I'd like to find 10 famous speeches to study next year. Any suggestion? Update! I have one more question.

[helena]

We're doing the Gettysburg Address for sure, since it goes with our history timeline.

I'm open to any time period or subject.

I need short ones for August, December, and March.

Thanks!!

 

 

 

I'm updating with a new question. :)

I've printed and mounted all but one speech. I'd really like to do an excerpt from Socrates' Apology. Can anyone suggest a specific section? If you can, I'd also love to know why.

Thanks again!

[Zoo Keeper]

There are some interesting ones from 1900 on listed on AO's year 11.

[Ali in OR]

Two that have come up for us that we then found on Youtube:

-I Have a Dream--MLK

The speech with "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard."--JFK summer 1962 (I think at Rice University??)

[Alessandra]

Two that have come up for us that we then found on Youtube:

-I Have a Dream--MLK

The speech with "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard."--JFK summer 1962 (I think at Rice University??)

 

:iagree:

 

For MLK, look at the longer you tube recordings that show the whole speech and how large the crowd was.

 

:iagree:

 

Anything JFK

 

 

JFK's Inaugural Address

http://www.bartleby....124/pres56.html

 

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

 

Reagan's speeches) on the Challenger disaster, including ths famous bit:

 

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth†to “touch the face of God.â€

 

The funeral oration of Pericles is wonderful, classic, but not a snappy read, lol.

[Aurelia]

Winston Churchill had several - "we shall fight them on the beaches", "their finest hour", etc.

Chief Joseph - "I will fight no more forever"

Elizabeth I's speech to the troops - "I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England, too"

Sojourner Truth - "Ain't I a woman?"

[helena]

Thanks everyone!

[Kalmia]

Dover Books has anthologies of great speeches.

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Great+speeches+dover+books

[history_junkie]

The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches has a lot of great ones. Stalin and Hitler are both fascinating to analyze with our 20/20 hindsight...

[PhotoGal]

I just want to say that this is the kind of thread that makes me love this forum! :001_wub:

[Mom2OandE]

Great idea!

[Tita Gidge]

From General Douglas MacArthur's acceptance speech of the Thayer Award:

Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.

 

Lou Gehrig's Farewell to Baseball speech is nice short one.

 

FDR's address to the nation following Pearl Harbor

 

Spiro Agnew's Television News Coverage is interesting from a historical perspective. It's long.

 

For short ones, have you considered movie speeches? Famous in the pop culture sense :) some historical-like, too. Some movies I can think of off-hand, but not sure of ratings:

A Few Good Men ("Son we live in a world that has walls .... You can't handle the truth!") -

Good Will Hunting (debate at the bar)

Braveheart (Wallace's FREEDOM speech)

A Man for All Seasons (Sir Thomas More's Devil speech)

To Kill A Mockingbird (Gregory Peck's court scene)

Patton (General Patton's speech LOL)

Dead Poets Society (Carpe Diem)

Any Given Sunday (Al Pacino's pep talk)

Pulp Fiction (Samuel Jackson's Ezekiel)

Lord of the Rings/Return of the King (Viggio at the black gate)

Field of Dreams (James Earl Jones)

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I was going to suggest the Patton one as well. :-) I always assumed it was based on a real speech- is it really just a movie speech?

 

There's the old "Four score and seven years ago" of Lincoln

 

There's some great speeches in Shakespeare- Shylock's "If you prick me, do I not bleed", watch Mel Gibson do this one in Man Without a Face

[Laura Corin]

How about Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury before the fleet went out to meet the Spanish Armada? Great rousing stuff:

 

My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety to take heed how we commit ourself to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safe guard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects, and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all, to lay down my life for my God and for my kingdom and for my people, my honour, and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm; the which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know, already for your forwardness, you have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you, in the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the meantime my lieutenant-general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject, not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.

 

L

[helena]

The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches has a lot of great ones. Stalin and Hitler are both fascinating to analyze with our 20/20 hindsight...

 

 

Great idea!

[helena]

From General Douglas MacArthur's acceptance speech of the Thayer Award:

 

 

Lou Gehrig's Farewell to Baseball speech is nice short one.

 

FDR's address to the nation following Pearl Harbor

 

Spiro Agnew's Television News Coverage is interesting from a historical perspective. It's long.

 

For short ones, have you considered movie speeches? Famous in the pop culture sense :) some historical-like, too. Some movies I can think of off-hand, but not sure of ratings:

A Few Good Men ("Son we live in a world that has walls .... You can't handle the truth!") -

Good Will Hunting (debate at the bar)

Braveheart (Wallace's FREEDOM speech)

A Man for All Seasons (Sir Thomas More's Devil speech)

To Kill A Mockingbird (Gregory Peck's court scene)

Patton (General Patton's speech LOL)

Dead Poets Society (Carpe Diem)

Any Given Sunday (Al Pacino's pep talk)

Pulp Fiction (Samuel Jackson's Ezekiel)

Lord of the Rings/Return of the King (Viggio at the black gate)

Field of Dreams (James Earl Jones)

 

Another great idea! She'll be reading To Kill a Mockingbird for History Odyssey.

[helena]

I'm so glad I asked!!!! I'll be reading through a lot of speeches in the next few days. :)

 

 

Any from ancient history that wouldn't be too difficult?

 

Thanks!

[swellmomma]

We are doing the ones listed in "Living Memory: A classical memory work companion"

 

We will listen to/read these in full but do memory work on:

 

An excerpt from Plato's Apology

excerpt from Blood, Toil, Tears and sweat by Winston Churchill

excerpt from Give me liberty, or give me death! by Patrick Henry

Excerpt from The Strenous Life by Theodore Roosevelt

Excerpt from I have a dream by MLK jr

Our Family Creed bu John D. Rockefeller Jr

 

Also doing but not in that book: These Canadian speeches

 

Excerpts from Louis Riel's speech from his treason trial

Excerpts from Joseph Howe's speech at his trial that solidified freedom of speech by the press

Exceprts from Sir Wlifrid Laurier's speech to deplore the house of commons decision to hang Riel(at the end of his treason trial)

[Pod's mum]

If you are interested in crossing the Pacific, then this speech by one of our not much liked Prime Ministers was voted by Australians as the third most significant speech ever. (Behind Sermon on the Mount and Martin Luther's "I have a dream.." speech.)

It was Paul Keating's Redfern Speech offering both a full and unreserved acknowledgment of the value of our first Australians and also the harm they have suffered. It was delivered in a Sydney suburb with a high population of disadvantaged Aboriginies.

Anyway, here is its background... http://en.wikipedia....ern_Park_Speech

 

 

Here is its transcript... http://en.wikisource.../Redfern_Speech

And here is a film clip... http://aso.gov.au/ti...edfern-address/

 

Have fun with this unit.

[kiwik]

Had to go and find the book. "Great Speeches, words that shaped the World" edited by Edward Humphreys and published by Arcturus Publishing Ltd, London, 2010. It starts with Elizabeth 1 and ends with Obama, has about 40 speeches. Doesn't have the Redfern apology but does have one by Kevin Rudd, has most of those mentioned along with a good selection of others.

[SFM]

I am loving these suggestions! :)

[LisaKinVA]

Reagan's Challenger speech...it always makes me cry.

 

Here is a link to The History Place -- Great Speeches collection.

[history_junkie]

I'm so glad I asked!!!! I'll be reading through a lot of speeches in the next few days. :)

 

 

Any from ancient history that wouldn't be too difficult?

 

Thanks!

 

Apology by Socrates

Funeral Oration by Pericles

Among Us You Can Live No Longer by Cicero

 

I taught Rhetoric this year :) I don't think I've personally read the Cicero speech, but the other two I studied either as a student or teacher. Shaunna Howat's Biblical Worldview Rhetoric is the text we used....

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Reagan's Challenger speech...it always makes me cry.

 

Here is a link to The History Place -- Great Speeches collection.

 

 

Just the part quoted here now made me cry :lol:

 

I'm loving these suggestions too. DD10 has been enjoying poetry memorization. It never crossed my mind to do some speeches as well!

[scrapbabe]

George Washington's farewell address.

Patrick Henry's Liberty or Death

[Mergath]

If you want something recent so that you can tie it in with modern politics, Obama's keynote speech at the 2004 DNC is generally considered one of the great ones. Love him or hate him, the man's a great speaker.

 

http://navedz.com/2008/11/05/the-speech-that-made-barack-obama-famous/

 

This was basically the moment that won him the presidency, even though he didn't run for another four years.

[PandaMom]

Here is a list of top 10 speeches. http://www.time.com/...1841736,00.html Winston Churchill is a fave of mine so defintely anything by him.

 

Susie

[helena]

Oh my gosh. Is it normal that I have a headache and massive lump in my throat from going through all of these speeches??!!

I love a good speech. :)

 

 

I also really like William Faulkner's Nobel Prize speech.

[swellmomma]

reported

[FLDebbie]

What about "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"? It's about ancient history.

[FLDebbie]

What about "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"? It's about ancient history.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

John Stuart Mill's "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things."

[Luckymama]

What great selections! Thanks all for sharing :) You're inspired me to add speeches into American history this year.

[Amethyst]

The best one...the one you must do...Sojourner Truth, Ain't I a Woman

[cavscout96]

many have already been mentioned:

 

Socrates "Apology"

Mark Antony (Shakespeare) "Friends, Romans, Countrymen...."

Henry VII (Shakespeare, again) "St. Crispin's Day aka: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...."

Patrick Henry "Give me liberty or give me death" free on Amazon Kindle

Washington's Farewell address

Gettysburg address

FDRs address following the attack on Pearl Harbor

Churchill's address to parliament regarding the Battle of Britain "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few."

MLKs "I have a dream"

Kennedy's Inaugural Speech

Reagan dress in Berlin 1987 "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Reagan Farewell speech "Shining city upon a hill"

 

 

- cheers

[Candid]

This speech by Solzhenitsyn is supposed to be huge: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/solzhenitsyn/harvard1978.html

 

You rarely hear about it because he is not a politician or public activist just a novel writer. But if you google it you'll be suprised by the resonance it has.

[Jaybee]

I just want to say that this is the kind of thread that makes me love this forum! :001_wub:

 

 

:iagree: I don't know if I would have ever thought of this--other than an isolated speech here or there, but what a great and inspiring idea. My sons are not to the rhetoric stage yet, so I might have come across something like this as they got older, but now I will be specifically planning for it. Going to type it in my "future curriculum" plans right now!

[TraceyS/FL]

Reagan's speeches) on the Challenger disaster, including ths famous bit:

 

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth†to “touch the face of God.â€

 

 

This is a great musical tribute that puts the speech with images and a song from John Denver - I feel lucky to have seen him perform this live in Tahoe. It is something that has stayed with me... and every shuttle launch I watched I had that feeling that that is what they were doing....

 

 

(and OP - thanks for this thread - it helped me with a school assignment this weekend on speeches!!!)

[mathnerd]

From General Douglas MacArthur's acceptance speech of the Thayer Award:

 

 

Lou Gehrig's Farewell to Baseball speech is nice short one.

 

FDR's address to the nation following Pearl Harbor

 

Spiro Agnew's Television News Coverage is interesting from a historical perspective. It's long.

 

For short ones, have you considered movie speeches? Famous in the pop culture sense :) some historical-like, too. Some movies I can think of off-hand, but not sure of ratings:

A Few Good Men ("Son we live in a world that has walls .... You can't handle the truth!") -

Good Will Hunting (debate at the bar)

Braveheart (Wallace's FREEDOM speech)

A Man for All Seasons (Sir Thomas More's Devil speech)

To Kill A Mockingbird (Gregory Peck's court scene)

Patton (General Patton's speech LOL)

Dead Poets Society (Carpe Diem)

Any Given Sunday (Al Pacino's pep talk)

Pulp Fiction (Samuel Jackson's Ezekiel)

Lord of the Rings/Return of the King (Viggio at the black gate)

Field of Dreams (James Earl Jones)

 

 

 

I come to this forum for learning so that I can teach my child better. But, I have learnt more from this thread than what I knew just a few days ago. So, thanks for enriching my brain!

 

PS: I might only have been able to name the Gettysburg address and the "I have a dream" speech before delving into this thread.

[weederberries]

many have already been mentioned:

 

 

Henry VII (Shakespeare, again) "St. Crispin's Day aka: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...."

 

 

 

One of my faves...

Small correction, the speech is found in Shakespeare's Henry V.

[cavscout96]

thanks... got carried away :)

[Pod's mum]

Spammer reported.

And yet again, thanks moderators.

[Angie in VA]

Here is one source for the 20th C. My library had it.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Speeches-20th-Cen/dp/B0000032HG/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1371378422&sr=1-1&keywords=great+speeches+of+the+20th+century

 

(Sorry I can't link it fancy-style. Our desk top is dead and I am on a tablet. *Moment of silence for my desk top*)

[trafal]

Charlie Chaplin's speech from the end of The Dictator. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvjoWOwnn4‎

[CyndiLJ]

Hewitt Homeschooling has a course for great speeches in history, have you seen this?:

 

https://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/Materials/mItem.aspx?id=8091

[helena]

Hewitt Homeschooling has a course for great speeches in history, have you seen this?:

 

https://www.hewittho...em.aspx?id=8091

 

No, I haven't. Thanks for the link, I'm checking it out right now. I could see using something like this a year or two down the road if it goes well.

 

I've picked my speeches and now I'm printing them up and mounting them on card stock. I want the girls to be able to walk around with them while they read. I have one who's a pacer :) while trying to memorize monthly poetry.

 

I think they're going to be sharp! I'm super excited!

[mysticmomma]

Great info

[Amber in SJ]

This one will make you want to invade France. From Shakespeare & Tom Hiddleston

 

[helena]

I've printed and mounted all but one speech. I'd really like to do an excerpt from Socrates' Apology. Can anyone suggest a specific section?

Thanks again!

[cavscout96]

so... tell us which ten you picked!

[helena]

so... tell us which ten you picked!

 

 

I had to force myself to pick ten, do the work and be done with it. :) Otherwise I'd spend too much time on it. I figure that if this goes over well, it's something I'd do every year. I have plenty of time to do lots of speeches.

 

I'll probably change my mind about one or two, but at least it wont be a big deal to change them out. I'm also thinking of printing up (and mounting) a photo and very brief description of each speaker to display along with the speech. I do something similar with poetry and I like the way it looks.

 

Aug. Muhammad's Last Sermon

 

Sep. Queen Elizabeth I's Speech to the Troops

 

Oct. Patrick Henry's Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

 

Nov. William Faulkner's Nobel Prize Speech

 

Dec. Aragorn's Speech at the Black Gate

 

Jan. MLK's I Have a Dream

 

Feb. The Gettysburg Address

 

March Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech

 

April Socrates' Apology

 

May Sojourner Truth's Ain't I a Woman?

 

 

I'm going to come up with a few questions to ask at the end of each month and organize a few resources and links for each speech. I like to have everything ready for fall, or it just doesn't happen.