21W.747 | Fall 2009 | Undergraduate

Classical Rhetoric and Modern Political Discourse

Study Materials

Study Guide for Aristotle’s Rhetoric Book I-3 (PDF)

Study Questions for Plato’s Gorgias (PDF)

Study Guide for De Inventione & Roe v Wade (PDF)

Reading Notes for Cicero De Inventione & Roe v Wade (PDF)

Background for Lincoln’s Cooper Union Speech (PDF)

LaGesse, David “The 1952 Checkers Speech: The Dog Carries the Day for Richard Nixon.” U.S. News, January 17, 2008.

Examples About Speeches and Writing

Basler, Roy P. “Cooper Union Address.” February 27, 1860.

National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. “Second Debate: Freeport, Illinois”.

Best Speeches of Barack Obama Through his 2009 Inauguration.

Organizing for America. “Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: ‘A More Perfect Union’.” Philadelphia, PA, March 18, 2008.

Goodridge, Elisabeth, and Jackson Tom. “Obama’s Health Care Address to Congress.” The New York Times, September 10, 2009.

Luther King, Martin, Jr., and the Global Freedom Struggle. “Eulogy for the Martyred Children.” September 18, 1963.

Hooker Richard, Ancient Greece. “Thucydides: Pericle’s Funeral Oration.” June 6, 1999.

Lincoln, Abraham. “Gettysberg Address.” November 19, 1863.

Luther King, Martin, Jr., and the Global Freedom Struggle. “I Have a Dream, Address at March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” August 28, 1963.

Nixon, Richard M. “Checkers.” September 23, 1952.

Lincoln, Abraham. “Second Inaugural Address.” March 4, 1865.

Obama, Barack. “Eulogy for Ted Kennedy.” August 29, 2009.

Everett, Edward. “Edward Everett’s Gettysburg Address.”

Phillips, Macon, and The White House Blog. “President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address.” January 21, 2009.

Wilson, Joe. “Stand with Joe at JoeWilsonforCongress.com.” September 10, 2009. YouTube. Accessed March 31, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztnFV13zEao

G.O.P. Responds to Obama on Health Care. The New York Times, September 10, 2009.

Articles by Les Perelman on Classical and Medieval Rhetoric

Perelman, Les. The Two Rhetorics: Design and Interpretation in Engineering and Humanistic Discourse. (PDF)

———. The Medieval Art of Letter Writing: Rhetoric as Institutional Expression. (PDF)

Churchill Speeches

House of Commons. “We Shall Fight on the Beaches.” June 4, 1940.

Speeches and Debates

Maxpowers518. “Nixon’s “Checkers Speech” - Part 1 of 2.” August 15, 2008. YouTube. Accessed March 31, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4UEv_jjPL0

———. “Nixon’s “Checkers Speech” - Part 2 of 2.” August 15, 2008. YouTube. Accessed March 31, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhQD2UFCIbY

Election 2008. “The Vice-Presidential Debate.” The New York Times, August 10, 2009.

Organizing for America. “Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: The American Promise (Democratic Convention).” August 28, 2008.

Maxpowers518. “JFK’s opening statement - 1960 debate.” August 15, 2008. YouTube. Accessed March 31, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xWW4WmBtk8

———. “JFK’s opening statement - 1960 debate.” August 15, 2008. YouTube. Accessed March 31, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocdccxLuIrQ&feature=related

Election 2008. “The Third Presidential Debate.” The New York Times, August 11, 2009.

Prelinger Archives. “1960 Kennedy-Nixon Debate (Part I) (1960).” March 10, 2001.

———. “1960 Kennedy-Nixon Debate (Part II) (1960).” March 10, 2001.

Les Perelman and The SAT Writing Essay

Winerip, Michael. “ON EDUCATION; SAT Essay Test Rewards Length And Ignores Errors of Fact.” New York Times, May 4, 2005.

“The Beauty of Brevity.” Chicago Tribune, May 6, 2005.

Linda, Wertheimer. “MIT Professor Finds Fault with SAT EssayNPR, August 3, 2010.

Inside Higher Ed. “Fooling the College Board.” March 26, 2007.

Perelman, Les. “New SAT: Write Long, Badly and Prosper.” Los Angeles Times, May 29, 2005.

———. SAT Writing Essays Strategies (PDF)

Health Care

Jacoby Jeff. “Mandatory Insurance: Yes, Its a Tax.” The Boston Globe, September 23, 2009.

———. “What ‘Right’ to Health Care?The Boston Globe, September 13, 2009.

Editorial. “World’s Best Medical Care?The New York Times, April 12, 2007.

Bates, Daniel. “Paedophile Pensioner Given Viagra on the NHS - Despite String of Attacks on Children.” Mail Online, August 20, 2009.

Osborne, Barry. “Health Care Fact Check: Best in the world?The Denver Post, August 26, 2009.

Blankley, Tony. “Beware of Comprehensive Health Care Reform.” July 22, 2009

Shrum, Robert. “Smear Britannia: Conservatives Open a New Front on Health Care.” August 17, 2009.

WHO/OECD Health Data 2009. “The Brutal Truth About Americas Healthcare.” The Independent, August 15, 2009.

Kristof, Nicholas D. “Until Medical Bills Do Us Part.” The New York Times, April 29, 2009.

Krugman, Paul. “Health Care Realities.” The New York Times, July 30, 2009.

———. “The Swiss Menace.” The New York Times, August 16, 2009.

Goldhill, David. “How American Health Care Killed My Father.” Atlantic Magazine, September 2009.

Gabel, Jon R. ‘’Congress’s Health Care Numbers Dont Add Up." The New York Times, August 25, 2009.

Murdock, Deroy. “Government Medicine Kills II.” National Review Online, October 7, 2009.

Halderman, Linda. “Unhealthy Health Care.” National Review Online, October 19, 2007.

Dickinson, Tim. “The Lie Machine.” Rollingstone.com, September 23, 2009.

Torture

Human Rights Watch. “Summary of International and U.S. Law Prohibiting Torture and Other Ill-treatment of Persons in Custody.” May 24, 2004.

Rushdie, Salman. “Ugly Phrase Conceals an Uglier Truth.” The Sydney Morning Herald, January 10, 2006.

“International: Is Torture Ever Justified?; Terrorism and Civil Liberty.” The Economist 384, no. 8547 (2007): 76.

Classroom Lincoln Douglas Debates

National Forensic League. “Past Lincoln-Douglas Debate Topics”.

National Forensic League. “Past Policy Debate Topics”.

Lincoln Douglas Debate Format (PDF)

Course Info

As Taught In
Fall 2009
Learning Resource Types
Lecture Notes
Presentation Assignments
Written Assignments