Write two speeches that compare and contrast Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi with Frederick Douglass'sNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. In the first speech, you will address a group of educated adults who are trying to decide which work to read and discuss at their book club. Your job is not to recommend one book over the other. Instead, you need to analyze the style of each work in order to help your listeners decide for themselves. In the second speech, you'll describe the same two pieces to a group of fifth-grade students. Your goal is to tell them about the texts and to get them excited about literature.
This writing assignment will focus on the following skills:
Comparing and contrasting two works of literature
Describing the aesthetic impact of texts
Using different language for different audiences