Name: _____________________________________ Date:____________

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READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY AND ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS USING COMPLETE
SENTENCES.

Before viewing:
This film is based on the true story of Melvin Tolson, a professor at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. During his tenure, he
coached a small group of students to form the first debate team from a black college to compete against those from white
colleges. The movie shows the many challenges faced by this team as they make history to compete against the national
debate champions of Harvard College.
Important Definitions:
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Rhetoric balances the three appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) to persuade individuals.
Ethos, or ethics, appeals to credibility and trust. To establish ethos, a speaker must prove they are reliable and
informed.
Pathos is an appeal to emotion. Emotional anecdotes and emotionally charged language are used to tug at the
heartstrings.
Logos is an appeal to logic. A logical appeal uses numbers, statistics, research, and cause/effect relationships.
1) Where do most of our young people learn the lessons they need to become adults today? Is it the schools role to
help youth develop into adults? Why or why not? Write 3-4 sentences in response.
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While viewing:
2) What does Mr. Tolson do to capture the attention of his students as he enters the classroom?
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3) Mr. Tolson says that debate is blood sport; its combat but your weapons are words. Identify a metaphor in this
quote and explain the meaning of this line.
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4) When Samantha uses the look in a mothers eye when she cant feed her kids as a source, this insight is mainly an
appeal to (circle one) ethos/pathos/logos.
5) After accidentally running over a pig, Dr. Farmer is called a boy by the pig farmer, and forced to pay a ridiculous
price for the dead animal. Why do you think Dr. Farmer angrily snaps at his son after he returns to the car?
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6) The first debate deals with unemployment relief. Identify Lowes use of the following appeals as you watch the
debate.
Ethos-How does Lowe establish himself as a credible, trustworthy speaker?
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Logos-How does Lowe appeal to logic and reason?
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Pathos-How does Lowe appeal to emotion and sentiment?
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7) Why were Tolsons politics threatening to the debater who quit the team?
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8) After Tolsons arrest, how does Dr. Farmer redeem himself in the eyes of his son?
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At one point in the film, the Farmer family drives past a billboard advertising The Highest Standard of Living. This
billboard was all over the country as part of a propaganda campaign by the National Association of Manufacturers.
In 1937, photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White took a photo (see below) of black victims of a flood in Louisville,
Kentucky standing in a breadline beneath the billboard. The photo was published in Life magazine. Analyze the photo
and answer the following questions.

9) How is the photo ironic? Discuss.

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