Ken Burns The Gettysburg Address

Speaking in front of a large audience is hard for many people. It’s even harder and scarier if you have one of many types of learning disabilities. Add to that, trying to practice, memorize, and recite a famous speech that was spoken a century and a half ago when typical word usage was of a different style than what it is commonly used today. This can make the task of learning the speech seem impossible. Ken Burns’ documentary “The Address” (PBS 2014) takes place at the Greenwood School in Putney, Vermont. Part of their curriculum every year, for students that have not already completed it, is to learn the history behind and recite the Gettysburg Address from memory to earn a school coin. It’s a difficult and daunting task for many of the students at the Greenwood School, but by the end, it helps the students gain confidence in public speaking and overcome some of the fears they have. Ken Burns and his
Headmaster Stewart Miller talks to all of the students to tell them about their assignment for the annual Gettysburg Address speech the students will do. During this scene the camera angles are unique as you get a shot focused on the school’s headmaster sitting at one end of the circle with everyone looking at him. The headmaster announces that every student who completes the Gettysburg Address gets a Greenwood coin, (holding up the coin) “this is a Greenwood coin … and the only way for students to get this coin is to recite the Gettysburg Address”. (Miller) You have another camera shot looking at the students in the circle with their intense faces so they understand what they have to do. Teachers and other staff members are seen in the background of the shot, as they get ready to help the students. This scene is important because it sets the tone for the documentary and we start to meet and learn about the students at the Greenwood