Speaking and Listening: Evaluating a Speaker Answers

Which excerpt from "War Message to Congress" expresses President Wilson's opinion?

Read the excerpt from President Woodrow Wilson’s speech, “War Message to Congress.” I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only for the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of non-combatants, men, women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and innocent people cannot be.Which statement best describes the main idea of the excerpt?

Read the excerpt from President Woodrow Wilson’s speech, “War Message to Congress.”On the 3rd of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and after the 1st day of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and Ireland or the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean.It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and people of other neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feelings away. Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion.Who is the intended audience of this speech?

Read the excerpt from President Woodrow Wilson’s speech, “War Message to Congress.” We must put excited feelings away. Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion.President Wilson is trying to convince his listeners that going to war is

Read the excerpt from President Woodrow Wilson’s speech, “War Message to Congress.”With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty . . . Which best expresses the type of appeal in this excerpt?

Which excerpt from paragraphs 1 to 3 of Wilson’s "War Message to Congress" appeals most to the audience’s emotions?

Before Cambria entered the arena to watch the speech, she decided to turn her cell phone off. Cambria’s decision will help her

Kayla is taking notes as her classmate speaks about the school’s dress code. Which is the best way for Kayla to take clear and effective notes without missing what the speaker is saying?

Read the excerpt from President Woodrow Wilson’s speech, “War Message to Congress.”I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible that I should assume the responsibility of making.Which best explains why President Wilson chooses the word “extraordinary”?

Read the sentences. Fellow students, I know I will be a wonderful class president because I truly care about all of you, and I want this school to be the best place that it can possibly be. I am open and willing to listen, and do whatever I need to do to help all of you. In these sentences, the speaker is appealing to