rhetoric & revolution

ESTABLISHED GOALS:

• Students will read and analyze Audre Lorde’s 1977 speech “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action.”

• Students will try to understand why Lorde feels that her biggest regrets are her silences. They will look for examples of their own regrettable silences.

• Students will use critical thinking skills to understand that the silence of their communities is caused by fear. They will analyze what they fear, and who is profiting from their fear.

• Students will learn parts of the speech and recite them in their own voice; and/orStudents will create a video response, up to 3 minutes long, about a topic they feel strongly about. Responses may be in the form of prose, poetry, debate, visual montage, music, theater, or other creative expression that includes language. These responses may be uploaded to an Online Salon.

STANDARDS:

CCSS Grade 6 CCSS Grade 7 CCSS Grade 8 CCSS Grade 9 - 10 CCSS – Grade 11-12 CCSS – Social Studies Grades 6 - 8 CCSS – Social Studies Grades 9 – 10 CCSS – Social Studies Grades 11 – 12 Note: These standards do not include any writing standards because some students may choose to respond without writing any text. Since most responses will include a written component of some kind, appropriate standards may be added by the teacher.

Audre Lorde “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” Speech

Stage 1 - Desired Outcome

THE ART OF REVOLUTION

RHETORIC &REVOLUTION

Audre Lorde “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”

UNDERSTANDINGS:

Big Idea: Students will understand that a well-crafted and well-supported speech has the power to initiate change in our society.

Understandings: They will understand they can participate in the act of initiating change, using the strength of their own and others’ words.

Powerful speeches have a thesis or main idea supported by evidence.

Powerful speeches have stylistic qualities that capture the audience’s hearts and minds.

The use of digital media can amplify the impact of their voices to include a large audience.

Misunderstandings: Transforming your silence into language and action is a very worthy goal. However, hate-language and hate-action are the antithesis of Audre Lorde’s plea for us to speak up. What are some standards we should uphold when we speak to each other, in person or online?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

Questions that foster inquiry: Great speeches show us how to solve a problem. How can problems be presented in a way that makes people want to become part of the solution.

How can information be presented in a way that keeps people interested?

When is it appropriate to appeal to your audience’s emotions?

How can delivery ignite your audience’s curiosity and imagination, inspiring them to take action?

Knowledge: Students will learn that their voices matter.

Many mediums can be used to draw attention to a problem and call for a solution.

KEY KNOWLEDGE students will acquire:

Powerful voices stick to the subject. They present a problem, explain the cause and/or the problem, and offer a solution.

Facts and stories can be used as evidence to convince your audience.

Delivery can be as important as your message.

KEY SKILLS students will acquire:

Students will be able to articulate a problem.

Students will be able to describe the conditions that created and/or perpetuated a social problem using facts and/or story.

Using the words of Audre Lorde and/or their own words, students will be able to connect with the message of a speech.

They will be able to deliver their response in a way that evokes a positive response from their audience and incites actions to alleviate the problem.

Stage 1- Desired Outcome


Performance TASKS:

Students will create a video, up to three minutes long, that demonstrates the power of their voice. They may use the words of Audre Lorde, and/or their own words. They may choose to respond using prose, poetry, music/lyrics, graphic arts/spoken words or medium, as long as it has a spoken component.

Possible Teacher Rubrics are included in this lesson plan.

Other EVIDENCE:

Students will “pitch” their response ideas in pairs using Think/Pair/Share. Students Think/Pair/Share at least twice to gain insight from other students, and to help their partners clarify their thoughts.

Teachers will fill out a rubric to help students understand the strengths and weaknesses of their work.

Students will add a self-evaluation component to the rubric after watching their digital response.

Stage 3 - Learning Plan

Students learn about WHERE the lesson is going by visiting the Rhetoric & Revolution website to understand the concept of the “Online “Salon.” Explain that they will create a video that might be uploaded to the site. Later on students can watch some of the videos, but for now just let them see the rubrics for each kind of presentation. You may use these or make up your own.

• Rubric for Memorized Excerpts

• Rubric for Student-Written Speech

• Rubric for Creative Response

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

W:

Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence


Stage 2 - Assessment EvidenceStage 3 - Learning Plan

HOOK students with the poem at the beginning of Lorde’s speech:

A Song for many Movements, by Audre Lorde

Nobody wants to die on the wayand caught between ghosts of whitenessand the real waternone of us wanted to leaveour boneson the way to salvationthree planets to the lefta century of light years agoour spices are separate and particularbut our skins sine in complimentary keysat a quarter to eight mean timewe were telling the same storiesover and over and over.

Broken down gods survivein the crevasses and mudpotsof every beleaguered citywhere it is obviousthere are too many bodiesto cart to the ovensor gallowsand our uses have becomemore important than our silenceafter the falltoo many empty casesof blood to bury or burnthere will be no body leftto listenand our laborhas become more importantthan our silence

Our labor has becomemore importantthan our silence.

The reading of the poem is dedicated to Winnie Mandela and her efforts to end Apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid was morally corrupt and finally fell in 1994 after decades of struggle.

Are there rules (written or just followed by everyone) that are morally corrupt in your school or community? Are you, your loved ones, or others at your school struggling against an unjust system? Write “injustice” in the middle of the board, and ask students to brainstorm things they have witnessed in the community that are just not right. (continued on next page)

H:



Ask students to choose one of these. Write it at the top of a page of paper. Ask them to draw a line down the middle of the page to make two columns. Label one column “Reasons a community is silent.” Label the other column “Who is profiting by your community’s silence?” Give them a few minutes to brainstorm ideas.

Think/Pair/Share Ask students to meet with one or two other students and see if they can add more ideas to their columns.

Whole Group Discussion: Without getting into the injustice, ask students to volunteer one reason the community is silent. By raising hands, find out how many other students have that fear listed on their page. What are the most common reasons the community is silent? Who might be profiting from that?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!EQUIP students with copies of the speech.

EXPERIENCE the speech individually, in small groups, or as a whole group by filling out the Key Ideas Worksheet.

EXPLORE the responses from the worksheet of other students. Does it make a difference to face the fears and understand who profits from the community’s silence? Based upon their experience, and this is crucial, would they feel better for having spoken up and acted, even if it meant shame, pain, or ostracism? Is Lorde right?

For students who are memorizing: Ask students to read through the speech and star the paragraphs that they think are the most powerful. Think/Pair/Share with another student. Explain why the starred parts are important. Then give feedback to your partner on what they chose as the most important paragraphs.

RETHINK AND REVISE based upon input from your partner. Think/Pair/Share again with a new partner. Which paragraphs are still your favorite?

For Students who are creating a personal response: Ask students to choose an injustice that they would like to speak against and act upon to correct it. Give students one minute to write in one sentence why the topic is important. Think/Pair Share ideas with another student and see if they agree that this problem needs to be fixed. What are some other ways it could be fixed? Listen to your partner’s sentence and critique it. Students should help each other find examples of these topics in their lives.

RETHINK AND REVISE based upon input from your partner. Think/Pair/Share again with a new partner. Repeat this step again if desired.

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Optional for all students:

• Study the Tips for Students page to help you plan your digital response piece.

• Look at the project website https://theartofrevolution.squarespace.com/rhetoric-revolution-1-1-1/ to find some examples of responses.

• Think, discuss, research for information or stories. Explore the medium you have chosen.

• Create!

• Follow your conscience. Speak out!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Ask them to self- EVALUATE their work after viewing their taped presentation. What parts worked? How would they like to change their work? Add their self-evaluation points into the rubric total.

Make sure students understand that they can TAILOR their response by responding in the medium that helps them express themselves.

Be ORGANIZED – make sure that students know from the outset what will be expected of them. After all responses have been presented, upload the most thought-provoking and/or well-crafted videos onto the online salon.

Extension: Have a Red Carpet Event at your school where students, parents, and teachers can watch the Online Salon presentations from your school and outside of your school.

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https://theartofrevolution.squarespace.com/rhetoric-revolution-1-1-1/





Rubric for Student-Written Speech

Components Possible Pts Earned Pts

Intention: Did the student make a clear statement about what they consider a problem or issue with societial values and how it affects us?

Personal Investment: Does the speech include a personal experience of the student and/or his family or friends?

Data or facts: Does the speech include logical or factual support?

Command of Language: Student understands the words, correct pronunciation, rhythm, phrasing for meaning

Body Awareness: Posture, eye contact

Resolution: Does audience feel inspired to learn more or do more about this problem?

Self-evaluation: Do you feel that you spent the time and thought needed? What changes would you make?

Total

Students Name: ___________________________________


Rubric for Creative Response

Components Possible Pts Earned Pts

Intention: Did the student make a clear statement about what they consider a problem or issue with societial values and how it affects us?

Use of chosen medium - Spoken words: Do the words create a story or entice the audience to inhabit another’s reality in order to help the audience understand the statement fully?

Use of chosen medium – Visual: Does the image or images evoke emotion or tell a story that helps the audience see from a new perspective?

Use of chosen medium – Digital: Does the movie tell a story or create a sense of place or a memorable character that helps us understand the statement?

Use of analogy or metaphor

Quality of craftsmanship – Does the piece include texture, dynamics, depth, and skillful use of the medium?

Resolution: Does audience feel inspired to learn more or do more about this problem?

Self-evaluation: Do you feel that you spent the time and thought needed? What changes would you make?

Total


Key Ideas Worksheet

1. Lorde says that her experience believing she had a malignant cancer caused her to examine her life. What did she realize when she did that?

2. Lorde says that she is still afraid when she speaks about the things that are most important to her. Why does she do it anyway?

3. According to Lorde, what are at least five things we fear that keep us silent? Star any of the fears that you found with your whole group discussion before reading this speech.

4. Early on in the speech, Lorde asks, “What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence?” Make a list of at least three things in your community that you would like to change.

Students Name(s): ___________________________________

Fear of . . . Rephrase in your own words


Tips for Giving a Memorized Speech 1. Know your intention. What is the message behind the words?

2. Understand the words. Look them up if you are not familiar with the words. What do they mean? What are the most powerful or beautiful phrases? Practice them, use them.

3. Understand the design. How is the message constructed – what comes first, second, third, and so on? Many speakers draw an image to represent each part and then string these drawings together to show the arc of the speech.

4. At what point is factual support given? Again, a drawing may help you remember the facts.

5. Understand the strength of the message. What do you want them to remember when they leave? How do the other parts relate to this one important thought?

6. Practice a lot!

Tips for Writing a Speech1. Know your intention. What is the message you want your audience to hear?

2. What might hook your audience’s attention? Some possible hooks are a quote, a personal story, a question, some data or some facts.

3. What line do you want them to remember when they leave? Refer back to it, or repeat it.

4. What personal story or stories can you draw upon? Stick to personal experiences, things that have happened to you or someone you personally know.

5. Read your speech to a trusted family member or friend. Ask them what they think the message was. Was it what you intended? What do they remember about the speech.


Choose the one injustice that you would like to speak out about and act upon to bring about change. Since speeches are best when they are about your own personal experiences, make sure that you can describe the injustice using examples from your own life. Fill in this chart:

Event you witnessed – what happened? What should have happened?

BRAINSTORM


Tips for a Creative ResponseThere isn’t just one good way to create a response. However, if you are having trouble getting started, you can build a palette using your senses, all five of them.

Fill in a table like this with words that come to mind. Don’t judge the words that come into your mind, just write them down.

My topic is __________________________________ My topic is __________________________________ My topic is __________________________________ My topic is __________________________________ My topic is __________________________________

Visual Images connected to that

Tastes connected to that

Sounds connected to that

Textures, touch, or movement connected to that

Smells connected to that

Circle the words that you feel are important. Randomly put some of the words into phrases. Do they spark any ideas? If so, write them down.

Ask questions about your circled words.

• What is an image that might describe one of your sounds?

• How could smell describe one of your images?

• What does the movement taste like?

And so on.

Do any of your answers spark an idea? If so, write them down.

Common Core ELA Grade 6

Reading Informational Texts

Ideas and Details:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.1Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.2Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3Analyze in detail how a key event or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

Craft and Structure:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.5Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.8Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/6/1/















Speaking and Listening

Comprehension and Collaboration:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.3Delineate a speaker's argument and specific claims, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.5Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.6Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/6/1/









Reading Informational Texts

Key Ideas and Details:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.1Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.2Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.3Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.5Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.6Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author distinguishes his or her position from that of others.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.8Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.



















CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.3Delineate a speaker's argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.5Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.6Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.










Reading Information Text


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.1Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.2Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.3Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.5Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.6Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.8Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.



















CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1.DAcknowledge new information expressed by others, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.3Delineate a speaker's argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance and sufficiency of the evidence and identifying when irrelevant evidence is introduced.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.6Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grade 8 Language standards 1 and 3 herefor specific expectations.)



http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/8/1/d/

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/8/1/d/





http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/8/

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/8/

Common Core ELA Grades 9-10

Reading Informational Text


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.2Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.3Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.5Analyze in detail how an author's ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.6Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.8Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.9Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g., Washington's Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech, King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"), including how they address related themes and concepts.

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/9-10/1/



















CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.3Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.5Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.6Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 9-10 Language standards 1 and 3here for specific expectations.)

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/9-10/1/








http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/9-10/

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/9-10/


Reading Informational Text


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.3Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.5Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.6Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.8Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).


















CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.3Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.5Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.6Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.









Common Core Social Studies - Grades 6-8


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

Craft and Structure:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.5Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).



CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.8Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author's claims.



CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.8Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author's claims.



CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.5Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.


“The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” by Audre Lorde

This speech by Audre Lorde was originally delivered at the Lesbian and Literature panel of the Modern Language

Association’s December 28, 1977 meeting. It was then published in many of Audre’s books, including “The Cancer Journals”

and “Sister Outsider.” It contains a poem that was originally published in Audre’s “The Black Unicorn” (1978).

This is the version appearing in “The Cancer Journals,” published 1980 by spinsters press.

——

I would like to preface my remarks on the transformation of silence into language and action with a poem. The title of it is “A

Song For Many Movements” and this reading is dedicated to Winnie Mandela. Winnie Mandela is a South African freedom

fighter who is in exile somewhere in South Africa. She had been in prison and had been released and was picked up again

after she spoke out against the recent jailing of black school children who were singing freedom songs and who were

charged with public violence… “A Song for Many Movements.”

Nobody wants to die on the way

and caught between ghosts of whiteness

and the real water

none of us wanted to leave

our bones

on the way to salvation

three planets to the left

a century of light years ago

our spices are separate and particular

but our skins sine in complimentary keys

at a quarter to eight mean time

we were telling the same stories

over and over and over.

Broken down gods survive

in the crevasses and mudpots

of every beleaguered city

where it is obvious

there are too many bodies

to cart to the ovens

or gallows

and our uses have become

http://shrinkingphallus.wordpress.com/the-transformation-of-silence-into-language-and-action-by-audre-lorde/

http://shrinkingphallus.wordpress.com/the-transformation-of-silence-into-language-and-action-by-audre-lorde/


more important than our silence

after the fall

too many empty cases

of blood to bury or burn

there will be no body left

to listen

and our labor

has become more important

than our silence

Our labor has become

more important

than our silence.

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and

shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect. I am

standing here as a black lesbian poet, and the meaning of all that waits upon the fact that I am still alive, and might not have

been. Less than two months ago, I was told my two doctors, one female and one male, that I would have to have breast

surgery, and that there was a 60 to 80 percent chance that the tumor was malignant. Between the telling and the actual

surgery, there was a three week period of the agony of and involuntary reorganization of my entire life. The surgery was

completed, and the growth was benign.

But within those three weeks, I was forced to look upon myself and my living with a harsh and urgent clarity that has left

me still shaken but much stronger. This is a situation faced by many women, by some of you here today. +

Some of what I experienced during that time has helped elucidate for me much of what I feel concerning the transformation of

silence into language and action.

In becoming forcibly and essentially aware of my own mortality, and of what I wished and wanted for in my life, however

short it might be, priorities and omissions became strongly etched in a merciless light and what I most regretted were my

silences. Of what had ever been afraid? To question or to speak as I believed I would have meant pain, or death. But we all

hurt in so many different ways, all the time, and pain will either change or end. Death, on the other hand, is the final silence.

And that might be coming quickly, now, without regard for whether I had ever spoken what needed to be said, or only

betrayed myself into small silences, while I planned someday to speak, or waited for someone else’s words. And I began to

recognize a source of power within myself that comes from the knowledge that while it is most desirable not to be afraid,

learning to put fear into a perspective gave me great strength.


I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me.

Your silence will not protect you. But for every real word spoken, for every attempt I had ever made to speak those truths for

which I am still seeking, I had made contact with other women while we examined the words to fit a world in which we all

believed, bridging our differences. And it was the concern and caring of all those women which gave me strength and

enabled me to scrutinize the essentials of my living.

The women who sustained me through that period were black and white, old and young, lesbian, bisexual, and

heterosexual, and we all shared a war against the tyrannies of silence. They all gave me a strength and concern without

which I could not have survived intact. Within those weeks of acute fear came the knowledge– within the war we are all

waging with the forces of death, subtle, and otherwise, conscious or not– I am not only a casualty, I am also a warrior.

What are the words you do not have yet? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and

attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? Perhaps for some of you here today, I am the

face of one of your fears. Because I am a woman, because I am black, because I am myself, a black woman warrior poet

doing my work, come to ask you, are you doing yours?

And, of course, I am afraid– you can hear it in my voice– because the transformation of silence into language and action

is an act of self-revelation and that always seems fraught with danger. But my daughter, when I told her of our topic and my

difficulty with it, said, “tell them about how you’re never really a whole person if you remain silent, because there’s always that

one little piece inside of you that wants to be spoken out, and if you keep ignoring it, it gets madder and madder and hotter

and hotter, and if you don’t speak it out one day it will just up and punch you in the mouth.”

On the cause of silence, each one of us draws her own fear– fear of contempt, of censure, or some judgment, or

recognition, of challenge, of annihilation. But most of all, I think, we fear the visibility without which we also cannot truly live.

Within this country where racial difference creates a constant, if unspoken, distortion of vision, black women have on one

hand always been highly visible, and so, on the other hand, have been rendered invisible through the depersonalization of

racism. Even within the women’s movement, we have had to fight and still do, for that very visibility which also renders us

most vulnerable, our blackness. For to survive in the mouth of this dragon we call america, we have had to learn this first and

most vital lesson– that we were never meant to survive. Not as human beings. And neither were most of you here today,

black or not. And that visibility which makes you most vulnerable is also our greatest strength. Because the machine will try to

grind us into dust anyway, whether or not we speak. We can sit in out corners mute forever while our sisters and ourselves

are wasted, while our children are distorted and destroyed, while our earth is poisoned, we can sit in our safe corners as

mute as bottles, and still we will be no less afraid.


In my house this year we are celebrating the feast of Kwanza, the African-American festival of harvest which begins the

day after Christmas and lasts for seven days. There are seven principles of Kwanza, one for each day. The first principle is

Umoka, which means unity, the decision to strive for and maintain unity in the self and community. The principle for

yesterday, the second day, was Kujichagulia– self-determination– the decision to define ourselves, name ourselves, and

speak for ourselves, instead of being spoken for by others. Today is the third day of Kwanza and the principle for today is

Ujima– collective work and responsibility– the decision to build and maintain ourselves and our communities together and to

recognize and solve our problems together.

Each of us is here now because in one way or another we share a commitment to language and to the power of

language, and to the reclaiming of that language which has been made to work against us. In the transformation of silence

into language and action, it is vitally necessary to teach by living and speaking those truths which we believe and know

beyond understanding. Because in this way alone we can survive, by taking part in a process of life that is creative and

continuing, that is growth.

And it is never without fear; of visibility, of the harsh light of scrutiny and perhaps of judgment, of pain, of death. But we

have lived through all of those already, in silence, except death. And I remind myself all the time now, that if I was to have

been born mute or had maintained an oath of silence my whole life long for safety, I would still have suffered, and I would still

die. It is very good for establishing perspective.

And where the words of women are crying to be heard, we must each of us recognize our responsibility to seek those

words out, to read them and share them and examine them in their pertinence to our lives. That we not hide behind the

mockeries of separations that have been imposed upon us and which so often we accept as our own: for instance, “I can’t

possibly teach black women’s writing– their experience is so different than mine,” yet how many years have you spent

teaching Plato and Shakespeare and Proust? Or another: “She’s a white woman, what could she possibly have to say to

me?” Or, “She’s a lesbian, what would my husband say, or my chairman?” Or again, “This woman writes of her sons and I

have no children.” And all the other endless ways in which we rob ourselves of ourselves and each other.

We can learn to work and speak when we are afraid in the same way we have learned to work and speak when we are

tired. For we have been socialized to respect fear more than our own needs for language and definition, and while we wait in

silence for that final luxury of fearlessness, the weight of that silence will choke us.

The fact that we are here and that I speak not these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge some of those

differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be

broken.

rhetoric & revolution

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