We will begin the unit with an analysis of the influence of body language and voice on the audience. This activity will take a class period to conduct. We will begin by watching a clip of several speeches given by political figures from other countries. The speech will be given in a language other than English. This will be done to introduce students to the concept of body language as an essential form of communication. Students will analyze the speech and determine how the speech was made by commenting on body language, intonation of voice, speed of the speech, and the response of the audience. Speeches that will be discusses are:
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1. Benedito Mussolini, the leader of the fascist party stands before a large crowd discussing Italy's role in the World War II in Rome, Italy, July 10th, 1940 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og0EinKrAVE&mode=related&search=
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2. Adolph Hitler, Leader of the Nazi Party during the Second World War.
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3. Rigoberta Menchu, a Guatemalan activist for the rights of indigenous people and a winner of Nobel Peace Prize who spoke at the Nobel Centennial Symposium on December 6th 2001 in Oslo, Norway. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1992/tum-symp.html
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4. Fidel Castro, "As Long as the Empire Exists We Will Never Lower Our Guard" December 5, 1988
I will ask students to generate five adjectives they can use to describe the personality of each speaker. I expect that these words will be basic in nature; we will then use a thesaurus to come up with a list of synonyms and antonyms. A synonym and antonym graphic organizer will be completed for each adjective. This will be used to determine characteristics of effective speakers.
