Overview

Lesson Procedure

70-75 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes
5. Closure10 minutes

1. Warm-Up10 minutes

   Write two sentences on the board that describe the same plan: "The city will close Main Street to cars on weekends." and "The city will open Main Street to people on weekends." Students answer the prompt in writing, then share.

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Both sentences describe the same plan. Which speaker supports it and which opposes it? Name the words that tell you, and explain what each speaker wants you to notice."

   Students usually spot that "close" and "cars" point to loss, while "open" and "people" point to gain. Tell them that the difference lies in word choice and emphasis, and that an argument also rests on starting points the speaker asks us to accept. SL.11-12.3 asks students to assess all of this: the stance, the premises, the links among ideas, the word choice, the points of emphasis and the tone (Diagram 1). They will see both sentences again at the end of the lesson.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: Six things to assess. Present Diagram 1 and the table. SL.11-12.3 keeps the grade 9-10 task, evaluating point of view, reasoning, evidence and rhetoric, and names six features to examine closely. A premise is a starting point an argument needs; an unstated premise is one the speaker assumes without saying. Links among ideas are the moves that carry a listener from one idea to the next: because, therefore, if-then, comparisons and contrasts. Assessing means judging each feature, not just finding it.

   The six features SL.11-12.3 names, with a question for each

   Feature	What to look at	Assessment question
   Stance	Where the speaker stands and how firmly	"Is the position clear, and is it the one the speech actually argues?"
   Premises	The starting points, stated and unstated	"Would a skeptical listener accept this starting point?"
   Links among ideas	How one idea is made to lead to the next	"Does this step follow, or is something skipped?"
   Word choice	The words chosen for people, ideas and sides	"What does this word make me feel before I think?"
   Points of emphasis	What is repeated, placed last or left out	"What does the speaker most want remembered, and what is missing?"
   Tone	The speaker's attitude toward the subject and audience	"Does the tone fit the occasion, and who might it push away?"

   Part 2: The speech and its occasion. On July 9, 1896, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, William Jennings Bryan, a 36-year-old former congressman from Nebraska, spoke for the party platform's call for bimetallism: the free coinage of silver as well as gold, at a ratio of 16 to 1. The United States in practice backed its dollar with gold. Silver supporters argued that more money in circulation would help debtors, such as farmers facing falling crop prices; gold supporters, including delegates who had spoken just before Bryan, argued that silver would unsettle business. The speech helped win Bryan the nomination, and he lost the election to William McKinley. Read the first excerpt aloud, at a speaker's pace. Paragraphs are numbered for citation.

   1I would be presumptuous, indeed, to present myself against the distinguished gentlemen to whom you have listened if this were a mere measuring of abilities; but this is not a contest between persons. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty—the cause of humanity. We object to bringing this question down to the level of persons. The individual is but an atom; he is born, he acts, he dies; but principles are eternal; and this has been a contest over a principle.

   2When you come before us and tell us that we are about to disturb your business interests, we reply that you have disturbed our business interests by your course. We say to you that you have made the definition of a business man too limited in its application. The man who is employed for wages is as much a business man as his employer; the attorney in a country town is as much a business man as the corporation counsel in a great metropolis; the merchant at the cross-roads store is as much a business man as the merchant of New York; the farmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day, who begins in spring and toils all summer, and who by the application of brain and muscle to the natural resources of the country creates wealth, is as much a business man as the man who goes upon the Board of Trade and bets upon the price of grain; the miners who go down a thousand feet into the earth, or climb two thousand feet upon the cliffs, and bring forth from their hiding-places the precious metals to be poured into the channels of trade are as much business men as the few financial magnates who, in a back room, corner the money of the world. We come to speak of this broader class of business men.

   • Stance and tone (paragraph 1)

     "I would be presumptuous, indeed, to present myself against the distinguished gentlemen to whom you have listened if this were a mere measuring of abilities." Then: "I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty."

     Result: Bryan opens with a modest tone, admitting he may be outmatched, and then turns firm. His stance is not just "silver is better policy" but that the silver side is a moral cause. Assess the move: the humility wins goodwill, and the phrase "as holy as the cause of liberty" raises the stakes so that disagreeing sounds like opposing humanity.

   • A premise that sets the terms (paragraph 1)

     "The individual is but an atom; he is born, he acts, he dies; but principles are eternal; and this has been a contest over a principle."

     Result: The premise is that principles matter more than persons. It links to his opening: if the contest is over a principle, then a newcomer may challenge "the distinguished gentlemen." A skeptical listener might accept the premise but still ask whether a money policy is a principle or a practical question of economics.

   • Links among ideas (paragraph 2)

     "When you come before us and tell us that we are about to disturb your business interests, we reply that you have disturbed our business interests by your course."

     Result: Bryan links his reply to the opponents' own claim and turns it around: their argument about business interests becomes an argument for his side. The link works only if listeners accept the next step, which he supplies at once: a new definition of who counts as a business man.

   • A premise by redefinition, with its word choice (paragraph 2)

     "The man who is employed for wages is as much a business man as his employer [...] the few financial magnates who, in a back room, corner the money of the world."

     Result: The unstated premise is that anyone who creates wealth by work is a business man. If listeners accept it, the gold side speaks for a few and the silver side for the many. The word choice tilts the scale: the farmer "toils all day," while the magnates work "in a back room" and "corner" money, words that suggest secrecy and unfair dealing.

   • Points of emphasis through repetition (paragraph 2)

     The wage earner, the country attorney, the cross-roads merchant, the farmer and the miners are each called "as much a business man as" someone richer, in five parallel clauses.

     Result: Repeating one structure five times makes the paragraph's main idea impossible to miss and gives each group of workers its own moment of recognition. Emphasis also shows what is left out: the paragraph never explains how silver coinage would help these workers, which is the claim the platform debate is about.

   Part 3: Assessing, not only naming. For each worked example, ask students to finish the sentence "This works on listeners because ..., but a skeptical listener could ask ...." Students should leave Direct Instruction able to name each feature and to judge it.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Groups of three read the second excerpt aloud, one paragraph each. Each student takes two of the six features and marks the excerpt with them, then the group writes one assessment sentence per feature. Show Diagram 2, the word-choice ledger, when groups reach paragraph 1.

   1Ah, my friends, we say not one word against those who live upon the Atlantic Coast, but the hardy pioneers who have braved all the dangers of the wilderness, who have made the desert to blossom as the rose—the pioneers away out there, who rear their children near to Nature's heart, where they can mingle their voices with the voices of the birds—out there where they have erected schoolhouses for the education of their young, churches where they praise their Creator, and cemeteries where rest the ashes of their dead—these people, we say, are as deserving of the consideration of our party as any people in this country. It is for these that we speak. We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conquest; we are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned; we have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded; we have begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them!

   2We say in our platform that we believe that the right to coin and issue money is a function of government. We believe it. We believe that it is a part of sovereignty, and can no more with safety be delegated to private individuals than we could afford to delegate to private individuals the power to make penal statutes or levy taxes. Mr. Jefferson seems to have differed in opinion from the gentleman who has addressed us on the part of the minority. Those who are opposed to this proposition tell us that the issue of paper money is a function of the bank, and that the government ought to go out of the banking business. I stand with Jefferson rather than with them, and tell them, as he did, that the issue of money is a function of government, and that the banks ought to go out of the governing business.

   3And now, my friends, let me come to the paramount issue. If they ask us why it is that we say more on the money question than we say upon the tariff question, I reply that, if protection has slain its thousands, the gold standard has slain its tens of thousands. If they ask us why we do not embody in our platform all the things that we believe in, we reply that when we have restored the money of the Constitution all other necessary reforms will be possible; but that until this is done there is no other reform that can be accomplished.

   Debrief with three questions. (1) How does the tone change across paragraph 1? It starts tender ("Ah, my friends," children who "mingle their voices with the voices of the birds") and ends in defiance: "We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them!" The reversal of "petitioned," "entreated" and "begged" marks the turn, and the final three-word sentence gets the emphasis. (2) What premise does paragraph 2 rest on, and how is it supported? That "the right to coin and issue money is a function of government," supported by an analogy to making criminal laws and levying taxes and by the authority of Jefferson. Students should assess the analogy: coining money and making laws are both powers of a government, but the analogy does not show that silver coinage is the right way to use that power. (3) What link in paragraph 3 carries the most weight? The claim that "when we have restored the money of the Constitution all other necessary reforms will be possible; but that until this is done there is no other reform that can be accomplished." It justifies calling money "the paramount issue," but Bryan asserts it rather than showing it.

4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes

   Students read the third excerpt, from the end of the speech, and answer quiz questions 1-10 on their own. Then they read the council speech in the Closure phase for questions 11-20.

   1We go forth confident that we shall win. Why? Because upon the paramount issue of this campaign there is not a spot of ground upon which the enemy will dare to challenge battle. If they tell us that the gold standard is a good thing, we shall point to their platform and tell them that their platform pledges the party to get rid of the gold standard and substitute bimetallism. If the gold standard is a good thing, why try to get rid of it? If the gold standard is a bad thing, why should we wait until other nations are willing to help us to let go? Here is the line of battle, and we care not upon which issue they force the fight; we are prepared to meet them on either issue or on both. If they tell us that the gold standard is the standard of civilization, we reply to them that this, the most enlightened of all the nations of the earth, has never declared for a gold standard and that both the great parties this year are declaring against it. If the gold standard is the standard of civilization, why should we not have it? If they come to meet us on that issue, we can present the history of our nation.

   2More than that; we can tell them that they will search the pages of history in vain to find a single instance where the common people of any land have ever declared themselves in favor of the gold standard. They can find where the holders of fixed investments have declared for a gold standard, but not where the masses have. There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them. You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.

   [...]

   3No, my friends, that will never be the verdict of our people. Therefore, we care not upon what lines the battle is fought. If they say bimetallism is good, but that we cannot have it until other nations help us, we reply that, instead of having a gold standard because England has, we will restore bimetallism, and then let England have bimetallism because the United States has it. If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.

5. Closure10 minutes

   Return to the Warm-Up sentences. Two residents of an invented town spoke at the same council hearing on a plan to close Main Street to cars on summer weekends. Read Council Speech 1 aloud now; students use it for quiz questions 11-20. Council Speech 2, below it, is the homework text. Exit ticket: "Which of the six features did you find hardest to assess in Bryan's speech, and what question would you ask him about it?"

   1Good evening. I'm Ruth Castellanos. My family has run Castellanos Hardware at 214 Main Street for forty-one years, and I'm here to speak against the proposal to close Main Street to cars every Saturday and Sunday this summer.

   2I want to start with what we agree on. Everyone in this room wants a busy downtown. The question is how we get one.

   3Most of my customers are contractors and homeowners buying things they can't carry far: bags of concrete, lumber, a new water heater. They park at the curb, we load the truck, and they're gone in ten minutes. On a closed street, they will simply drive to the big-box store on Route 9.

   4We have already seen what a closed street does. During the Harvest Festival last October, Main Street was closed for one Saturday, and my sales that day fell by 40 percent. Now imagine that every weekend, all summer.

   5I've heard this plan called a "bold experiment." Well, my store is not a laboratory, and my employees are not lab rats. Eight families depend on those paychecks.

   6The people pushing this plan mean well. But most of them don't run a business on Main Street, and they won't be the ones signing the paychecks in September.

   7If the council wants a livelier downtown, fund more benches, better lighting and a weekday farmers' market. Those help everyone. Closing the street helps some and costs others, and I've spent forty-one years learning which group my store is in. Thank you.

   Teacher note on the historical text. The speech is quoted exactly as printed in 1907. Bryan uses "man" and "mankind" for people in general, as many speakers of 1896 did. The "hardy pioneers" passage celebrates Western settlement without mentioning the Native nations whose lands were taken; students can treat this as part of assessing the speaker's point of view and points of emphasis.

   1Hi. I'm Samir Haddad. I'm a senior at Eastfield High, and I've worked weekends at the Main Street Cafe for two years. I'm here to support opening Main Street to people on summer weekends.

   2On the trial Saturday in June, the city counted people walking downtown between ten and six: 3,900, compared with 2,600 on an ordinary Saturday in May. That's half again as many people on the same four blocks.

   3More people on the sidewalk means more people in the stores. That's just how downtowns work.

   4My cafe had its best Saturday of the year that day. We ran out of croissants by noon.

   5Some store owners are afraid of change. I get it. But downtowns that refuse to change end up as empty windows and "For Lease" signs, and nobody in this room wants that.

   6Think about what Main Street could be: kids on scooters, music on the corner, tables in the street where the parking spaces used to be. Not a road you drive through, but a place you go to.

   7Let's open Main Street to people. Thank you.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Paragraph 1 of the third Bryan excerpt begins, "We go forth confident that we shall win." Which best describes the stance Bryan takes toward his opponents?

   AA cautious negotiator hoping for a compromise with the gold delegates BA confident attacker claiming the other side has no ground to stand on CA neutral judge carefully weighing the gold standard against bimetallism DA reluctant speaker who doubts that his party can win in November

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 1 of the third excerpt, Bryan asks, "If the gold standard is a good thing, why try to get rid of it? If the gold standard is a bad thing, why should we wait until other nations are willing to help us to let go?" How are these two questions linked?

   AThey set a trap: either answer makes waiting for other nations look wrong BThey ask the convention to vote on whether the gold standard is good or bad CThey admit that Bryan himself is not sure whether the gold standard is good DThey repeat one question twice in the same words so listeners will remember it

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The 1896 Republican platform opposed the free coinage of silver unless the leading commercial nations agreed to it, pledged to work for such an agreement, and said the gold standard must be kept until then. Which premise in paragraph 1 of the third excerpt does this information weaken most?

   AThat the other platform "pledges the party to get rid of the gold standard" BThat the United States is "the most enlightened of all the nations of the earth" CThat money is "the paramount issue of this campaign" DThat Bryan's side is "prepared to meet them on either issue or on both" in the campaign

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 1 of the third excerpt, Bryan calls the United States "this, the most enlightened of all the nations of the earth." What does this word choice do in his argument?

   AIt gives a statistic comparing how well educated the people of different nations are BIt flatters national pride, so pride seems to settle a question about money CIt admits that other nations understand money better than Americans do DIt quotes the Republican platform's own description of the country

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 2 of the third excerpt, Bryan says, "There are two ideas of government." Which premise does his side's policy rest on?

   AProsperity that begins with the well-to-do will leak down to those below BLaws should help the great cities first, since they hold the nation's wealth CProsperity given to the masses will rise through every class above them DGovernment should leave money to private banks and stay out of it

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 2 of the third excerpt, Bryan answers the claim that the great cities favor gold by saying that "the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies." How does "Burn down your cities and leave our farms" link to that answer?

   AIt concedes that the cities are right about the gold standard BIt predicts that a gold standard will cause fires in the cities CIt proves with figures that farms produce more than cities DIt pictures cities as depending on farms, so farms come first

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 2 of the third excerpt, Bryan says his opponents "will search the pages of history in vain to find a single instance where the common people of any land have ever declared themselves in favor of the gold standard." How well is this premise supported in the speech?

   AWell, because Bryan lists the nations he studied and what each decided BNot at all: it is a sweeping claim about all of history with no example CWell, because the Republican platform admits the people oppose gold DNot at all, because Bryan says elsewhere that the people favor gold

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In the last paragraph of the third excerpt, Bryan says that "instead of having a gold standard because England has, we will restore bimetallism, and then let England have bimetallism because the United States has it." What does the reversed order of the words emphasize?

   AThat the United States should lead England instead of following it BThat England and the United States already share one money system CThat Bryan will wait for England to act before changing the money DThat England's gold standard explains American prosperity

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The speech ends, "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." Which assessment of this word choice is most accurate?

   AIt explains in plain terms how a gold standard lowers farm prices BIt shows that Bryan's opponents are religious leaders who favor gold CIt softens the ending so that gold delegates will feel welcome DIt casts the gold standard as a crucifixion of working people

10. Question 10 of 20 · Short Answer

    Describe Bryan's tone across the three paragraphs of the third excerpt, quoting at least two phrases. Then assess whether that tone helps or hurts his argument with a hall that includes gold-standard delegates.

    Show model answer

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which best describes Ruth Castellanos's stance in Council Speech 1?

    AShe opposes any change downtown and wants Main Street left as it is BShe supports the closure if the city pays owners for lost sales CShe opposes the weekend closure but backs other ways to liven downtown DShe takes no position and asks the council to study the idea further

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 3 of Council Speech 1, Castellanos concludes, "On a closed street, they will simply drive to the big-box store on Route 9." Which unstated premise does this conclusion depend on?

    AThat the store on Route 9 charges lower prices than Castellanos Hardware does BThat most people downtown on weekends are shopping for hardware CThat the council has already voted to close Main Street for good DThat her customers could not be served another way, such as a loading zone

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which is the weakest link in paragraph 4 of Council Speech 1?

    AA 40 percent drop is too small a change to matter to any store BShe gives no figure at all for her sales on the festival day COne festival day with crowds and booths may not predict a weekly plaza DThe festival was held in summer, when hardware sales are always much higher

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 5 of Council Speech 1, Castellanos says, "my store is not a laboratory, and my employees are not lab rats." What does this word choice do?

    AIt gives evidence that the city has tested plazas in other towns BIt turns the word "experiment" into something done to people CIt shows that she agrees the plan is a bold idea worth trying DIt neutrally describes how the council will test the proposal

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Castellanos mentions "forty-one years" in both her first and last paragraphs. What does this point of emphasis do?

    AIt stresses her long stake and experience, so her judgment seems earned BIt shows the store is too old to adapt, which she admits weakens her case CIt gives the number of years Main Street has been open to cars DIt is an error, since a careful speaker never repeats a number

16. Question 16 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    How does Castellanos's tone change from paragraph 2 to paragraph 6 of Council Speech 1?

    AFrom angry in paragraph 2 to warm in paragraph 6 BFrom joking in paragraph 2 to fearful in paragraph 6 CFrom bridge-building in paragraph 2 to more pointed in paragraph 6 DIt stays neutral in both paragraphs, since she shows no feeling at all

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Assess the links in paragraph 7 of Council Speech 1. Do benches, better lighting and a weekday farmers' market follow from the problems Castellanos raises earlier in her speech? Answer in three or four sentences.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite paragraph 6 of Council Speech 1 so that it keeps Castellanos's stance and point but changes its tone to one that would not push away the plan's supporters. Then explain which word choices you changed and why.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Bryan says he speaks for "the producing masses of this nation and the world" (third excerpt, last paragraph), and Castellanos says, "Eight families depend on those paychecks" (Council Speech 1, paragraph 5). Compare how each speaker's word choice presents the people the speaker represents, and assess which is more effective for its audience.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write a four- to five-sentence evaluation of Council Speech 1 that assesses Castellanos's point of view, one premise, one link and her use of evidence, and ends with a judgment of how persuasive the speech would be for a council that wants a livelier downtown.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to SL.11-12.3: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.