| Of course, things were a little different in
1863. Public speaking, or oratory, was considered an art
form. Speakers used flowery language, and speeches were supposed
to be poetic and emotional.
What if Lincoln had been alive today, in the age of
PowerPoint? How would the Gettysburg Address be different if it
had been written as a PowerPoint presentation?
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The Task
This project begins with a look at "bad
PowerPoint," using the Gettysburg Address as an example.
You and your team will discuss what makes it bad and how to
avoid some of the common pitfalls of using PowerPoint.
Next, you will design your own Gettysburg Address PowerPoint
presentation. You will start by doing some research, and then
put together a presentation using sources you have found on the
Internet.
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The Process
You and your teammates will complete this project in four
stages. Each stage is explained in detail
in the section below, including links to websites that may be helpful to
you. You can also click on these links to skip to a certain stage:
Stage One: Become Familiar with the Gettysburg Address
Stage Two: What is "Bad PowerPoint"?
Stage Three: Design your own PowerPoint
Presentation
Stage Four: Peer Evaluation
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Stage One: Become Familiar with the Gettysburg
Address
Before you can go on, you will have to familiarize
yourself with the Gettysburg Address. This should not
take long, as it is a very short speech. All members of
your team must do the following:
 | Read the text of the speech at this link. |
| Take this quiz on the Gettysburg Address.
Make sure you turn it in when you're done! |
Process
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Stage Two: What is "Bad PowerPoint"?
PowerPoint can make a presentation better by adding
visuals and sounds. However, it can also make a
presentation worse if it is used inappropriately. Really
bad PowerPoint can be downright irritating.
One person who is tired of bad PowerPoint is Peter
Norvig, a computer scientist who has worked for NASA and
Google. He finally decided to strike back. He created a
presentation based on the Gettysburg Address using the
worst PowerPoint design he could. He wanted his
presentation to show just how irritating and
inappropriate PowerPoint can sometimes be. With your
team, go to The Gettysburg PowerPoint
Presentation online. View the entire presentation. Try to imagine
Abraham Lincoln delivering his speech standing in front
of a screen and pointing to the different bullet points
as he goes along. Pay special attention to anything you don't
like. Then, as a group, write out answers to
the "Bad
PowerPoint" Questions. You may find it helpful
to read Peter Norvig's essay on The
Making of The Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation. You only need to turn in
one set of answers per group.
Process
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Stage Three: Design your
own PowerPoint Presentation
The Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation is designed to
be awful, so it's obvious that Abraham Lincoln would not
have used it if he were alive today. The truth is,
Lincoln would probably not have used PowerPoint at all.
It just would not have been appropriate for the
occasion.
Your team's presentation will not be designed for the
same use. Instead, your presentation will be more like a
tribute to the Gettysburg Address. You will be given an
MP3 sound file of a reading of the Gettysburg Address,
and you will design a presentation to go along with it.
Instead of using bullet points to summarize what the
address says, you will use text and images that
complement it. For example, you might use pictures of
Abraham Lincoln or Gettysburg, or you might show facts
about the Battle of Gettysburg.
Think of your presentation as a
mini-documentary, with the MP3 file as the narration.
Your audience might be students who are learning about
the Gettysburg Address by watching your presentation.
Below are the steps you will follow as you work on
the presentation.
-
If you have not done so already, choose a team
member to act as your team leader. This person will
lead group discussions and coordinate everyone's
work. This will make your project go more smoothly.
-
Find out from your teacher how to access the MP3
file. Listen to it.
-
Have a group discussion to decide what you want to
include in your presentation. Assign specific roles
to each team member, such as researching the battle
at Gettysburg, looking for images, designing the
presentation, etc. It is OK for more than one person
to share the same job. Just make sure everyone has
clear, specific responsibilities and that the work
is evenly divided between all members.
-
Do your research. Use the following websites as a
starting point. You are free to look for more sites
in addition to these. Remember to keep a record of
all of your sources so you can give proper credit
for them.
 | Sources for pictures:
|
| Sources for information:
|
Create your presentation. Refer to these
PowerPoint instructions.
Make sure your presentation meets the following
criteria:
| At least nine slides, including a title slide,
a team slide,
and a credits slide |
| A title slide including the title of the
presentation and the
sound file |
| A team slide that lists all team members and
their roles, like
the credits of a movie. It should also show who
your team
leader was. This slide should open after
the sound file ends. |
| A credits slide that appears after the team
slide. The credits
slide should list sources for all images, facts,
etc. used in
the presentation. |
| All pictures must have captions that include
their source and a description of their content. |
| Must have pre-set timings and run by itself
(see the instructions). |
| Must include some images found on the Web. |
| Must include historical information about the
Battle of Gettysburg
and the Gettysburg Address. |
| No copyrights
may be violated! |
Turn in your finished presentation in the format
your teacher requests.
Process
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Stage Four: Peer Evaluation
By this time, you have turned in three things: the
quiz you took individually on the Gettysburg Address,
your team's answers to the "Bad PowerPoint"
Questions, and your finished presentation. You have one
final task to complete. You will do this on your
own--not with your team.
Go to the Peer Evaluation
Form and fill it out. You will fill out one section
on each of your teammates (if you have fewer than three
teammates, only use as many sections as you need). There
is also room for additional comments at the bottom of
the form.
When you have finished, print it out and turn it in.
Process
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Evaluation
Your grade for this project will come half from your
individual work and half from your team's work. It will break
down like this:
Individual portion (50%):
| Quiz on the Gettysburg Address--10% |
| Your contribution to the presentation--20% |
| Your teammates' peer evaluations of your
participation--10% |
| Productive use of class time--10% |
Team portion (50%):
| Team answers to the "Bad PowerPoint"
Questions--15% |
| Your completed PowerPoint presentation--35% |
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Conclusion
The Gettysburg Address is one of the
best examples of oratory in American history. It was so powerful
that it is still recognized and remembered to this day, over a
hundred years later.
In public speaking today, PowerPoint
is a popular tool. However, when we use it, we must use the
principle of good design, and we must be careful when choosing
the text and other content for our slides. We have also seen
that PowerPoint is not appropriate for every occasion--sometimes
the spoken word is best all by itself.
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Credits
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