Subject(s) English Grade(s) 8th/ 9th
STAGE 1 – DESIRED RESULTS
Unit Title: Rhetoric and Audience in American Political Discourse
Enduring Understandings: ​Students will understand that…
1. Students will understand the ways in
which people in positions of traditional
power use rhetorical devices to
influence and manipulate their
audience
2. Students will understand that they
have access to these rhetorical
devices, both from a practical and
analytical standpoint, and that this puts
them in a position to be critically
engaged non-traditionally powerful
citizens
3. Students will understand that
rhetorical devices can be used by
different people to either perpetuate or
disrupt inequitable institutions,
practices, and policies
Skill Focus (1-3)
1. SWBAT define and analyze texts and
artifacts through a rhetorical lens (and
three rhetorical devices)
2. SWBAT understand the role that
audience plays in informing decisions
about crafting arguments
3. SWBAT to apply knowledge of rhetoric,
rhetorical devices, and audience to
produce a compelling argument for a
change to be made in their school
Adapted from Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)
Teacher(s) Mike Hogan
Essential Question ​(Universal, Open-Ended, 1-3)​:
1. What purpose does rhetoric serve for
those in positions of traditional power
in the United States?
2. How have marginalized people in the
United States used rhetoric to instigate
positive change in their community and
country?
3. What can and/ or does being a
political/ civic actor mean for a young
person in this school and community?
Common Core Standard(s):
CC.1.5.9–10.A
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions on grade-level topics, texts, and issues, building on
others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CC.1.5.9–10.B
Evaluate a speaker’s perspective, reasoning, and use of
evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or
exaggerated or distorted evidence.
​CC.1.3.9–10.E
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a
text, order events within it, and manipulate time create an
effect.
L.F.1.1.3 L.F.2.3.2 L.F.2.3.3 L.F.2.5.3
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Subject(s) English Grade(s) 8th/ 9th Teacher(s) Mike Hogan

CC.1.5.9–10.D

Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly,

concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of
reasoning; ensure that the presentation is appropriate to
purpose, audience, and task.

CC.1.5.9–10.E

Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks.

CC.1.5.9–10.F

Make strategic use of digital media in presentations to add

interest and enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and
evidence.

CC.1.3.8.E

Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and

analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to
its meaning and style.

E08.A-C.2.1.2

CC.1.2.9–10.B

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis

of what the text says explicitly, as well as inferences and
conclusions based on an author’s explicit assumptions and
beliefs about a subject.

L.N.1.3.1 L.N.2.1.1 L.N.2.1.2

STAGE 2 – ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Evidence of Learning (performance task or other evidence):

Summative​ - ​Civic Action Plan: ​In small groups, students will identify a school-based issue or problem that they would like
to see changed, propose a solution, and make a presentation to a panel of school community members (leadership, 1-2
teachers, and 1-2 peers).

Formative​ - Compare and contrast mini essay

Rhetorical analysis (written and discussion)
Analysis of audience (written and discussion)

STAGE 3 – LEARNING PLAN

Texts + Resources:

● Student’s favorite commercials

● Advertisements: commercial and political (Ex. Toothpaste, Kamala Harris)
● Kendrick Lamar, “Alright,” BET Awards Performance (Video)
● Fox News segment responding responding to Lamar’s performance (Video)
● Colin Kaepernick (Video)
○ Obama response: “President Obama weighs in on Kaepernick's anthem protest”
○ Trump response: “​NFL: Trump's toughest tweets knocking players for kneeling during national anthem
● “My Dungeon Shook,” from ​The Fire Next Time​ by James Baldwin
● “Harlem” by Langston Hughes
● SNCC June-July 1967 Newsletter
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Adapted from Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)
Subject(s) English Grade(s) 8th/ 9th Teacher(s) Mike Hogan

● SNCC Inter-Staff Newsletter (Dec. 1962)

● “Occasional Poem” by Jacqueline Woodson
● Philadelphia Student Union: Website and “Activists shut down meeting after school board votes to mandate
metal detectors in all Philly HS”

Progression:

● Day 1
○ Introduction to audience, purpose, and power
■ Hook: Favorite commercials
● Present two famous commercials
○ On a Venn Diagram on the board: Similarities and differences between
commercials
○ Partners: Each student brings a commercial in: Using a Venn Diagram track
similarities and differences between commercials
● Notes + discussion: Author’s Purpose + audience (review at this point in the year)
○ What is the intended audience + purpose of commercials we looked at as a
class?
● DIscuss: The way people communicate, with a purpose and intended audience, is
connected to power (traditional power, non-traditional power, access to power)
● Exit ticket: Intended audience and purpose of students’ commercials

● Day 2
○ Introduction to rhetoric
■ Define: Rhetoric, ethos, pathos, logos
● Examples in commercials from yesterday + other advertisements as necessary
● Notes + discussion: Compile a list of common attributes of each time on chart paper + in
notes
● 30 second arguments topic: Free ice cream at lunch for every student (lighthearted topic
that does not require research): Each student is assigned ‘ethos,’ ‘pathos,’ or ‘logos’ and
is given time to prepare and present a 30 second argument in favor of the topic at hand
using their respective device
● Writing (1-2 paragraphs): Compare/ contrast use of rhetoric in commercial student
brought in yesterday and their partners

● Day 3
○ Rhetoric, audience, purpose, and power, Part 1
■ Kendrick Lamar Performance at BET Awards (Video)
● Analysis (Discussion): Which rhetorical devices is Kendrick Lamar using? What is
Lamar’s purpose? Who can we infer that Lamar’s intended audience is? How do you
know?
■ Fox News Response (Video)
● Analysis (Discussion): Which rhetorical devices are the hosts using? What is Fox News’
purpose? Who can we infer that Fox News’ intended audience is? How do you know?
■ Discussion: According to Kendrick Lamar, who has power in the United States? What is Lamar
saying about, or to, those in power? What is Fox News saying about Lamar? Why?
■ Revisit writing from yesterday: Revising based on my comments

● Day 4
○ Rhetoric, audience, and power, Part 2
■ Colin Kaepernick (Video)
● Discuss rhetorical devices, intended audience, and purpose
■ Obama response (Article)
● Discuss rhetorical devices, intended audience, and purpose
■ Trump (Tweet)
● Discuss rhetorical devices, intended audience, and purpose

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Adapted from Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)
Subject(s) English Grade(s) 8th/ 9th Teacher(s) Mike Hogan

■ Discussion and written analysis: Scaffolded options:

● Option 1:
○ Discussion: Colin Kaepernick makes an argument about who has power in the
United States. Who has power, according to Kaepernick?
○ Written: Compare and contrast Obama and Trump’s responses to Kaepernick
● Option 2:
○ Discussion: Colin Kaepernick and Kendrick Lamar are saying something about,
and to, people and institutions in positions of power in the United States. Who
has power, according to these men? What are they saying?
○ Written option 1: Compare and contrast how Kaepernick and Lamar speak about
and to power
○ Written option 2: Compare and contrast how people and institutions responded
to Kaepernick and Lamar
● Day 5
○ Rhetoric, audience, purpose, and power in a text, Part 1
■ Scaffolded options: Excerpts from “My Dungeon Shook: ​Letter to My Nephew on the One
Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation,” by James Baldwin or “Harlem,” by Langston Hughes
● Topics for discussion
○ Rhetorical devices, intended audience, and purpose
○ What is the author saying about power in your text? This can be the power of
groups of people or the power of things
● Four small groups (two per text) plan out talking points (thoughts, questions, sections of
text) to prep for fishbowl discussion
○ Scaffold: students prepare personal discussion notes and chart paper prompts to
be hung during discussion
● Day 6
○ Rhetoric, audience, purpose, and power in a text, Part 2
■ Analyzing rhetoric and audience
● Fishbowl discussions (15 mins for each text)
○ Groups not speaking take notes
○ Scaffold: Students have personal notes for discussion plus discussion notes on
chart paper hung in visible places around room
● Mentor text: Analyze a compare and contrast mini essay
● Day 7
○ Drafting, Part 1
■ Scaffolded expectations: 1-4 page compare and contrast essay (See linked Google Doc for essay
prompt)
■ Students write drafts of essays

● Day 8
○ Drafting, Part 2 + teacher conferences
■ Conference with every student (Day 1): 1-3 actionable steps to take before next class
● Scaffold: Extra conference time with students who need support to complete a mini essay
for next class (option to schedule time to continue working on this essay outside of class
time)
■ Students write drafts of essays

● Day 9
○ Thinking about what it means to be political
■ Brainstorm words, ideas, and images that encapsulate the word ‘political’
■ Discussion: Who gets to be political? (Intentional that only adults have been shown to be political
up until this point--students need to experience questioning an adult in a respectful and productive
way)
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Adapted from Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)
Subject(s) English Grade(s) 8th/ 9th Teacher(s) Mike Hogan

■ SNCC
● Mini Lesson on history, etc. (Emphasize Fannie Lou Hamer)
● Discuss: Compare and contrast Student Voice Newsletter and Internal Newsletter for
audience, ideas, rhetoric

● Day 10
○ Positioning students as civic actors and engaged citizens, Part 1
■ Read “Occasional Poem” by Jacqueline Woodson
● Discuss narrator’s relationship with school
■ Discussion: What is your relationship with your school? What changes do you want to see in your
school?
○ Form groups based on shared interests
○ Establish a problem and solution
■ Mini discussion: Philadelphia Student Union (Mentor movement/ texts/ artifacts)
● Social media presence, activism
● Discuss the ways in which the group uses rhetoric based on an understanding of
audience
● Day 11
○ Positioning students as civic actors and engaged citizens, Part 2
■ Revisit summative project parameters
■ Conferences: Student groups discuss problem and solution with teacher in conference, receive
feedback, receive feedback, and begin conducting research

● Day 12
○ Positioning students as civic actors and engaged citizens, Part 3
■ Students continue conduct research to support their arguments
● Research: Focusing on ethos and logos
○ Is this an issue that other people are interested in and care about?
○ What data exists to support your argument?
● Crafting a narrative: Focusing on pathos
○ How do you frame your argument and research as a compelling narrative?
● Conferences as needed

● Day 13
○ Positioning students as civic actors and engaged citizens, Part 4
■ Students conclude research and plan/ practice/ prepare materials for presentations
■ Students spend half of class giving presentations
● Receive feedback from peers and teacher

● Day 14
○ Positioning students as civic actors and engaged citizens, Part 5
■ Review feedback and give a revised presentation
■ Conferences with teacher (at teacher’s discretion or group/ student request)

● Day 15
○ Positioning students as civic actors and engaged citizens, Part 5
■ Group presentation
■ Students engage in individual structured reflection

Accommodations: ​How will you differentiate instruction for different learning styles and ability levels?

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Adapted from Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)
Subject(s) English Grade(s) 8th/ 9th Teacher(s) Mike Hogan

Guiding principles: ​My efforts to differentiate instruction and materials reflects an effort to engage all students in a shared
intellectual experience with scaffolded academic supports and opportunities. In certain instances, this means reading a
different text (Baldwin and Hughes), though most often it is a matter of scaffolding notes, prompts, and individualized
interventions and supports. In this way, it is my intention for all students to leave this unit having come to begin to see
themselves as civic and political actors, attuned to their own potential and to the ways in which rhetoric is an important
component in both maintaining and disrupting inequitable structures, institutions, and practices.

● As needed: individualized support for students (answer questions, clarify, etc.)

● There are always habits of discussion “I agree with __________ because…., I respectfully disagree with
______________ because…” to scaffold discussion for all students
● Grading system allows room for accomodations

● Day 1: ​Fill in notes (as opposed to open ended notes)

● Day 2: ​Fill in notes and differentiated length requirements for writing assignment
● Day 3: ​Differentiated length requirements for writing assignment and comments will provide different levels of
guidance/ support
● Day 4: ​Differentiated length requirements for writing assignment + options for writing assignment
● Day 5: ​Option to choose a text/ Baldwin excerpts can be added or subtracted
○ I will assign a handful of students to each text, based on my judgement, and allow the remainder of the
class to choose (roughly equal groupings is the only requirement)
● Day 6: ​Personal discussion notes and chart paper prompts/ notes visible in room
● Day 7: ​Differentiated length requirements for essay
● Day 8: ​Differentiated number of actionable steps (some students will have one thing to focus on, others more) +
extra time in conferences + option for extra time outside of class
● Day 9: ​Guided notes
● Day 10: ​Guided notes
● Day 11: ​Conferences to check in with students (groups and individuals: specific goals)
● Day 12: ​Differentiated focus for presentation: research or narrative; conferences as needed
● Day 13:​ Personalized feedback where needed
● Day 14: ​Conferences (groups and individuals: specific goals check in and modification if necessary)
● Day 15: ​Acting on specific goals and opportunity for personal reflection

STAGE FOUR - RATIONALE AND ANTICIPATED CLASSROOM SCENARIO

Justification paragraph for each of the desired results - EU/EQ/Skills (3 paragraphs)

The enduring understandings that I have put forward are a reflection of an intentional effort, on my part, to position
students as political and civic actors. It is my hope and my intention that this unit, in the context of a broader set of academic
and personal experiences in our classroom, will serve as the basis for students’ to develop and adopt an activist political and
civic identity. Inherent to this identity is the belief in one’s ability to be a catalyst for positive change in our community,
country, and world. This work begins with an intellectual foundation, comprised in part by an understanding of the ways in
which rhetorical devices are wielded, by those in traditional positions of power, to influence and manipulate their audience.
Closely tied to this intellectual work, it is my intention to dismantle the belief that access to rhetorical devices is concentrated
in the hands of those in traditional positions of power. Rather, by working to position students as activists the narrative around
power, particularly with regards to who has access to power, can begin to shift. The enduring understandings in this unit,
understood to be one piece of a larger constellation of intellectual work, are a part of instigating that shift. My hope is that the
surprise will be that students who are critically engaging with an institution, in other words, those that are resistant or
ambivalent to school, become the passionate and outspoken leaders that I believe they can be. An example of a scaffold for
these students is the sequence that spans from reading “Occasional Poem” through to the end of the unit. I am hoping that by
providing a structured, scaffolded, and supportive space to critique the school, and offer an alternative, that these students will
find a way to begin engaging with the school in a different way. This effort culminates in the summative assessment: a
student-crafted proposal to make a positive change in their school. My approach to grading this assessment, co-creating
academic SMART goals with a student and assessing the effort towards achieving those goals and providing a space for that
grade to change upon further reflection if a student is not happy with their original grade, is designed to reflect the active
process and work students will be engaged in.

The essential questions that I have posed underlie and support the work that I am attempting to do with students in
this unit: namely equipping students with a set of tools and skills and that enable to meaningfully engage students in a series
of discussions that support the development of an activist civic and political identity. In this way, the essential questions are in
conversation and tandem with the enduring understandings. My sense is that, for some students, the prospect of engaging in
this work will not be appealing for any number of reasons. I am particularly interested in the ways in which a student's
relationship with their school, and orientation to education in that particular context more broadly, mediates those feelings of
ambivalence or resistance. While I would not necessarily call this a surprise, broadly speaking, the ways in which it manifests
often are. I am thinking again about the students that I believe will be the future leaders in our communities. Another form of
accommodation that I intend to provide is putting forth the idea that a certain level of skepticism about, and resistance to,
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Adapted from Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)
Subject(s) English Grade(s) 8th/ 9th Teacher(s) Mike Hogan

school is not necessarily a negative orientation, inherently. It runs the risk of becoming that, though this unit is designed to
offer a framework through which that can be avoided in an authentic and productive way. The questions embedded in this
unit are coming, ideally, at the end of the third quarter. This timing is intentional: by that point I typically have a sense of what
I can reasonably provide and expect from my students, but also in what ways they can be pushed. Furthermore, it is at this
point that the next school year begins to loom, and it is my intention that this unit allows for us to spend the fourth quarter
being intentional about the ways in which that transition occurs. The essential questions are designed to scaffold thinking
about how to respond to adversity, understood to often be a product of decisions made by people in traditional positions of
power.

The skills that I have decided on are a product of deeply considering what students will need to be successful in
doing this work and in being activists. This presupposes a certain willingness to reorient one’s self, which I understand can be
difficult to persuade people of. One reason for this, I think, is because it is asking folks to be active throughout a series of
processes, such as viewing advertisements or reading, that can easily be passive. A surprise that I have encountered when
pushing for this sort of reorientation in the past has been that for students for whom school is relatively easy, this becomes a
point of resistance. While I will always work to disrupt the ways in which school can be easy (rote memorization and
reproduction, for example), I anticipate this being a potential surprise and challenge. I anticipate accommodating this
challenge by placing less of an emphasis on the grade, as a product of a ‘right’ answer or objectively high quality project, and
more on the process itself. It is my intention to make students an active participant in the grading process by collaborating
with them, individually, to set goals for grading. For many students, I do not see these goals as being specific to this unit, but
rather broader goals that span the year. In other words, while the goals pertain to particular skills that this unit is designed to
teach, the goals are part of a broader effort to scaffold student growth. My reasoning here is that this works to disrupt the idea
that this project, or any of the work that we do in the class, is something that students can or should ‘just get through.’ Rather,
it is a component of a broader project: an effort to empower students to become activists. In this way, the skills that I have set
forth are tools that will be useful for this particular experience, but they are also components of an engaged and active form of
citizenship that I will be advocating for throughout the school year.

Grading Philosophy

Grading is, most poignantly, a practical and philosophical challenge for me. Grading on merit often feels like an

inequitable, and potentially destructive, response to the challenges that impact my students’ work in the classroom. Class

conversations and reading about being a culturally responsive and equitable teacher have deeply influenced my goals for, and

beliefs around, grading. I am, at best, ambivalent about grading on merit, though I am attempting to remain cognizant of

these feelings, in an effort to both avoid relying on philosophical and ideological beliefs to avoid grappling with the realities of

this work, and to avoid applying a deficit lens to my students.

My intention is to infuse equity into, and impose structure on, grading. Broadly speaking, I envision an apparatus

that maintains high expectations while being responsive to students’ lived experiences and realities. A system of weekly

‘portfolios,’ consisting of do-nows, class notes and work, and ideally a short writing response, would be structured in a weekly

format. While the specifics can be differentiated and scaffolded, my hope is that this consistent and predictable structure

would be supportive of students. I envision grading for effort, completion, and based on specific goals set with students on a

bi-weekly basis. Larger assignments, such as essays and projects, would be graded in large part based on a similar system

of specific co-created goals, based on an initial ‘diagnostic’ project or essay. Grading then becomes a (more) collaborative

and equitable practice, which is reflective of my goals and values.

Works Cited
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Subject(s) English Grade(s) 8th/ 9th Teacher(s) Mike Hogan

Book:

Baldwin, J. (1992). ​The Fire Next Time.​ Vintage.

Levinson, M. (2012). ​No citizen left behind.​ Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Images:

Chelsea's Professional Endorsement. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2020, from

http://mannmedia.pbworks.com/w/page/106079019/Chelsea's Professional

Endorsement

Talmadge , L. (n.d.). Thread by @LisaTalmadge: "Tough. Principled. Fearless. Kamala Harris.

For the People. kamalaharris.org Kamala Harris has the experience, the toughness, the

drive and [...]". Retrieved February 9, 2020, from

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1110796279074963456.html

Newsletters:

SNCC. (June-July 1967). “ SNCC Newsletter”. Vol. 1, No. 4. Retrieved from

https://www.crmvet.org/docs/sv/6707_sncc_news-r.pdf

SNCC. (1962, December 1). “Inter-Staff Newsletter.” Vol. 1, No. 1. Retrieved from

https://www.crmvet.org/docs/sv/6212_sncc_newsletter.pdf

Videos:

ABC News. (2016, September 2). Colin Kaepernick Takes a Knee for National Anthem.

Retrieved February 9, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBdoDOXMWkg

BET. ​(2019, June 17). ​“We Gon Be Alright || Kendrick Lamar | #BETAwards2015”. ​Retrieved

February 9, 2020, from ​https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2391091891178003

Unruly. (2015, June 30). “Geraldo Rivera rips Kendrick Lamar’s BET Awards set”. Retrieved

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Subject(s) English Grade(s) 8th/ 9th Teacher(s) Mike Hogan

February 9, 2020, from ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3_hi8eWdbY

Websites:

Graham, K. A. (2019, May 7). Activists shut down meeting after school board votes to mandate

metal detectors in all Philly HS. Retrieved February 9, 2020, from

https://www.inquirer.com/education/philadelphia-school-district-budget--20190328.html

Hughes, L. (n.d.). “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. Retrieved February 9, 2020,

from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46548/harlem

Maiocco, M., Thanawalla, A., & Johnson, D. (2016, September 5). President Obama weighs in

on Kaepernick's anthem protest. Retrieved February 9, 2020, from

https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/49ers/president-obama-weighs-kaepernicks-anthe

m-protest

Michals, D. (2017). Fannie Lou Hamer. Retrieved February 9, 2020, from

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/fannie-lou-hamer

Woodson, J. (n.d.) “Occasional Poem” by Jacqueline Woodson. Retrieved February 9, 2020,

from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58428/occasional-poem

Philadelphia Student Union. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2020, from

https://phillystudentunion.org

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