The Merchant of Venice: Act IV sc i - Portia

Summary: In this scene Portia is pleading to Shylock for the life of Antonio. Antonio is responsible for the debt that Bassanio owes Shylock. Bassanio is Portia's partner and needed money to be with Portia. When Bassanio borrowed the money the punishment for failure to pay back the money on time was 'a pound of flesh' which would cause certain death. Bassanio didn't pay the debt back in time and now Shylock wants his 'pound of flesh' from Antonio. Portia is trying to get Shylock to change his mind and see the virtue of being merciful.


Find and highlight these techniques in the speech:
metaphor
alliteration
repetition

Answer the following questions using quotes where applicable:
How does Portia describe mercy? How important and powerful is it?
What can one achieve through mercy?
How is religion part of this speech? (You need to do some thinking on this one.)

PORTIA

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

Monday 14/3: Reading your speech aloud...and giving feedback.

• Make sure you have at least two drafts posted on your blog of your speech. 
• HW: Your homework all week is to revise your speech. 
• We will be focusing on your delivery this week but every time you deliver it you'll probably find sections you don't like and need to fix...make sure you do so and republish on your blog so that you both have a record of your work and I can see the improvements you're making

CLASSWORK: 

1. Find a buddy (groups of three are acceptable too).

2. Read your speeches to one another.

3. Give feedback to your partner and post your feedback on your blog.

4. Focus on the organisation and content - especially the intro. 

• Did the introduction capture you? 
• Is there enough information to convince you of their opinion? 
• Is their opinion clearly organised?
• What suggestions would you make to improve the speech?

Drafting Your Speech

I'm not here today... (hope you've already figured that one out).

You guys have the period to draft your speeches. Use the time wisely and pay close attention to grabbing the audience's attention. You need to make your issue personal to them.

Good luck and have fun at CAS if you are going.

CAV

Wed 9/3 period 6:Presenting Your Opinion

Today you are going to present your opinion to the class and field relevant questions to your ideas. This will be an opportunity to see just how interesting and how strong your ideas are. Can they hold up to the scrutiny of the class.

HW: Research your topic:
1. Find two important pieces of information for you topic.
2. Post them in a new post (include the source of this info).
3. Explain why this information is important to your speech.

Monday 7/3: Period 6

1. Read a neighbour's brainstorming work and leave them comment about which opinion you find most interesting.
2. In comment write an opposing viewpoint to one of their ideas.
3. Modality Discussion - how does this apply to your speeches?
4. Write a rough draft of your speech and post it on your blog.

Speaking Assessment Task

Nature of Task:


Persuasive texts are designed to position a point of view(opinion - thesis).


Texts that successfully persuade are usually highly emotive (emotional words + influence listener/audience emotions) and effectively balance opinions with facts (research- logos).


Persuasive texts can make sweeping generalisations (uniformed conclusion), rely on stereotypes and hyperbole and yet still seem credible.


This is because a combination of objective (facts) and subjective (opinion) information is usually used to persuade.


Careful use of repetition and high modality words(persuasion techniques) can emphatically convey the composer’s purpose if it is counterbalanced with the use of statistics, expert evidence and product/idea endorsement from authoritative sources(ethos)(objective).


Moreover, effective incorporation of anecdotes(personal story), analogies (comparison) and inclusive language (we, us, ours - include the audience) (techniques) can personalise the message and help connect the composer and their text with its audience.


Info:
objective and subjective


focal point:
thesis


how are we going to convey:
mode of persuasion
techniques


What is high modality?
having a strong and obvious opinion in a text

Monday Period 3: The Assessment Task is HERE!!

1. Read through the assessment task.
2. Discuss the assessment task as a class.
3. Discuss 'modality'

HW: Choose at least 3 topics and write at least one paragraph outlining some of your thoughts on the topic.