Monday, October 17, 2016

11/12 Writing Warmup: Michelle Obama's Comments on Donald Trump

Bell Ringer Activity:
For today's class, we will be discussing the rhetoric of a very different speaker: Michelle Obama.  After last week's scandal involving Donald Trump and a "hot mic," Obama made a very powerful speech about the way language not only hurts women, but also encourages a culture around the nature of women's bodies, minds, and human rights.

Today, you will be "live tweeting" this powerful speech.  Pay close attention to Obama's use of ethos, logos, and pathos and identify any instances you hear.  Also, feel free to ask questions! Agree with your classmates! Comment on each other's posts! This is a conversation, so have at it.

Note: This is a summative assessment.  Here are the Learning Targets on which you will be scored:

SL1: "I can initiate and collaborate in discussions."

SL3: "I can evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric (ethos, logos, and pathos)."

75 comments:

  1. I really like that Michelle Obama starts by talking about her work with young girls! I had no idea that she was working with young women in this way. It definitely lends some important credibility--ethos--to her speech.

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  2. What does Obama mean when she says that the measure of any society is based on how it treats its young girls/women?

    Please respond.

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    1. She means that all people and all women should and need to be treated with respect, and if there is a man running for president that is disrespectful towards women our society is more likely to be.

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  3. Why do you think Obama chooses not to repeat Donald Trump's words in her speech?

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    1. Probably cause the media and people will make a big deal about it just cause them words came out of her mouth.

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    2. Bc if she says it it is going to make her look bad and she cares to much of what people think of her

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  4. Michelle Obama is a good example of Ethos because she is saying such heartwarming things to these women and is comforting everyone from what has been happening lately. Every woman in the room feels the same way as Obama does, so they are all going to agree with her, and listen.

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    1. she is definitely credible with this topic.

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  5. She is connecting with all of the women in the audience in am emotional way by talking about all of the things trump has said, (pathos)

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    1. Very true Elijah! What emotion do you think Obama is feeling? What emotion is her audience feeling? Do you think they are the same/different?

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    2. I am sure that Obama is feeling offended and so is everyone else.

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    3. I think Obama is feeling like this is extremely disrespectful and it shouldn't be like this, and women should never be treated this way.

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  6. Women of all ages are in the crowd

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    1. Great point! I think it's interesting that we can see mothers with their babies! What do you think is the significance of these different age groups?

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    2. All women are afraid of what they are hearing, and for the future because it really does bother them.

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    3. I'm not sure what the words actually were but its demeaning to women and she doesn't say anything because its taken very personally and emotionally to everyone, it is no way to speak towards women and shows how awful Trump is.

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  7. Obama: "It's that feeling of terror/violation."

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  8. She is talking about all the work she has done with these girls which is credible to get peoples attention

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  9. Pathos: Obama said that she is worried about all of the children and women who have to hear all of this horrid talk on television or the internet. She put out a scared vibe to everyone.

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  10. Michelle is using pathos because she is making everyone feel comfort as she is talking.

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    1. I like that you pointed out the audience is feeling comfort with Michelle. This may be a sticky, ugly topic (sexual abuse), but knowing that an important political figure understands how important this issue is is very, very comforting.

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  11. She is making connections with the audience making them feel good knowing others are feeling the same way.

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  12. She is a credible speaker about this topic because obviously she is a woman and that she is affected by what Trump said. (ethos)

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    1. Great job pointing out how being a woman affects the credibility of a speaker on this topic.

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  13. Obama: "This is not normal. This is not politics as usual." WOW. It feels good to hear someone point out how crazy our current discourse about women and the 2016 election is.

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    1. I agree, I just commented on that. I think that when she said "this is not normal," people felt a relief because everyone feels the same way.

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  14. Obama: "This is not politics as usual."

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  15. Obama is saying that "this is not normal" because it is taken too far and it is disgraceful. No one deserves to be treated in this kind of way.

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  16. EVERYONE in the room agrees with everything she is saying.

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  17. Obama: "This isn't about politics. This is about basic human decency. We cannot expose our children to this for another minute, let alone another four years."

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    1. It would be setting up our future and young generations for failure having Trump as a "role model"

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    2. Obama has a very good point when she said "This isn't about politics. This is about human decency" is a very good point because people should just know you can't say things like that

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  18. They keep pointing the camera to young girls I wonder why?

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    1. You may not think it bothers young children, but it does. It scares everyone no matter how old they are.

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  19. There are many men in the crowd agreeing with Obama, not just women.

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  20. She is relating to the crowd and telling them that all of this is wrong. That makes her credible (ethos).

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    1. Everyone all agrees with her too, so that makes her extremely credible.

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  21. What does Obama mean when she says, "Strong men...truly strong men...do not need to put down women in order to feel powerful?"

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    1. Obama says this perfectly. Men shouldn't have to put women down in order to feel powerful, men should be working together with women.

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    2. Obama means that "mature" men or men who will be a good influence to women, don't need to make women feel this way. Someone who is strong and smart, wouldn't put women in this situation. They would increase the positivity in our society instead of bringing it down like Trump did.

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  22. Michelle says it perfectly, I can't think of anything else to add to it.

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  23. because truly strong men bring people up just like she said

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  24. Logos: Obama is stating facts about Hillary Clinton, and is proving that she is a great person to be president because of what Trump did. Michelle thinks Hillary is a good role model. If we let Trump be president, then we are pretty much telling everyone that this is how people should be treating children and women, and that is not what should happen.

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  26. Obama is making a lot connections with every type of person from parent to child, showing that everyone can relate in some way how they feel about what Trump said.

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  27. She talks a lot about teaching children and raising them the right way. That is important because the children are the future, and they need be taught correctly.

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    1. I agree, Obama doesn't want children to grow up thinking that what Trump did was the right thing.

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  28. Obama uses logos by talking about how kids will think what is right if Trump becomes president.

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  29. Did you guys know how important women's votes were to the 2012 presidential election? To this election? What does Obama say about how important it is for women to vote?

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    1. Obama said that women votes where what made the difference in Obamas election and made it clear how much everyones votes mattered.

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  30. Obama: "Her opponent." Obama will not say Donald Trump's name.

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  31. I like how she won't say Trumps name she just keeps calling him the "opponent."

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  32. BIG IDEA: "If you vote for someone other than Hillary, you are helping to elect her opponent."

    I believe Obama is referring to voters who choose to vote for third party candidates when they could be voting for Hillary instead. What does she mean if this is true?

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    1. It is true what are the chances of a third party candidate being elected it does not make much sense to do that.

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  33. One of Obama's most effective rhetorical devices is the phrase, "When they go low, we go high." Why?

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    1. because if Hillary ends u winning the election all her supporters will be happy and trumps supporters will go low and be mad.

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    2. It means to rise above Trump and his crude words or actions. Supporters of Hillary, or women in general will rise above. Trump made a big mistake, by losing most of his women supporters.

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    3. When people give up with the elections, turn their tv off, and ignore everything, they are ignoring the problem. So, when "they" do that, "we" have to do everything we can to make who we need for president.

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    4. Because they dont have anything good to say about there own election so they need to make the opponents bad so people think hillary is winning

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  34. Pathos: Michelle brought up that if Trump is president, then children will grow up to think that this is okay to treat women this way.
    Logos: "When they go low, we go high." Meaning, rise above Trump.
    Ethos: She asked if that is what people want, and everyone said no. That makes her credible.

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  35. This election is very out of hand

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    1. Maybe they should just restart everything with all new people

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  36. For the phrase "When they go low, we go high" Obama is meaning that whatever Trump does, they will always be the bigger person and do the right thing.

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  37. Women are going to come together and overcome this election. Vote for Hillary.

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  38. This was a successful speech by Obama, she started out discussing the recent problem with Trump, then moving on to being together with Hillary will be better for us all. This was supposed to make people feel good about what Obama was saying and what Hillary will do.

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  39. First of all... It's super uncomfortable that this "credible" human being could be in charge of our country. Yes, he may have some good ideas but do we really want this type of behavior in control of us as a nation? I thought that putting down women were over and done with, why are we bringing up the past? Women are just as strong and independent as men are. Equal rights, we say that we have equal rights but do we really if someone who's running for president is shaming these women this way? Why is all of his "dirty laundry" just now coming about? It's the fact that these women who have accused Trump of "sexually assaulting" them are coming forward, now that they realize what could become of this country. By Trump doing this, he's just showing his "followers" that this sort of behavior is acceptable, and most of his "people" will follow in his footsteps. So in reality is this just some big joke to Trump? I, as a woman do not find this sort of behavior acceptable. This country has enough problems as it is, we (women) don't deserved to be shamed for our looks, personality and even who we are as a human being.

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    1. Anyone can tell how this really effects Michelle Obama, by the tone in her voice. It's very shaky at certain points that she feels very strong about. It shows that she truly does care about women and how this behavior shames innocent women.

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    2. Michelle strongly believes that Hillary Clinton is the perfect candidate for president, as she names off everything she has succeeded in. Hillary is a very subtle human being who doesn't shame women OR men for certain little imperfections. She understands that everyone is equal.

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