"The Gettysburg
Address," by Abraham Lincoln;
"I Have a Dream,"
by Martin Luther King, Jr.; &
"Dream Deferred,"
by Langston Hughes.
Prepared for 8th Grade Students
@
J. B. Young Intermediate
1709 Harrison Street
Davenport, IA 52803-4811
by Mrs. Searle
searlek@mail.davenport.k12.ia.us
THE TASK:
You are an anthropologist from the year 3000. You have unearthed copies of the following:
In an attempt to figure
out what these speeches mean and what they say about the human condition
in the mid 1800s and the mid 1900s, you will use the antique Mac computers
with mouses (little furry rat-like animals?) 
to search the now defunct Internet for answers to questions you
have about the world as Lincoln, King, and Hughes saw it.
Background Info on Martin Luther King, Jr.
MLK Papers Project Sermons: The American Dream
Print only what you'll need to prepare a piece of writing to document what you've figured out about Lincoln, King, and Hughes and the events that shaped their words.
Scan the information you have gathered with your super-improved eye orbs. Now, the tough part. Even in 3000, humanoids are confused by writing!
Step 1: You've gathered info. Now, you need to figure out how to organize it.
YOUR TASK:
You will write a comparison/contrast paper to deal with the facts you've uncovered and share your observations of history. To do a good job and please your superiors, you will need to write an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Unfortunately, your fancy scriptwriter broke, and the warranty expired. You'll have to write the old-fashioned way.
However, you did have one piece of good luck. When you found these speeches, you also found an old lesson plan written by a long-dead English teacher, who, you were shocked to learn, did not have eyes in the back of her head. Over the years, teachers have mutated. In 3000, they have 2 sets of eyes--in the front and in the back!
Use this plan as a guide.
Prewriting for the comparison/contrast form of writing:
Create a Venn Diagram.
Label one side "King" and one side "Lincoln" (if those are your two choices).
Experiment with a more ordered Venn Diagram. Off to the side, list categories to help you look for details. You might include categories like these: men's lives, men's accomplishments, purpose of each speech, style of each speech, methods of change each man believed in/used, etc. You decide. Think organization!
Here's what you need to know:
Your intro must start with a
purpose
or thesis statement.
Click here for more
on thesis statements. And
here! And
here! And
here!You must also mention the
names of the speeches and their authors in the intro. You must use words
like "by looking for the differences and similarities between the two
men, their speeches, their lives, and their methods, a modern reader can
see" in the intro.
You need to find a way to organize
the research into paragraphs
with topic
sentences.
You need to figure out how to
present
the information logically in paragraphs.
Make sure your conclusion recaps
the gist of your comparison and contrast intro.
Possible Points of Comparison:
the authors' accomplishments
the authors' careers
the time periods in which the authors
lived
the types of speeches
the style of each speech
the purpose behind each speech
the methods of change used by each
author
the effectiveness of the speeches
Remember, organization is very important when dealing with a piece of comparison/contrast writing. Think about what you have learned, and put your "report" to you superiors together in the form of a comparison/contrast paper.
You will be word processing this with the antique Apple computers. Even though the spell check is antiquated, use it before you print. Don't print a document riddled with spelling errors. In 3000, it's a federal crime to waste paper...you also don't want the Spelling Police after you. Add a graphic to enhance your words, and print your work.
Hand in a Venn Diagram, a draft, and a final typed copy.
You know your superior will assess your work this way:
Needs, Meets, and Exceeds.
To end up in the "Meets" or "Exceeds" category, pay attention to the following:
Start with a Controlling/Thesis Statement
Use topic sentences to organize paragraphs
Use transitions like "both," "likewise,"
"similarly," "also," "in contrast," "unlike,"
"on the other hand," and "but"
Conclude with a recap of the gist of the comp/cont
intro.
Develop the intro, body, and conc.
Mechancis: spelling, grammar, and punctuation are
correct and don't detract from the reader's understanding
Please hand your paper in on time! For some reason, the comparison/contrast paper is not completed by enough students. Mrs. Searle's team members are really tired of hearing her talk about the comp./cont. paper and which students still need to complete it.
Have PITY on your fellow teachers. Save them from Mrs. Searle.
TURN YOUR PAPERS IN.
Searle
Questions or comments: e-mail Mrs. Searle at searlek@mail.davenport.k12.ia.us