Lesson Plan: Obama as a Writer
Politics
Objective
To help students think more about writing style and grammar
Total estimated time
30 min
Work Completed Before Class
Students will read two selections of President Obama’s writing and two articles before class. (This can also be shortened or students can read selections in class),
Readings:
- first two Chicago chapters in Dreams from My Father (8 & 9, pp. 133-163)
- Obama's speech on race, March 18, 2008.
- The two articles on Obama and books and the Lincoln connection.
- Kakutani, Michiko. "From books, new president found voice." New York Times, 19 Jan. 2009, p. A1(L). Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A192294938/ITOF?u=mlin_m_brandeis&sid=ITOF&xid=4bb15168. Accessed 27 Dec. 2020.
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Shenk, Joshua Wolf. "Q&A: A talk with Douglas Wilson: Obama's writing suggests a surprising lesson from Abraham Lincoln: Style matters." Boston Globe, 4 Jan. 2009. http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/01/04/a_talk_with_douglas_wilson/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2020.
- Have a conversation about Obama’s style of writing, stressing clarity. Get students to provide to express their reactions to both content and structure. (10 min)
- Choose one paragraph from the readings to edit with the class. Can it be improved? (10 min)
- Incorporate Strunk & White’s Elements of Style into grammar discussion. Have students volunteer to go to the board and attempt examples from the book. Each student can take a rule. This is effective at generating a conversation about grammar. (10 min)
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