Friday, March 22, 2024

**ATTENTION, ALL 1st/2nd AP/1102: EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR CLASS MON. 3/25 through THURS. 3/28**

1st/2nd AP LANG/ENG 1102

**ATTENTION, ALL: BELOW IS THE **SCRIPTED/CHRONOLOGICAL VERSION OF EVERYTHING WE'LL COVER IN CLASS MON. 3/25 through THURS. 3/28 (at the latest) RE: the Pres. Clinton/Lewensky scandal and the President's U.S. apology speeches:

...AND AGAIN, FIRST and FOREMOST, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE SPECIFIC STEPS NUMBERED BELOW IN ORDER TO COMPLETE EVERYTHING CORRECTLY

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1) Now you'll be reading, listening to, and then jotting notes/annotations RE: argument/rhetorical strategies in/for one of the most highly-publicized Presidential speeches and scandals in US history: Pres. Bill Clinton's second-term in office "August 17th [1998] Apologia" speech to the nation, watched/heard by millions, regarding his public admission of his participation in an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; Clinton was 49 at the time the affair started, and Lewinsky was 22; the relationship occurred between 1995-97, and it came to light in 1998 
  • However, before we read/listen to the apology speech, read below the following screenshots I've condensed here from the Bill of Rights Institute's site/page RE: "The Impeachment of Bill Clinton"the info below is VERY HELPFUL in giving you a quick 'gist' of the VERY COMPLICATED situation that led to the scandal and subsequent US House of Representatives impeachment of the 42nd US President: 
Read the "Summary" above please....

...and read the "Narrative" above for a slim 'overview' of a painfully-complicated situation

2) NOW, let's READ Clinton's "August 17th Apologia" speech transcript below (also, you have the PAPER COPY of the speech in your binder RHETORIC SECTION labeled as "Clinton II"/"I Mislead People"(at the top/cut off/my handwriting)

**CLICK ON THIS TO EXPAND THE SIZE TO READ**


3) AFTER READING CLINTON'S TELEVISED SPEECH ABOVE, JOT DOWN SOME ANNOTATIONS/POINTS THAT STICK OUT/TONE/PURPOSE/etc. ANSWERS/ANALYSIS about this speech (*post-its or jotting down on the speech paper copy is fine; JUST THINK/ANSWER!)
  • NOTE: HERE BELOW IS A sorta/pseudo-combination of SOAPSTone and SPACECAT analysis strategies, so FEEL FREE TO USE THIS AS A **GUIDE** FOR YOUR OWN ANNOTATIONS/ANALYSIS OF THE SPEECH
Speaker/Occassion/Audience/Purpose/Subject/Tone 
and Speaker/Purpose/Audience/Context/Exigence/Choices/Appeals/Tone


4) Now that you've made some basic analysis notes on the TEXT of Clinton's apology, let's LISTEN to and WATCH his speech delivery here:

President Clinton's "August 17 [1998] Apologia" [speech to the nation/AFTER his Grand Jury testimony] 



5) NOW, IN RESPONSE TO WHAT YOU JUST WATCHED,  THINK ABOUT THE FOLLOWING QU's that I'll ask you about IN CLASS WHEN YOU RETURN:
  • Does viewing this televised broadcast change how you view the speech in any way? Tone? Sincerity? IF SO, HOW or WHY? OR...WHY NOT? BE SPECIFIC.
  • Clinton was known for his effective style of communication thanks to his extensive public speaking experience, highly-favorable Presidential speech ratings, and what some have called his "deep well of charisma,"--or what's also been referred to as his "ability to scale intimacy in a room of 50 or 50,000 people."  
    • Based on this speech you just viewed/watched, what speaking or stylistic techniques presented by Clinton here add to that assessment of his speaking ability? Consider body language, eye contact, voice speed, gestures, wording, *rhetorical effect (*APPEALS TO ETHOS/PATHOS/LOGOS), etc.


6) NOW that you've read his televised speech (WRITTEN BY HIS PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHWRITER, btw), READ BELOW Clinton's originally/personally-penned speech ("CLINTON I") transcript below that was 'scrapped' just hours before the national broadcast:
"Clinton I" **CLICK TO EXPAND/READ


7) HAVING READ BOTH VERSIONS OF CLINTON'S SPEECHES ABOVE,
  • REFERENCE/HAVE HANDY your NOTES/post-its you took for the CLINTON II/"APOLOGIA" speech assignment
  • ALSO QUICKLY READ and LOOK OVER the following comments below from the NYTimes 5/29/18 article "When the President Testified: People in the Room Recall Clinton's 1998 Interrogation" (*good background info here that gives some CONTEXT of WHY the "Apologia" speech was chosen to air; also BTW: James Carville, mentioned here, is/was Clinton's speech writer)
Comments from Clinton's Counsel RE: WHAT TO DO when addressing the nation later that night after his Grand Jury testimony...

...And how that final, televised speech was received by those who heard it, even Starr, the LEAD COUNSEL of the SPECIAL INVESTIGATION team looking into Clinton's 'affairs' (pun totally intended there)
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8) And, BONUS material
  • ...to see just how *evasive* was Clinton in his answers to Starr during his infamous Grand Jury deposition [yes: a sitting US President had to testify in front of a grand jury]; well, see for yourselves, folks: here's all 375+pages of the transcribed Grand Jury Testimony & Deposition of President William Jefferson Clinton
    • just read, for starters, pp. 471-500-ish (*this is a lesson in how to really throw a cross attorney for a LOOP...it's a real WOW-moment)

9)NOW.... 
IF YOU'VE COMPLETED ALL 8 OF THESE STEPS, CONGRATULATIONS!!! You are now ready for the culminating writing assignment for these lessons/J#20 that we'll complete WED. 3/27 and, if needed, THURS. 3/28 in class to accompany these two pieces of US political history... 

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