This is a combination of  my mentor text list and the documents used in the classroom for the persuasive speech project. 

The goal was to have students write a pursuasive speech and present the speech in class.  There are numerous formats you can use.  I chose to have all students use the same one for grading purposes.  It is included in the back of the students syllabus.  I chose persuasive speeches because it relates to the topic of rhetoric as developed in ancient Greece and extensively used by the Romans.  This is the syllabus I gave my ninth grade students.  There is an honors version and a CP version.

Persuasive Writing.doc Persuasive Speech Info.doc Persuasive Essay Rubric.doc

Persuasive Essay Outline CP VERSION.doc Persuasive Essay Outline.doc (Honors Version)

Persuasive Directions.doc

The Persuasive Speech Defined.doc Conferencing with a Peer.doc

I also have several versions of literary devices used in writing.  This is good to hand out to students as they write their drafts and as you work on the noticings chart.  Students were aware of literary devices but got them all confused with one another.  I did not use this in class but added this to my file because it would have been helpful.  It would actually be good to make a copy and include it with the syllabus.

Literary Terms 3.doc Literary Terms 2.doc Literary Terms.doc Literary Elements 4.doc

Literary Terms 5.doc

Mentor Text List:  You can find books that contain great speeches but there are so many great websites that contain both the speech and an audio download of the speech that is is easier to select the speeches you want and print them.  I did not get to use but two speeches this time. I did the inital speech tice to make sure they understood what a persuasive speech was.  I used the William Shakesphere speeches on the American Rhetoric website that Brutus and Marc Antony gave after the murder of Julius Caesar.  I liked this site because there was a movie clip showing the speeches and the body language used in a persuasive speech.  The other speech we worked on was Martin Luther King's,  I Have a Dream Speech because it is full of literarry devices and is a great model for a persuasive speech. The rest of teh speeches below I picked because the speeches either relate to my curriculum topics for next year or speeches that I thought a ninth grader may find interesting or easy to read. 

Craft Study Thinking.doc

Marc Antony Speech.doc The Spanish Armada a Speech by Queen Elizabeth I of England.doc

The Quit India speech by Mahatma Gandhi.doc THE PUBLIC ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.doc

The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.doc Pope Urbans speech.doc

I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King.doc Following the Boston Tea Party Patrick Henry Speech.doc FDR Pearl Harbor.pdf Brutus.doc Blood, Sweat and tears speech Wilson.doc

Apology of Socrates by Plato.doc Votes for Women Speech by Mark Twain.doc

Other Documents Used in Class

  Rhetoric.ppt 

Below are four great worksheets on Julius Caesar that specifically look at the rhetoric used in William Shakesphere's, Julius Caesar  play.  After reading these sheets that were left on a copier at school I talked to the english teacher who used them and came up with the idea to have the students create persuasive speeches because of the use and discussion of rhetoric in ancient Greece and Rome.  This would be a great social studies/english class project to teach across the curriculum.

Speech Worksheet 3.rtf Speech Worksheet 2.rtf Speech Worksheet 1.rtf Speech Worksheet 4.rtf