PLA options

Novels:

- Zora Neale Hurston:

Dust Tracks on a Road

Their Eyes Were Watching God (use of [African-American] vernacular)

- George Orwell

1984

- Cormac McCarthy

The Road

Plays:

- Samuel Beckett

Waiting for Godot

- Edward Albee

Long Day's Journey into Night

- David Mamet

Glengarry Glen Ross

American Buffalo

Others:

- Martin Luther King

Speeches

A possible PART 4 list

3x PLA

PLA Ian McEwan Cement Garden

PLA Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby

PLA Anthony Burgess A clockwork orange

FW: Part 3 - Literature: texts and context

Part three

 

Question - Look at the way 19th and 20th century people viewed sexuality.

 

D.H. Lawrence - Lady Chatterley's lover/poems

Madam Bovary -  Flaubert or The unbearable lightness of being - Milan Kundera

Bram Stoker - Dracula

 

In addition:
- The learning outcome: Consider the changing historical, cultural and social contexts in which particular texts are written and received

Students can answer the first part of the question (in which they are written) by analysing the works and their backgrounds and then comparing them.

The second part of the question ("in which they are received") can be answered by analysing the reception of 'Dracula' and the reception of the Vampire when it was published and comparing that to how their own society (meaning now) views vampires and the novel. You might even go as far as to discuss the function of the novel in society (sexuality/erotica = dracula = undead = eternal damnation -> example??)

All of the above will, obviously, be linked to sexuality and taboos of the periods that you're talking about.

part 3

Learning outcome number 1
We are focussing on the role of the individual and family in society and the impact of prevailing values and beliefs.

Our text: Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
\
A. Do some research on the Shakespearean era (late sixteenth/early fifteenth century). Every student gets a specific area to focus upon. One focuses on family life, the second on the position of women and the third one focuses on minority social groups. During the lesson the ‘experts’ are put together in groups of three and share their knowledge.
Afterwards the groups will do a small presentation (5 minutes) giving the teacher the option to add information.
A websites you could consult:
www.elisabethan-era.co.uk

B. Contexualizing (background information). Done by the teacher.
Schama’s History of Britain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrn6R1AdLI0
And the film Shakespeare in Love.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138097/
C. Reading Romeo and Juliet together and linking it to the information found by the groups (see A).
D. After covering Romeo and Juliet, it can be linked to The Kite Runner.

Part 3-Works list

Night by Elie Wiesel [Free choice]

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink [PLT]

1984 by George Orwell [PLA]

To read it in this order would serve two purposes: (1) Reading Night first would incite powerful empathy in the students for the Jewish in the Holocaust, and then following it with The Reader would show the other side, surprising the students when they have empathy for the Nazi side, and (2) Reading 1984 last would be a great segue into part 2--looking first at language of propaganda and advertising

Loss Of Innocence (part 3, sample)

Part 3: Loss of Innocence

Learning outcome: Understand the attitudes and values expressed by literary texts and their impact on readers.

Area: context of reception, including individual reader, influences the way a text is read

Warmers

- Q and A Ryan Commission Report http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jHqndf9Kx4

- Philip Larkin “This Be the Verse”: http://www.artofeurope.com/larkin/lar2.htm

- Carol Ann Duffy “ We Remember Your Childhood Well” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetduffy/werememberrev1.shtml ; including lessonplan)

Main Works

PLT: The Story of Zahra, H. Al-Shaykh (Lebanon, 1980)

PLA: The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne (USA, 1850)

SFS: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Roddy Doyle (Ireland,1993) and/or Notes on a Scandal Zoe Heller (UK,2003)

SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT FOR PART 3 Literature : texts and contexts

Learning outcome: consider the changing historical, cultural and social contexts in which particular texts are written and received.

Example of a series of works for part 3

PLT: The slave (Isaac Singer) – novel (against Jewish orthodoxy)

PLA: The Crucible (Arthur Miller) – play (against religious extremism)

Free choice: The Kite runner (Khaled Husseini) - novel (against Taliban orthodoxy)

Linking theme: fundamentalism

LANG & LIT PART 2: PROPAGANDA


Lesson 1: Advertising in general
What do you think is a good advert like?

Lessson 2:
PROPAGANDA: WORLD WAR 1 POSTERS:
Learning outcomes:
1.Show an awareness of the potential for educational, political or ideological influence of the media.
2.Show the way mass media use language and image to inform and persuade.

British propaganda during the war was not just about finding recruits: it was designed to make people believe in certain ideas and viewpoints and to think in certain ways. The poster shown below are examples of propaganda used by the government to encourage men to join the army.

Purpose: recruitment
When war broke out in August 1914, Britain relied only on a small professional force. Millions of volunteers were therefore required. Young men were subjected to relentless social pressures, both official and unofficial, to join the Army, until conscription was introduced, in 1916.

Propaganda Posters
Each of the nations which participated in World War One from 1914-18 used propaganda posters not only as a means of justifying involvement to their own populace, but also as a means of procuring men, money and resources to sustain the military campaign.
In countries such as Britain the use of propaganda posters was readily understandable: in 1914 she only possessed a professional army and did not have in place a policy of national service, as was standard in other major nations such as France and Germany.
Yet while the use of posters proved initially successful in Britain the numbers required for active service at the Front were such as to ultimately require the introduction of conscription. Nevertheless recruitment posters remained in use for the duration of the war - as was indeed the case in most other countries including France, Germany and Italy.
However wartime posters were not solely used to recruit men to the military cause. Posters commonly urged wartime thrift, and were vocal in seeking funds from the general public via subscription to various war bond schemes (usually with great success).
Interestingly, for all that the U.S.A. joined the war relatively late - April 1917 - she produced many more propaganda posters than any other single nation.

British Recruiting Posters
Source: http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/index.htm

Look at the posters of WW1 and compare them to US army recruitment posters and films:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXPaoAh_JNY&feature=related

Guiding questions:
1.What strikes you if you compare the WW1 pictures to the army recruitment slides of the present US Army?
2.Who are these posters designed for?
3.What is their purpose?
4.What kind of language is used?
5.What can you tell about layout and use of images
6.In what ways is the audience manipulated?


The Sunday Times
January 7, 2008
They don’t mention the warfare - Army adverts come under attack
Michael Evans, Defence Editor
The Army is enticing young people to enlist with the aid of advertisements and leaflets that glamorise warfare and underplay the risks involved in a military career, it is claimed today.
The language in the recruiting literature and promotional DVD is so sanitised, a report says, that one brochure, Infantry Soldier, does not even mention the words “kill” or “risk”.
Killing is obscured, using euphemisms such as “decisive strikes”, and “surprise hits on enemy weak spots”.
Another brochure, called One Army, which promises to “tell it like it is”, and asks a soldier: “What’s the toughest test you’ve faced?” The answer is: “Being taught to ride a horse.”
Related Links
· Reservists hard hit by public antipathy to war
· We’re still a warrior nation
The study of the Army’s sales pitch, by an independent researcher funded by the Joseph Rowntree Trust, found that potential recruits get a misleading picture. David Gee, who wrote the report, said: “The Armed Forces have a poor retention record, partly because they promise recruits more than they can deliver, so thousands end up wanting to leave as soon as possible.”
According to official figures, for every two 16 to 22-year-olds joining the Army, one is leaving.
While glossing over the gruesome aspects of conflict is not new to war recruitment – as satirised by the musical Oh! What a Lovely War –it is now far subtler, and targeted at a younger audience, the report finds.
“As the pool of potential recruits shrinks, outreach to children is expanding, including to those as young as 7,” it says. “Key messages are tailored to children’s interests and values: military roles are promoted as glamorous and exciting, warfare is portrayed as game-like and enjoyable.” A common tactic, is to “emphasise the game-playing character of battle to attract children by blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality”.
Patrick Mercer, a Conservative MP and former commanding officer, told The Times that he agreed with the findings. “Joining an infantry regiment is not about paragliding and learning to be a bricklayer. You have to be honest with young people and tell them that the job can be brutal,” he said. “It’s totally shortsighted to claim that joining the Army is like becoming a social worker.”
The report, Informed Choice? Armed Forces recruitment practice in the UK, says: “The literature rarely refers to the dangers of combat and never mentions the risk of being killed, seriously injured or chronically traumatised. The absence of the word ‘kill’ suggests a policy decision to avoid it.”
Potential recruits can also be confused or misled in other ways, it says: “A soldier is obliged to serve for at least four years and three months (or up to six years in the case of under18s) with no right to leave once three months have passed. [But] this is omitted from the brochure and video.”
The differences between civilian and military life are not made clear, it adds. “Readers are told that there is ample free time and personal freedom.” In reality, the training programme involves “a tough regime of discipline. Trainees face relative isolation from family and friends for several months and can be posted to active service overseas immediately after training.”
Former Private Jamie Hicks, of the 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, who joined the Army in 2004 aged 17, said: “They certainly glamorised the pay. I was told I would be paid £1,100 a month but when I joined all I got was £600 a month.”
Mr Hicks, from East London, who left the Army a year ago, said that he was “pushed around a lot” and could not cope with the life. “I asked to move to another regiment or to leave the Army but I was told I had to serve for four years,” he said. He was finally administratively discharged.
The Ministry of Defence said: “Our recruitment practices avoid glamorising war and we refute any allegation that they depict warfare as ‘game-like’. Anyone considering a career in the Armed Forces is presented with clear information and all aspects of service life are discussed in detail. Joining the Services is a life-changing decision and is not taken lightly.” Deepcut Barracks in Surrey, where four young soldiers were found shot dead, will be demolished as part of government plans to improve army training, sources confirmed. It is likely that the base, which is the main training centre for the Royal Logistics Corps, will be replaced with a housing estate.
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3142491.ece

7. In what ways are the newspaper article and the advertisements the same?

8. Find an advertisement yourself and answer questions 2-6 of the guiding questions once again but now apply them to your advertisement.

Lesson 3 and 4 Propaganda and poetry

Jessie Pope (died 1941)
Writer of Light Verse and Fiction and of many books for children. Born in Leicester, educated there and at North London School. Wrote three volumes of War poetry. Jessie Pope composed crude war verses for newspapers. She was particularly detested by the soldier poet Wilfred Owen, who saw her as typical of the unfeeling civilian who supported the War from the relative safety of home.

1. Who’s for the Game?

Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played,
The red crashing game of a fight?
Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid?
And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?

Who’ll toe the line for the signal to ‘Go!’?
Who’ll give his country a hand?
Who wants a turn to himself in the show?
And who wants a seat in the stand

Who knows it won’t be a picnic — not much—
Yet eagerly shoulders a gun?
Who would much rather come back with a crutch
Than lie low and be out of the fun?

Come along, lads — but you’ll come on all right—
For there’s only one course to pursue,
Your country is up to her neck in a fight,
And she’s looking and calling for you.

JESSIE POPE

1. Why does Jessie Pope use this slang style (‘sit tight’, ‘up to her neck’, etc.)?
2. The poet uses a comparison throughout this poem. What is it? What is your opinion of it?
3. What do you think of the poet’s phrases: ‘ rather come back with a crutch…’ ‘out of the fun?’?

Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce Et Decorum Est” of which the drafts are headed either “to Jessie Pope etc.” or “to a certain poetess” includes the lines:- ‘My friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory the old lie dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.’ The Latin tag from Horace’s odes means “it is sweet and proper to die for one’s country” an attitude which Jessie Pope had promoted in her verse.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST
by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick boys!- An ecstacy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. October 1917 – March 1918.

Who is this poem addressed to?
What is the purpose of each of the poems?
In what ways do they differ?

Lesson 5 & 6
Compare and contrast the two poems (BIG FIVE approach)

Comparative analysis:
Before writing a written task an important skill must be acquired: the ability to analyze texts. Once one can analyze the characteristics of a text, one can proceed to imitate and create something similar.
The process of analyzing texts can be broken into the five literary aspects presented here: the big 5.
Although these five literary aspects may not provide all the right questions in order to comment on every single text, these five categories offer a kind of sure fire-way of covering the main points when approaching a text.

THE BIG 5

1. AUDIENCE/PURPOSE
Who is the target audience, and how is this indicated in the register? Are there elements of exposition, persuasion, instruction, narration, description, explanation, argumentation, summation, definition, interpretation, evaluation, expression, or entertainment? What evidence is there for a specific text type e.g. magazine, article, diary, poem? In what kind of context was the author writing? What are the texts intended to achieve? Why were they written?

2. THEME/CONTENT
What is actually stated on the page (content) in comparison to what the reader can read between the lines (theme)? What kind of message is the author trying to convey? If there are sides to issues, how do we know where the author stands? Is he optimistic or pessimistic, objective or subjective?

3. TONE/MOOD
How do the texts feel? What kinds of sensations are implied by the words on the page?
Is the author being: sarcastic, melancholic, ecstatic, clinical jubilant, exuberant, dark, sombre, light, flippant, whimsical, satirical, ironic, angry, bitter, assertive, dogmatic, impersonal, detached, clinical, personal intimate, emotional, poignant, sentimental, philosophical, reflective, conversational, formal, stately, etc.

4. STYLISTIC DEVICES
What specific techniques do the authors employ? To what degree do they abide by the conventions of the text? What’s in his big bag of tricks: imagery, symbolism, analogy, allegory, simile, metaphor or onomatopoeia? What kind of point-of-view is employed: first person, third person, omniscient, biased, or panoramic? Or as far as non-fiction is concerned, to what degree are these used: a variety of sentence length, parallelisms, economical vocabulary, repetition, consistency, active and passive verbs, subordination and coordination?

5. STRUCTURE
How are the texts structured? What kinds of conventions are there? How are the texts organized: logically, coherently, as an argument, counter-argument and resolution, from general to particular, from question to answer, chronologically, etc?

Part 2: Infotainment

Part 2: Infotainment (Entertainment + Information)

SWBAT: Examine different forms of communication within the media

Focus: How is entertainment media used to transmit information? (segue to: Spread a message (PSAs) )

Questions: Is it dangerous to receive news about current affairs via this medium? What are the setbacks? Advantages?

Practical application: [links to sources listed below]

1. First read BBC’s article of the Chilean miners’ rescue.

Then read The Onion’s short article written in the same format.

2. First watch CNN coverage of Chilean miners rescue—discuss format, rate

effectiveness, objectivity, clarity, etc. / Connect to written accounts

Then watch Daily Stewart clip of Chilean miners rescue—compare, discuss Stewart’s approach, effectiveness, who would be more likely to watch what, personal preference / Connect to written accounts

3. Create a T-chart of pros and cons for both news styles

(BBC/CNN vs. Daily Show/Onion)

- HW: Choose a news topic from the past year and find two sources (1 straight news; 1 infotainment)à Can be shared with the class next lesson

4. Debate: Infotainment is not a valid news source.

Produce: Choose a current even and present it “Daily Show” style or write it Onion style

Links: Can very easily be linked to entertainment as a means to spread a message (PSAs, e.g. “That’s so Gay” campaign from 2009)

Texts:

Court documents vs. Film: The Social Network

Good “Infotainment” programs:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

The Colbert Report

Tosh.O

South Park? Family Guy? Simpsons?

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/9086813.stm

The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/articles/chilean-miners-rescued,18291/

CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/10/12/vo.first.miner.surfaces.cnn?iref=allsearch

Daily Show: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-13-2010/rescue-in-chile

Language and mass communication

 

IB Part 2: The language of documentaries

The language of documentaries

We as a group thought it would be very interesting to use various documentaries and to discuss how these portray reality.

We considered the following three documentaries:

1) Enron - The smartest guys in the room
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/
2) Michael Moore - Fahrenheit 9/11
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361596/
3) Michael Winterbottom - The Road to Guantanamo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468094/

All these documentaries give their own view on reality and on newscoverage. It might be interesting to have a class discussion on aspects like bias, and manipulation. The Enron documentary discusses greed in large corporations and the impact that this has on society. Fahrenheit shows how George Bush Jr, the American government and the media severely influenced the post 9/11 era. The Road to Guantanamo is a dramatized documentary from the perspective of three British young men who were locked inside Guantanamo Bay for two years without trial. All three documentaries cover their topic from a very particular perspective. Aspects to consider in this light are:

- the diversity of the audiences
- overt and covert forms of bias
- layout and use of images
- deliberate manipulation of the audience

Internet assignement: students search the internet for critical responses to these documentaries.

commercials

Language and mass communication

Examine different forms of communication within the media

Advertising / commercials

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/pepsi_max_first_date

Comparisons

Big 5

Audience?

Goal?

Tone\ mood

Stylistic devices?

1. find 5 tricks used in commercials to sell a product? ( sound, expertise, humour, colour, celebrities, alliteration, etc.
2. Which 3 do you consider to be most important?
3. students watch 10 commercials.
4. Which 3 are best and which 3 are worst? Explain why.
5. Which one is the winner? Why?
6. Make a commercial yourself (4 students) in which you show clearly which elements you used.
7. contest ; Group winner?

Topic: The IB Controversy

Learning Outcome: Show an awareness of the potential for educational, political or ideological influence of the media.

Area: Education/Politics

Warmer: Divide students into groups, all with a different article but the same IB mission statement. Students must read the articles and give short presentation on their article compared and contrasted with the IB mission statement.

Three articles

“IBO: A Controversial UN Global Education Program That Conflicts with Judeo-Christian Values Has Been Established In Arkansas” (www.wpaag.org)

http://www.wpaag.org/International%20Bbaccalaureate%20Program%201.htm

“AR Anti-Christian Ed Program Will Promote Complete Disarmament” (www.wpaag.org)

http://www.wpaag.org/IBO%20-%20Promotes%20Complete%20Disarmament%20&%20Tolerance.htm

“All American Trouble” (The Guardian)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2006/mar/14/schools.schoolsworldwide/print

Assignment 2: In groups, students do their own research. The aim is to find arguments strongly opposing and supporting what their original article stated.

In class, show example of David Cameron’s speech on multiculturalism. (http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/02/08/david-cameron-and-multiculturalism/)

Assignment 3: Group presentations

Assignment 4: Debate

Further Research:

- Behaviorism/Conditioning (Adam Curtis videos e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9FaIyc4vpU)

Propaganda

* Ask students about the definition of propaganda/ Discuss their thoughts and opinions

* Ask students if they have seen propaganda used, if so, how it effected them and ask them what the aim of the propaganda is

* Give students examples of propaganda: advertisements and texts and discuss propaganda techniques

* Watch TED Talk: Inside a school for suicide bombers & discuss

* Read articles on http://www.propagandacritic.com, e.g. Anti-American propaganda from Afghanistan (different perspectives)

* Writing assignment: write a manifesto in which they create a fake organisation to convince people to join their organisation.

Websites:

http://www.ted.com/talks/sharmeen_obaid_chinoy_inside_a_school_for_suicide_bombers.html

http://www.propagandacritic.com

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/argument-persuasion-propaganda-analyzing-829.html

Lang & Lit :Part one: Ways in which language affirms identity

Language and Literature: part 1

Learning outcome: the ways in which language affirms identity
Link to part three/four (free choice): Rabbit-Proof Fence (film and/or book)
Topic: Aboriginal Australian history: The "Stolen Generations".
Setting: Australia
Time: late nineteenth century.
Political Background The "Aboriginal Protection Act" of 1897 allowed the authorities "to cause every Aboriginal within any district [...] to be removed to, and kept within the limits of, any reserve". In addition, article 31 allowed them to provide "for the care, custody, and education of the children of Aboriginals" and prescribed "the conditions on which any Aboriginal or half-caste children may be apprenticed to, or placed in service with, suitable persons".

Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families.

This report is a tribute to the strength and struggles of many thousands of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by forcible removal. We acknowledge the hardships they endured and the sacrifices they made. We remember and lament all the children who will never come home.
We dedicate this report with thanks and admiration to those who found the strength to tell their stories to the Inquiry and to the generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people separated from their families and communities.

2. Blind Eye: Documentary on the Stolen Generations
a. Watch the documentary on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRe2d1j3eU0&feature=player_embedded
b. What is it about?
c. Take notes of in what way the language is used to affirm identity.
d. Share your notes with your classmates and discuss to what extend language affirms identity in this passage.
3. Stolen Generations Stories
Surf to the following website and read the stories of the stolen generations.
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/stolen-generations-stories.html
Nothing is more authentic than stories by those who were taken.
Depending on your class size, make groups of two or three pupils, choose one of the stories underneath, read them, summarize the story and prepare a presentation in which you present the story to your classmates. In your presentation you should try and demonstrate how language and meaning are shaped by culture and context.
These are the stories:
a. Bill Simon's story: "I saw her hammering her fists into the road"
b. Netta's story: For 30 years she thought her mother had died
c. Poem: Love You My Sweet Nanna Molly
d. Joyce Injie's story: A lucky escape
e. "My birthday has always been a mystery"
f. Seeing the mother for the first time
g. Maree Lawrence's story: "My school mates called me 'Blackjack'"
h. Poem: 1899
i. A personal journey of sadness and survival.

PART 1 Assignment Obama & Martin Luther King speeches

PART 1 Language in cultural context

Aimed learning outcome:

Analysis of how audience and purpose affect the structure and content of this text.

Area:

The use of persuasive language in political speeches

Assignments:

1. The teacher points out and discusses examples of the following aspects in the Obama victory text:

A Audience and purpose

B Theme and content

C Tone and mood

D Images and stylistic devices

E Structure of the text

2. The students have to find back similar examples in the I have a dream speech by Martin Luther King.

3. The students are to write a political speech on an optional subject using these aspects.

OBAMA VICTORY SPEECH : CHANGE HAS COME

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

PARTNERS IN THE JOURNEY

A little bit earlier this evening I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.

I congratulate him, I congratulate Governor Palin, for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the vice-president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House.

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure. To my sister Maya, my sister Auma, all my other brothers and sisters - thank you so much for all the support you have given me. I am grateful to them.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best political campaign in the history of the United States of America. My chief strategist David Axelrod, who has been a partner with me every step of the way, and to the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

VICTORY FOR THE PEOPLE

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; it grew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organised, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

THE TASK AHEAD

I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for their child's college education. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

REMAKING THE NATION

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.

And above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

ONE NATION, ONE PEOPLE

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity.

Those are values that we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours: "We are not enemies, but friends… though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection."

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too.

AMERICA IN THE WORLD

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those who would tear the world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you.

And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

A HISTORY OF STRUGGLE

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes, we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes, we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbour and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes, we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "we shall overcome". Yes, we can.

A man touched down on the Moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes, we can.

THIS IS OUR MOMENT

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: yes, we can.

Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.