American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Harvard Address: A World Split Apart
This is the text and audio of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's commencement address at Harvard University on June 8, 1978.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Franklin Delano Roosevelt: First Fireside Chat
This is the text and audio of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first Fireside Chat "The Banking Crisis" on March 12, 1933, in Washington D.C.
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...
British Library
British Library: Rhetoric, Power and Persuasion in Julius Caesar
This article discusses the use of rhetoric in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and the young Shakespeare's likely education in the art of rhetoric. In Julius Caesar, rhetoric is used to exert power over the commoners, to recruit...
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: Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address
This is the text of Abraham Lincoln's famous speech, "The Gettysburg Address," delivered November 19, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This page also offers audio readings by six famous people: Johnny Cash, Jeff Daniels, Jim Getty,...
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Gerald R. Ford: Oath of the u.s. Presidency Address
This is the swearing in of Gelald R. Ford as President of the United States on August 9, 1974, after President Nixon resigned. After taking the oath of office, Ford speaks to the country. Offered in mp3 audio and in text.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Abraham Lincoln: First Inaugural Address: Draft & Final
This is the texts of Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address delivered March 4, 1861, in New York, NY. It includes four PDF files: the Forward, the Original Draft, Editorial Changes, and the Final Draft.
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....
Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center
Yad Vashem: Holocaust Denial Laws
The denial of the Holocaust, anti-Semitic rhetoric and the growth of hate groups has led many European nations to pass laws criminalizing hate speech to stop the resurrection of Nazism in Europe. This article discusses individual...
US National Archives
Docs Teach: President Reagan and the Cold War: Vision and Diplomacy
See how Ronald Reagan's rhetoric evolved from his speech calling the Soviet Union an "evil empire" to his signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by examining photographs and documents.
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Fannie Lou Hamer and Social Activism
This instructional activity provides an insight into the rhetoric and social action of Fannie Lou Hamer. By focusing on three speeches through her career, learners will better be able to understand how she was able to influence social...
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Top 100 Speeches
This is an interactive collection of the top 100 speeches in order of their popularity; most include the text and audio of the speech and several also offer the video. RI.9-10.9 US Documents
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University: Forest of Rhetoric
This site is provided for by the Brigham Young University. Almost anything you would want to know about rhetoric and speech is here with great examples and explanations. Intended for a college-level audience, but plenty for younger...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: How to Use Rhetoric to Get What You Want
How do you get what you want, using just your words? Aristotle set out to answer exactly that question over two thousand years ago with a treatise on rhetoric. Camille A. Langston describes the fundamentals of deliberative rhetoric and...
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Figure of Speech
Wikipedia provides a detailed definition of figure of speech, and then includes hyperlinks to different types of figures of speech.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Informative Speech Critique Sheet (Pdf)
This PDF is a critique form for evaluating informative speeches. SL.9-10.3 Eval Presentation. CCSS.ELA-LiteracySL.3, SL.9-10.3 Eval Presentation
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Rhetorical Devices and Historically Significant Speeches
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart gives students the opportunity to analyze Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech and identify the rhetorical devices that make them...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning:20th Century and Modern Poetry: Ww Ii: Sir Winston Churchill
This lesson from a unit on 20th Century and Modern Poetry focuses on Sir Winston Churchill and his award-winning speeches during WW II. It features links to a brief history "England in World War II," a Winston Churchill biography, a list...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: American Literature and Com: Rationalism: Patrick Henry
This lesson focuses on Patrick Henry including his "Speech to Virginia Convention" on March 23, 1775. A link is offered to the speech, a biography of Patrick Henry, and a quiz over the speech.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Contemporary Nonfiction: Jfk Speech
This lesson focuses on John F. Kennedy's speech, "We Choose to go to the Moon," delivered at Rice University on September 12, 1962. It features links to JFK's biography and Wikipedia entry, the National Geographic: "Moon 101" video, the...
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Arnold Schwarzenegger: California Governor Victory Speech
This is the text and audio of Arnold Schwarzenegger's victory speech as Governor of California delivered October 8, 2003, in Los Angeles, California.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Ronald Reagan: "A Time for Choosing" (Aka "The Speech")
This is the text, audio, and video [4:02] of Ronald Reagan's speech, "A Time for Choosing" (aka "The Speech"), which aired on October 27, 1964, in Los Angeles, California.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Abraham Ribicoff: Speech Nominating G. Mc Govern for President
This is the text and audio of Abraham Ribicoff's speech nominating G. McGovern for President delivered on August 28, 1968, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.