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AP® Language and the Power of Movie Speeches
Iconic movie speeches have long shaped cultural conversations, public memory, and the ways audiences understand persuasion—making them a rich resource for teaching rhetorical analysis in the AP® English Language and Composition classroom. Many teachers already know this and Applied Practice has chosen to support those efforts with our brand-new AP-Aligned Guide on Famous Movie Speeches, designed to help teachers engage students with high-interest texts while targeting the skills emphasized on the AP Language exam.
Join acclaimed author Prof. Thomas Foster (How to Read Movies Like a Professor, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, among others) and AP Consultant and Professor Brandon Abdon in this session to geek-out over some unforgettable cinematic moments while exploring how to integrate the guide’s speeches and questions into both daily instruction and unit-level planning.
Facilitator: Thomas C. Foster
Thomas C. Foster is a professor of English at the University of Michigan-Flint, where he teaches classic and contemporary fiction, drama, and poetry, as well as creative writing and composition. In addition to How to Read Novels Like a Professor, he is the author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor and several books on twentieth-century British and Irish fiction and poetry. He lives in East Lansing, Michigan. Click here to view the Amazon webpage for Thomas C. Foster.
Facilitator: Dr. Brandon Abdon
Dr. Brandon Abdon is a former English teacher who has been doing instructional design, school coaching, and professional development around the intersection of composition, literacy, literature, pedagogy, and technology for over a decade. A fellow of the National Writing Project, Brandon believes in the power of writing daily in the classroom. He also knows that all students have a path to literacy when engaged and challenged suitably. He likes to read and play sports but does both of them slowly and only one of them well. He has been married to his brilliant wife, Angela, since 2008 and has two sons, Hilton and Dorian.
He has consulted for or served in some capacity with a number of organizations, including the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Writing Project, the Bluegrass Writing Project, the Kentucky Council of Teachers of English, the National Math-Science Initiative, and others. In addition to consulting and professional development, he has been on staff with the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program and Savvas K-12 Learning Services (Formerly Pearson K-12 Learning Services). While at the College Board, he led the development of the current course and exam descriptions for both Advanced Placement English courses, including creation of course skills, revision of exam guidelines, and the development of analytical scoring.
Along with experience in an array of organizations, he holds advanced degrees in both English and Education - including a Doctorate in English Pedagogy - and certification as both a teacher and an administrator. During his full-time work in high school classrooms, he was recognized with the National Council of Teachers of English “High School Teacher of Excellence” award in 2010. He has also worked at the University of Kentucky and Georgia State University teaching courses including English Composition 1, Introduction to Literature, Literature for Teachers, Composition for Teachers, and others.