We Should All Be Feminists

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Your Talk: Delivering a Persuasive Speech”

In this activity, students will write a persuasive speech on a topic that they feel passionate about, then present their speech in front of their peers.

Imagine that you are given a 10-minute slot at an upcoming public talk to speak about a topic that you are passionate about, in a way similar to how Adichie spoke about feminism. In this Activity, you will have the opportunity to write and deliver a speech for this talk. Consider the following questions as you draft your speech:

• What topics are you passionate about?
• Why are you passionate about this topic?
• How has this topic affected you?
• What personal experiences do you have with this topic?
• In your opinion, what about this topic needs to be changed or transformed? How?

After each speech is presented, student audience members will provide feedback to comment on a detail they liked and information they learned. Students will also write a reflection or journal to respond to other students’ arguments. 

Teaching Suggestion: This activity encourages students to combine their creativity with their knowledge of persuasive speech writing.