Write two speeches that compare and contrast Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi
with Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American
Slave
The first speech addresses a group of educated adults who are trying to decide
which work to read and discuss at their book club. Your job is not to recommend one
of these books over the other. Instead, you should analyze the style of each work in
order to help your listeners make the right choice for their reading interests. The
speech needs to be about five minutes long.
Your second speech should describe the same two works to a group of fifth-grade
students. Your goal is to tell them about the texts and to get them excited about
literature. This speech should be about one to three minutes long.
Both speeches need to be written out word for word so your teacher can see the
differences in language level and formality. When you present them in class, you
don't need to read them verbatim. You can just list points on note cards or use an
outline.