches to convince others to vote to support their views. We will collaborate in order to develop our group presentations.
The animated gods Zeus, Athena, and Ares comment on using art to promote their issues.
1. Why does Athena want to show the Assembly a picture of the plans for the Parthenon?
Sample Response: She thinks that the image will show how beautiful such a large temple would be and will convince the Assembly to build it.
2. Why might seeing an image of the proposed Parthenon make the Assembly vote against building the temple?
Sample Response: The image of the Pathenon might make the Assembly think about the cost of the temple and they might vote against it.
3. Why does Ares want to show the Assembly a map showing plans for war against Sparta?
Sample Response: He thinks that the map and plan will show the Assembly how noble, heroic, and important the war is.
4. Why might seeing the map and plans for the war make the Assembly vote against it?
Sample Response: The map and plans for the war might make the Assembly think of its cost in human lives and resources.
5. Which do you think is more persuasive—words or images?
Sample Response: Some people are influenced by words and powerful written arguments. Others are more influenced by images.
6. What does the phrase, “A picture is worth 1000 words” mean?
Sample Response: The phrase means that, for example, a picture of the Parthenon can describe the temple more quickly and clearly than a written description. In ancient Greece there was no such thing as paper and pen and writing in stone was a very long record-keeping process.
7. How do you think people communicated their ideas?
Sample Response: People communicated their ideas by talking to each other. Giving speeches was a very important way for people to communicate their ideas.
Not all public speakers were great speakers at first. It takes a lot of practice to be a good speaker. One example of a speaker who had a lot of trouble speaking publicly was a man named Demosthenes. Demosthenes lived about a 100 years after the debates about the Parthenon and the war against Sparta. The story of Demosthenes can teach us a lot about how to become a better speaker.
1. What happened to Demosthenes' family when he was young?
Sample Response: Demosthenes lost his parents and he became an orphan.
2. What happened to Demosthenes’ money?
Sample Response: Demosthenes’ guardians took all of his money.
3. Why couldn’t Demosthenes stand up for himself?
Sample Response: Demosthenes had a stuttering problem. Every time he tried to say something he stumbled over his words.
4. What did Demosthenes do to improve his speaking ability?
Sample Response: Demosthenes practiced speaking. He spoke with pebbles in his mouth. He thought that if he could speak clearly with pebbles in his mouth, he could speak clearly without them.
5. Why is it important to speak clearly?
Sample Response: It is important to speak clearly so people understand what you are saying. Nobody will listen if you mumble.
6. What else did Demosthenes do to improve his speaking?
Sample Response: Demosthenes practiced speaking while running on the beach yelling over the crashing of the waves. This way he would not lose his breath or speak too softly at his trial.
7. Why is it important to speak loudly and at a good pace?
Sample Response: If you do not speak loudly, no one will hear you. If you speak too fast or too slow, people will not understand you and will stop paying attention.
8. What happened at Demosthenes' trial?
Sample Response: He won all of his money back. He became a famous speaker throughout Athens.
9. What would have happened if Demosthenes had not been a good speaker?
Sample Response: He might have lost the trial.
Being able to speak clearly is very important.
You have all been assigned to a group based on the position you have chosen on your issue. You will work with your group to put together a written presentation, practice your public speaking, and create a PowerPoint presentation.
I will now give you your group assignments. Wait until I have finished reading the group assignments before you move into your groups. Meet in your group and decide who will present the introduction, the second paragraph, “your position”, “the other side” and why you disagree, and the conclusion.
This final presentation will take place in front of the Athenian Assembly. Each person should be responsible for one paragraph of the written, speaking, and PowerPoint presentation. The first thing your group will do is collaborate to put together the written part of your presentation.
1. What are some ways that you can write your group presentation?
Sample Response: We can take one paragraph from each person in the group and put it together with the rest to create one speech. We can read each other’s speeches and take the best parts from each paragraph and put them together. We can use most of the speech we like best and add parts from the other speeches to it.
These are all good ways to collaborate.
When you are collaborating with your group, the most important thing is to be respectful of everyone’s opinions and include something from everyone. Remember that democracy is about listening to and respecting different points of view.
Each of you should write down the part of the speech that you will present on an index card once your group has agreed on which paragraph of the speech everyone will present. One person from each group should write down the whole speech on loose leaf paper to hand in to me at the end of the period.
How will we collaborate to create a group presentation?
Sample Response: We will work together in our group to break up the workload and make sure everyone plays an equal part in building our final presentation. It will be important for us to decide in a fair manner who should present each part of the oral presentation.
What was the oral tradition in ancient Greece? Was everyone an effective public speaker?
Sample Response: Oral tradition in ancient Greece was the act of storytelling and sharing information with the citizens. They did not have television or newspapers back then so people learned important news or stories from the public speeches. In those days, some people had difficulty speaking in public like Demosthenes, who had a stuttering problem. He learned to overcome his problem and worked hard on his speaking skills by practicing with pebbles in his mouth. He also recited his speech by running along the beach over the crashing waves in order to pace his breathing and speak loudly over the waves.
How did you decide as a group who would present each part of the speech?
Sample Response: We worked as a team to break up the sections equally. If someone in our group wasn't happy with their assigned role then we gave them the opportunity to express his or her opinion. We tried to accomodate everybody's needs so each group member felt good about his or her assigned task. If we couldn't resolve our problems then we agreed to ask the teacher for help.
Why is it important to know your part well?
Sample Response: If I know my part well then I will feel confident when my group and I are presenting for the Athenian Assembly. I will also be able to talk in a strong manner about the important issues covered in our project.
For homework, finish writing the paragraph of the presentation that you will present at the Assembly on an index card. Begin to memorize your lines. As you practice, think about the keys to effective public speaking – clarity, good pacing, and speaking loudly. Make small adjustments to your part if necessary to improve the way it sounds.
