Summary
How do you persuade others? How did the characters in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" use ethos, pathos, and logos to sway the minds of the Roman people? This lesson explores the three modes of persuasion and invites students to analyze and notate the speeches in Shakespeare's tragedy for ethos, pathos, and logos. Students will need some working knowledge of the modes of persuasion prior to beginning this lesson. To go more in-depth regarding speeches and oratory, consider teaching the "Speak up! Four Categories of Speeches" lesson before (or after) this one. This lesson includes optional modifications for distance learning. Resources for use in Google Classroom are included.
Essential Question(s)
In what ways are ideas communicated orally? How do we persuade others?
Snapshot
Engage
Students participate in a Honeycomb Harvest activity to categorize statements according to their mode of persuasion—logos, ethos, or pathos.
Explore
Students watch three short commercials and determine what mode of persuasion is used to sell each product.
Explain
Students use the Why-Lighting or Categorical Highlighting strategy to analyze speeches from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar for modal evidence.
Extend
Students complete CERs (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) over one of the provided speeches and identify the modes of persuasion used.
Evaluate
Students turn in their CERs as formative assessments.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) handout (attached; one per student)
Honeycomb Harvest cards (attached; one set per two students)
I Notice, I Wonder handout (attached; one per student)
Julius Caesar Speech 1 handout (attached; one for every three students)
Julius Caesar Speech 2 handout (attached; one for every three students)
Julius Caesar Speech 3 handout (attached; one for every three students)
Teacher's Guide for Julius Caesar Speeches 1-3 (attached; optional)
Internet access
Engage
Begin by putting students in pairs. Give each pair a set of the prepared Honeycomb Harvest strategy cards. Display slide 3. Ask each pair to sort and connect the honeycombs as they see fit.
After each pair has created their "honeycombs," combine pairs into groups of four. Display slide 4. Ask each group to compare and contrast their connections and justify their reasoning for their groupings and connections.
Once groups have discussed their justifications, ask a few groups to share with the class.
Explore
Next, give each student a copy of the attached I Notice, I Wonder handout. Show slide 5. Tell students that they are going to watch three short commercials. As they watch each commercial, they should to take notes via the I Notice, I Wonder strategy, writing down their observations ("I Notice") and questions ("I Wonder").
Display slide 6. Using the links on the slide (or here)—or the embedded video below—show students the first commercial with well-known singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.
Display slide 7 and invite students to share their observations, allowing time for response. Next, ask students to share their questions, and allow time for replies. Then, ask students which of the three appeals—logos, ethos, or pathos—was used in the commercial.
Next, display slide 8. Using the links on the slide (or here)—or the embedded video below—show students the second commercial for the World Wildlife Fund.
Display slide 9. Invite students to share their observations, allowing time for response. Next, ask students to share their questions, and allow time for replies. Then, ask students which of the three appeals—logos, ethos, or pathos—was used in the commercial.
Next, display slide 10. Using the links on the slide (or here)—or the embedded video below—show students the third commercial about "light" soups.
Display slide 11. Invite students to share their observations, allowing time for response. Next, ask students to share their questions, and allow time for replies. Then, ask students which of the three appeals—logos, ethos, or pathos—was used in the commercial.
Explain
Display slide 13 or slide 14, depending on your preferred strategy. Explain to students that they will be reading one of three speeches from Julius Caesar and, using the Why-Lighting or Categorical Highlighting strategy, find and label examples of ethos, pathos, and logos. Ask students to explain whether they consider each highlighted portion to be logos, ethos, or pathos, and why.
Number students off from 1-3. Assign and pass out one of the three attached Julius Caesar Speech handouts to each student, with the speech number corresponding to each student's assigned number. Have students use the Jigsaw strategy to study and share their ideas with their groups.
Once students have finishing highlighting and annotating their assigned speeches, display slide 15. Ask for volunteers to share with a heterogeneous group what they highlighted, how they labeled it, and their justification or reasoning for doing so. Give time for each student to share out.
Ask students to share out an example of each of the three modes of persuasion and their reasoning or justification for labeling it as such.
Extend
Display slide 16, and pass out a copy of the attached CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) handout to each student.
Using the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning strategy, invite students to write their own claims about the death of Julius Caesar and, ultimately, persuade the citizens to join with Brutus and Cassius or with Mark Antony and the triumvirate. The evidence students use must be from the text of the play.
Evaluate
Have students turn in their CER handouts as formative assessments for the lesson.
Resources
AdFreakOne (2009, Jan 8). Campbell's Soup | "Light Versus" [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/PplMjgh_QlM
Heinz. (2019). Ed’s Heinz ad. YouTube. Retrieved from Heinz. (2019). Ed’s Heinz ad [Video].YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keOaQm6RpBg
K20 Center. (n.d.). Card sort. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f506976b
K20 Center. (n.d.). Categorical highlighting. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/fc74060730ea745c8c4f356aa204c85d
K20 Center. (n.d.). Claim, evidence, reasoning (CER). Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f506fc09
K20 Center. (n.d.). Desmos. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/1081
K20 Center. (n.d.). Google classroom. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/628
K20 Center. (n.d.). Honeycomb harvest. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/61
K20 Center. (n.d.). I notice, I wonder. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f507d1a7
K20 Center. (n.d.). Jigsaw. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f507c1b8
K20 Center. (n.d.). Quizlet. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/666
K20 Center. (n.d.). Why-lighting. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f505e7d5
NiceCrane287 (2012, July 28). Adopt a wild snow leopard - WWF [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/nvEgCg1yh30
Paradigm Education. (n.d.). My Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 2. myShakespeare. https://myshakespeare.com/julius-caesar/act-3-scene-2
Robertson, G. E. (c. 1894-1895). Marc Antony's oration at Caesar's funeral. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar#/media/File:Marc_Antony's_Oration_at_Caesar's_Funeral_by_George_Edward_Robertson.jpg
