Transcript Speech Activities PPT

Speech Activities
Patrick Henry speech (2A class notes)
• Context/Purpose: public denunciation of British king; asking the Virginia
convention to join him in spearheading the American Revolution
• Audience: white, land-owning, rich males in Virginia who were representatives
in the convention
• Structure/rhetorical devices: inclusive language to greet the group and present
the issue, rhetorical questions bring up the logic of how poorly the British have
treated the colonists and harness anger towards creating the Revolution,
biblical allusions to appeal to this group’s ethics, repetitive exclamatory syntax,
peroration includes a fiery call to action with “Give me liberty or give me
death!” (aphorism)
• Tone: urgent and decisive; formal and passionate; frustrated; adamant;
confident
• Mode(s) of persuasion: at the beginning, there is logos/ethos in the rhetorical
Qs, pathos is tinged throughout and most strong in his call to action, depiction
of colonists as victims is pathos/appeal to pity
Patrick Henry speech (2B class notes)
• Context/Purpose: colonists had some grievances against the British rule; some
wanted to revolt while others were hesitant; Henry is urging for revolution as a
means of escaping what he calls “slavery” to the British
• Audience: Virginia convention and its president (middle to old-aged white
males who owned land); hoping message would spread to all colonists
• Structure/rhetorical devices: 1-greeting them and explaining why he is making
this speech and why it’s so imperative share his opinion; 2- listing reasons to
go to war/how British have wronged them, explaining what the colonists have
done already to try to alleviate the situation, and urging them to learn from
history; 3- in closing, he explains that we are already at war and this needs to
be recognized and fully realized through a commitment of resources; 4- last
line is a passionate plea for liberty as opposed to death; there is no road inbetween (aphorism). Main devices- allusions (The Odyssey and the Bible);
rhetorical questions/hypophora
• Tone: zealous; urgent; patriotic; passionate
• Mode(s) of persuasion: 1- ethos, 2- logos, 3/4- pathos/ethos
Ben Franklin speech
• Let’s now verbally go over the same aspects of the Franklin speech,
commenting on similarities and differences to Henry’s speech when
appropriate.
JFK Speech Discussion (after reading pp. 197-200)
• Context/Content: What dangers were most prominent in 1961 that Kennedy
discussed in his speech?
• Purpose/Audience: How can you explain President Kennedy’s almost singular
focus on international concerns while at the time of his inauguration the United
States was facing serious domestic issues regarding poverty and civil rights?
• Persuasion: President Kennedy was particularly reliant on rhetoric in order to
urge the citizens of the United States to rise to the challenges that faced midtwentieth-century America. Analyze the devices used and the effect of the
language in the particular quote given to your group.
• After watching the last two minutes of the video version of the speech: Is
anything done visually/orally in regard to gestures, expressions, and voice
modulation that enhances or takes away from the message? How does the
audience atmosphere have an impact? In general, how does the video version of
a speech possibly change its meaning or reception as opposed to the written
version? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLmiOEk59n8
Draft
JFK Inaugural Speech
“I would like to see
permanent joint
commissions at
work…to undertake
interstellar
exploration to
conquer the deserts
and tap the riches of
the oceans…”
Final Copy
“Let both sides seek to
invoke the wonders of
science instead of its
terrors. Together let us
explore the stars,
conquer the deserts,
eradicate disease, tap
the ocean depths and
encourage the arts and
commerce.”
Adapted from Richard J. Tofel, Sounding the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address. (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 2005), 61-62. Found on JFK
library website.
Rhetorical Fallacies (2A class notes)
• Logical fallacies: cherry-picking facts, slippery slope (exaggerate the
consequences of something), hasty generalization (stereotypes), false
equivalency/weak analogy
• Ethical fallacies: bandwagon, dogmatism (because I said so), ad
hominem (character attack)
• Emotional fallacies: scare tactics, appeal to pity, demagoguery
(appealing to prejudice)
• Miscellaneous: red herring, non-sequitur, misdirection, apophasis
(someone says they are not going to address something, but by saying
that, they are addressing it)
Rhetorical Fallacies (2B class notes)
• Logical fallacies: false equivalency/weak analogy, straw man (propping
up opposite argument and knocking it down), slippery slope
(exaggeration of consequences), circular reasoning, cherry-picking
certain facts/arguments
• Ethical fallacies: bandwagon, dogmatism (because I said so), appeal to
authority, ad hominem (character attack)
• Emotional fallacies: appeal to pity/guilt/fear, scare tactics
• Miscellaneous: red herring, non-sequitur, apophasis (saying you don’t
want to address an issue, but by mentioning it, you are bringing it up)
Clinton/Trump Candidacy Announcement Speeches
1. Re-annotate the speeches for any fallacies you notice.
2. Are there any aspects of the content in each candidacy announcement
speech that have changed in the past year and a half? (In other words,
to your knowledge, have the candidates modified or flip-flopped on
any policy positions?). Look over the speeches and mark policy
positions that have changed.
3. How would you describe each candidate’s overall rhetorical style?
Consider tone, mode(s) of persuasion, and reliance on particular
rhetorical devices or fallacies, and how all these aspects link
together. Write a few sentences for each: ________’s rhetorical style is
characterized by __________... (explain, linking terms together
appropriately, accurately, and concisely).
FDR 1941 State of the Union
• Listen to excerpts
1. Foreign concerns: from -30:03 to -27:30, beginning with “Every
realist knows” and ending with “hold off the whole world.”
2. Domestic concerns/four freedoms: from -7:35 to -2:00, beginning
with “For there is nothing mysterious” and ending with “crash of a
bomb.”
• Take notes on content and any devices you hear.
• http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3320
Reagan 1988 State of the Union
• Watch highlights video and take notes on content and any devices
you notice.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmVkZ4E9Ftk
Compare/Contrast
• Main similarities between the two State of the Union speeches?
• Main differences?
Gettysburg Address Background
• November 1863
• Lincoln invited to make “a few appropriate remarks” to dedicate the
battlefield as a national cemetery
• Battle of Gettysburg was in July 1863; Union victory; marked turning
point of the Civil War; 51,000 casualties and many more wounded or
missing
• Ironically, Lincoln was slated as a secondary speaker at this event
• 15,000 attended the event
• Speech is regarded by many to be a masterpiece of oratory
• Known for its brevity- only 272 words
Gettysburg Address- Abraham Lincoln, 1863
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation,
conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so
conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here
gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should
do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far
above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what
we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be
dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that
from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the
last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that
government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Gettysburg Address
• Purpose?
• Main uses of rhetoric?
• Why is it hailed as a masterpiece of oratory, in your opinion?
The day after …
• Printed in the Pennsylvania
Patriot and Union newspapers
We pass over the silly remarks of the President. For the
credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion
shall be dropped over them and that they shall be no more
repeated or thought of.
2013: In what might be one of the oldest corrections in the history of
journalism, the editorial board of a Pennsylvania newspaper has
retracted its predecessor's famous panning of President Abraham
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address as "silly remarks."
Seven score and ten years ago, the forefathers of this media
institution brought forth to its audience a judgment so flawed, so
tainted by hubris, so lacking in the perspective history would bring, that
it cannot remain unaddressed in our archives.
Back then, the editors of the Patriot & Union newspaper - an
ancestor of today's Harrisburg paper - thought so little of Lincoln's "silly
remarks" that they hoped "the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over
them, and that they shall be no more reposted or thought of.
While mildly received on its delivery, the November 19, 1863,
speech marking the consecration of the national cemetery at Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, has gone on to become one of the most famous pieces of
writing in the American canon -- inscribed on monuments, taught to
schoolchildren and frequently surfacing in cultural references.
Filmmaker Ken Burns recently urged all Americans to learn and
recite the speech, calling the address "some of the most important words
ever spoken."
The world will little note nor long remember our condemnation of
this speech-- but we must do as conscience demands. In the editorial
about President Abraham Lincoln's speech delivered Nov. 19, 1863, in
Gettysburg, the Patriot & Union failed to recognize its momentous
importance, timeless eloquence, and lasting significance. The PatriotNews regrets the error.
Instructions
• As we view the following parody about speeches, pay attention to:
1. Who and what is being mocked
2. Why they are being mocked
3. How the mockery occurs (tactics, uses of language, devices, etc.)
SNL on the Gettysburg Address and “all the
speeches”!
• https://screen.yahoo.com/weekend-11-15jebediah-atkinson-080100667.html
“Left Speechless” + Politicians Exploration
1. Discuss “Left Speechless” article in groups. Do you agree/disagree with
article’s claims about how political speeches have changed over time?
Draw upon specific examples from the speeches we have read to support
your thinking. Keep in mind the different eras that have been
represented and how the cultural context may play a role in how
speeches are delivered—Revolution-era, Civil War, 1940s/WWII,
1960s/Cold War, 1980s/Cold War, present day.
2. Share out your politicians exploration, explaining the two politicians you
researched and why, what you noticed about their websites, and what
you noticed about their social media.
3. Consider the connection between these two topics---how does the use of
technology via websites and social media change political language?
Which medium do you find most effective for politicians to share their
ideas—speeches, websites, or social media?