This lesson has two parts. Students read a new speech independently in class; in my sequence, that’s Harvey Milk’s 1978 “Hope” speech. While they work, I call them up one at a time with their graphic organizer for the speech they analyzed on their own, which is Carrie Chapman Catt’s. It’s the same blank organizer we completed together for Frederick Douglass, and it comes in print and digital versions. This time, though, students filled it out independently.
Checking thesis statements one at a time
I’m checking each student’s thesis statement and essentially scoring it. On the AP rubric, the thesis row is worth one point, and I want every student to earn that point on this one. If they don’t, I give them feedback.
The most common problem is that students summarize the speech without mentioning rhetorical choices. I point to our model, show how we wove those choices in, and they go back and fix it. If a student has a good, workable thesis, even if it isn’t elegantly worded, I check it off, hand the paper back, and send them back to the Milk speech. Sometimes something core is missing, like an accurate purpose or the two or three rhetorical strategies Catt uses (depending on how long you want the essays to be). Then the student needs to go back and add it.
The thesis should also match the evidence on their graphic organizer. If you see pretty thin notes and then a beautiful thesis statement and wonder where it came from, have the student explain it. If there’s a disconnect, send them back to add evidence.
Students who need to revise go to the back of the line. Once I’ve looked at everyone’s thesis at least once, I start on revisions. With a huge class, this might take two days.
Teaching Harvey Milk’s “Hope” speech
Some teachers read the first sentence of the background on this speech, recognize who Harvey Milk is, and decide they can’t teach it where they work. If that’s your situation, I can’t fight that battle for you, but here’s what I’d suggest. Preview your materials ahead of time and be ready to explain the purpose of the text. The AP Lang Course and Exam Description calls for diverse texts by diverse speakers, for diverse audiences and purposes, over and over again. You might point to that and submit the text to your department chair or administrator for prior approval if needed. I’d hate for anyone to skip a text just because of political pressure over the author being a gay rights advocate.
That said, I’m thinking about replacing this text for a different reason: it’s the most challenging one in the set. If your students are just starting rhetorical analysis and the appeals are still new, it may be too much of a stretch. It’s full of references and allusions specific to its time and place, and those can muddy the waters before students ever get to the analysis. I had to add footnotes about apartheid and other issues he references. Students also tend to gravitate toward the Catt speech for their essay because its historical context feels more familiar. The essays I do get on the Milk speech are usually really good, though, because they come from students who are willing to take on a stretch text.
So there are plenty of reasons you might swap it out. I hope the reason isn’t “Am I going to get in trouble for this?” Students should be exposed to different viewpoints. This speech is an important part of history and a milestone for a big minority group in this country, and it fits a unit about advancing rights.
If you can’t use it, other rhetorical analysis text sets work as replacements. They aren’t exactly on the topic of advancing rights, so you may need to adjust your thematic focus a little. Another option is to spend more time on the Catt speech and have everyone write about it. With a smaller number of students, that won’t feel repetitive. With 90 AP Lang students, you’ll want to offer choices so you aren’t reading the same essay every time.