This past week LTC Spratt’s English 3 honors class has been learning about a time when letter-writing was a common practice, and they’ve learned about two of our nation’s most prodigious letter-writers: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. We listened to a story about how these two men sustained a friendship for decades largely by putting pen to paper. Their letters – numbering in the hundreds – are now published in book format for anyone to read. Students gained a greater understanding of how the correspondence of famous people not only serve as historical documents, but how they can bring to life the events and people themselves, as if we were living in the same time and place.
We’ve also been reading a document of a more public nature: the Declaration of Independence – both versions: Thomas Jefferson’s original version and the one that got amended and adopted by the Second Continental Congress. Students were asked to explain which version they thought was more persuasive and why. We listened to a podcast conversation between two historians discussing not only how and why the Declaration of Independence was written but also its literary (and even poetic) power. My English 3 students may have gained a greater appreciation for writing as a collaborative, deliberate process and a greater understanding of how important it is to consider who your audiences are, how you want to persuade them, and how they are likely to respond. These are lessons that my English 3 students (who are mostly juniors) can apply to their own lives in the coming months, such as when they will write essays to persuade college admissions faculty why they should be admitted to the school.
– Dr. Steve Spratt (English Professor)
