Poems and Speeches in Action

Year 9 students spent the morning watching ‘Words that Changed the World’ a performance by Poetry In Action, an Australian touring theatre company, on the 31 October.

The 3-actors show examined great speeches and poetry from world history, film and theatre to demonstrate how the power of words cannot only inspire a great change, but can also bring about destruction. At the end of the activity, students had the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the actors.

The performance dovetails with the upcoming Persuasive Speech unit.

Teri Eves, Lead Teacher of English said, “It’s always fantastic to welcome visiting performers of this calibre, their ability to engage and challenge the students was fantastic, as seen by the student responses.” Among the cast was alumnus Tom Nauta Class of 2006, Fleming.

“The Poetry In Action show was inspirational in many ways, and it explained the concepts of persuasive speeches like Ethos, Pathos and Logos better than anyone else could have and made learning about these techniques fun”, said Katie Martin (9N).

Asha Chiu (9W) also expressed that the show helped her understand better how to construct a powerful speech. “It showed us how to deliver it in front of an audience in order to persuade and inspire. It was awesome!”

This wonderful student experience was possible thanks to Spirit Fund donations.