Write two speeches that compare and contrast Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi with Frederick
Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
The first speech addresses 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 of these books over the other. Instead, you
should analyze the style of each work in order to help your listeners make the right choice for their
reading interests. The speech needs to be about five minutes long.
Your second speech should describe the same two works to a group of fifth-grade students. Your goal is
to tell them about the texts and to get them excited about literature. This speech should be about one to
three minutes long.
Both speeches need to be written out word for word so your teacher can see the differences in language
level and formality. When you present them in class, you don't need to read them verbatim. You can just
list points on note cards or use an outline.