The Gettysburg Address Essay

Words: 977
Pages: 4

The film ,The Address, directed by Ken Burns, is about a boarding school called Greenwood in Putney, Vermont. This school is for boys, ages eleven through seventeen, who have learning disabilities, like dyslexia, or dysphoria, or students who have attentional difficulties, such as ADHD. One requirement to graduate from Greenwood is to recite “The Gettysburg Address”, in February, in front of parents, faculty members, and other boys attending the school. For most people, reciting a two minute long speech would not be a difficult task, but for people who do have learning disabilities, and have been bullied throughout their life, this is a huge accomplishment. The part of the film that I am analyzing is how the students have gained confidence, by attending the school.

One boy, named Ian, was bullied because of his learning disability, however coming to Greenwood has helped him significantly. There was a scene in the movie where Ian, and two other boys were talking with the art
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I believe Ian to have ADHD, which causes troubles for his learning. This makes it hard for him to sit still, so he works with a teacher to do gym exercises to get his pent up energy out. Most people would say a kid like Ian will never succeed in life, which is also what he believed. Coming to Greenwood, and working with different teachers to help him realize he does have potential has helped a lot. Ian goes from a child who gets frustrated easily, and who does not believe in himself, to a child that is able to perform a speech in front of a hundred to two-hundred people, and feeling like he is smart, and he does have a lot of potential. Attending the school has helped Ian significantly gain confidence that he would not have gained anywhere