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Words That Move Crowds?Political Speech from Churchill to Social Media

Terminale (general) · CEFR B2 core · Going further C1 / C2 · Threads: Voice, Power, Truth

“Can a 15-second clip change more minds than a one-hour speech?”

The big question

From a parliament to a phone screen, how can political words unite people, give a voice to those who are not heard, and sometimes manipulate?

The journey

  1. One speech, one post: what changed?: Compare a long speech and a short post, and meet the three tools of persuasion.
  2. Gettysburg, 1863: two minutes: Discover how a very short speech became one of the most famous in English.
  3. Churchill, June 1940: words as weapons: Analyse how a leader can tell the truth about a defeat and still give hope.
  4. Ask not: Kennedy, 1961: Study how a new leader speaks to a whole generation.
  5. Fake quotes travel fast: Learn to check a quote before you share it.
  6. From the chamber to the feed: Cut a speech into a clip without betraying it.

Sentence starters

Grammar focus

Churchill warned the House that wars were not won by evacuations. Kennedy urged Americans to ask what they could do for their country.

Word bank

a speech / an address · an audience · rhetoric · anaphora · a tricolon · chiasmus · ethos / pathos / logos · a soundbite · to misattribute · to fact-check · out of context · to rally / to unite · to manipulate · propaganda · to go viral · eloquent

Game: Speech Builder

A card game that you invent. Make Device cards (anaphora, tricolon, chiasmus, rhetorical question, appeal to emotion) and Topic cards on school life (longer lunch breaks, a school garden, more clubs). A player draws one card of each and gives a 20-second speech using the device. The others must name the device. Add Quote Check cards: a player reads a quote and the others ask the four questions before they decide if it is real. Write the rules, test them, and improve them.

Final task

Essay: “Can a 15-second clip do what a great speech did?” Core: about 300 words (B2). Going further: about 450 words (C1 / C2).

My effort badges

Brave SpeakerFact CheckerFair DebaterGame DesignerRule WriterComeback Badge

Bridges

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