Monday, February 27

Great Speech Assignment

Great Speeches Notes

BELLWORK

Explain what you think the term “great speech” means. Think about what elements a “great speech” should have.

What techniques does a good speaker utilize when giving a speech?

What are some famous speeches you have

heard of?

Elements of a Great Speech

1. Acknowledges a specific purpose

2. Presents a problem, may create a sense of urgency, and gives a solution

3. Historical Importance: Has had a lasting impact and is still relevant today

4. Uses effective rhetorical techniques and appeals

5. Moves and inspires people (Sometimes given during a time of distress or conflict)

Famous Great Speeches- Examples

Martin Luther King: “I Have a Dream”

JFK 1961 Inaugural Address: “Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.”

George W. Bush after 9/11

Patrick Henry at the Virginia Convention: “Give me liberty or give me death”

Great Speakers

Use a variety of appeals and techniques to draw in their listeners

Hope to persuade their audience to believe something or to act

The Three Appeals: Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Ethos (Ethical/Credible) – appeal based on the ethics/

credibility of the speaker

Pathos (Emotional) – appeal based on emotion

Logos (Logical) – appeal based on logic or reason

such as facts and examples

Ethos: Showing Ethics & Credibility

Establishing that the speaker has the audience’s best interest at heart

Establishing that the speaker has the right to speak as an authority on the subject

Referencing other credible people/sources

Pathos: Emotionally Charged Language

Attempt to create a feeling among the audience members

– telling sad stories

– intentionally causing the audience to get angry or upset to stir them to action

Words that have emotional value

– E.g. freedom, mother, murder, equality

Logos

In classical rhetoric, the means of persuasion by demonstration of the truth, real or apparent

Using logic or reason to prove the point

– E.g. Facts, incidents, reasons, examples, statistics

Structuring arguments to be most persuasive

Some Rhetorical Techniques

Repetition

Parallelism

Comparisons/Analogies

Allusions

Figurative Language

Repetition

Repeating the same words or phrases over again to show importance or to stress main ideas

– E.g. “Today, as never before, the fates of men are so intimately linked to one another that a disaster for one is a disaster for everybody.” (Natalia Ginzburg, The Little Virtues, 1962)

Parallelism

Similarity of grammatical structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. -"It is certain that if you were to behold the whole woman, there is that dignity in her aspect, that composure in her motion, that complacency in her manner, that if her form makes you hope, her merit makes you fear." (Richard Steele, Spectator, No. 113)

Comparisons

Showing the audience how good or bad something or someone is by comparing that person or thing to something else

A and B are the same, A is bad so B is bad too.

Allusions

A reference to another person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature

Used to summarize complex ideas or emotions in one quick, powerful image

Allows the reader to understand a difficult concept by relating to an already familiar story

Allusions Continued

The brief references are typically to commonly known things – Greek mythology, the Bible

For example, to communicate the idea of self-sacrifice a writer may refer to Jesus dying on the cross in order to save mankind

E.g. “Plan ahead: it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.” (Richard Cushing)