Analyzing Bias in Obama's Gun Control Speech

For this lesson, the students will be analyzing Marina Koren’s article “Obama’s Emotional Speech on Gun Control” through an examination of specific word choice using “textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text” to determine the biases of the author, embedded in the article.

2. Daily Objectives:

• Students will use their inference skills to draw conclusions about the author’s bias

• Students will begin to identify how an author’s word choice can show the author’s biases towards the topic discussed.

• Students will demonstrate an understanding of how bias occurs in literature, and how it can affect the reader’s thinking

3. Informal and Formal Assessments

• Students will be informally assessed throughout the lesson and discussion by the following means:

i. Asking for needed clarifications and/or questions ii. Circulating around the room informally assessing (checking for understanding) small groups progress on analyzing the article for bias iii. Listening during the teacher’s modeling of examining a newspaper article for bias

4.

What is the connotative meaning of the word emotional? Emotional means to have a lot of feelings. When Koren describes Obama’s speech as emotional it implies that the speech had a lot of feeling in it given the speech was about gun control. Which, this issue has been brought home tragedy for many families across the United States in the past few decades. Describing the speech as emotional makes Obama look like he is genuinely concerned and that he cares very deeply upon getting this issue resolved. Just from looking at the title of this article we can already begin to infer upon Koren’s bias of the gun control debate, and the