‘Ultimately, in the speeches you have studied, it is the representation of deeply held ideals that captivates audiences.’

Explore the representation of at least ONE deeply held ideal, evaluating its significance in THREE of the speeches.

Great speeches empathetically connect with audiences through universal ideas, which are intended to captivate and fascinate. It does this through rhetorical techniques where the audience comes to accept and reflect on the speaker’s main ideas, values, and messages. “Funeral Service of the Unknown Australian Soldier” (1993) by Paul Keating uses repetition and inclusive language to provoke the audience to question war, as well as the consequences which it brings. “It is Still Winter at Home” (1999) by William Deane reiterates the importance of the commemoration and remembrance of the dead. “Statement to the Knesset” (1977) by Anwar Sadat uses biblical references, religion, and repetition to force the audience to envisage their countries (Israel and Egypt) unified. Thus, the representation of ideals in speeches captivates audiences.

Wars and conflicts have plagued our history for as long as anyone can remember, the most recent being the Second World War. In his “Funeral Service”, Keating, as a left wing politician calls the Great War a ‘mad, brutal, awful struggle’, and goes on to say ‘some said victory was barely discernible from defeat’. Similarly, a central idea of Sadat’s speech was that conflict does not produce a winner, that ‘there emerges neither victor nor vanquished’. Keating’s first sentence ‘we do not know this Australian’s name and we never will’ is a one sentence paragraph, intended to affect the audience with a sense of profundity. The shortness of the paragraph also gives the words time to sink in and for the audience to think about what was said. He uses inclusive language to make everyone feel affected by the statement. He poses the rhetorical question as to whether ‘this Unknown Soldier died in vain’, and answers it in the negative, citing a lesson learned about ordinary people not really being ‘ordinary’. On the other hand, Sadat uses emotive language to appeal to the audience’s humanity. He references ‘innocent children’ who are ‘deprived of the care and compassion of their parents’ to be the real losers among all the fighting.

Grieving and mourning for the lost . In his speech “It is Still Winter at Home”, Deane repeatedly uses the word ‘we’ before ‘mourn’ or ‘sympathise’ to let the families know that they were not alone. In the same manner, Keating uses the same inclusive language to say that loss and death are not specific to those who have been directly affected. Deane requests the audience to unite around the tragedy, to create a more sympathetic and empathetic society. He also mentions that the ‘young Australians’ who died all shared a ‘spirit of adventure’ a ‘joy of living’ and ‘the exuberance and delight of youth’. He does so to remind everybody that while they were living, they had lived life to the fullest and were doing something they loved when the accident happened. Continuing on his ‘silver lining’ approach, Deane states that though tragic, it has brought Australia and Switzerland closer together through the media coverage of the event. In the same manner, Keating calls on Australia as a whole to ‘honour our war dead’ rather than celebrate or ignore. He combines use of inclusive language and repetition-‘we do not know’ to firstly speak to everyone and secondly to emphasise the fact that these men and women who we do not know paid the ultimate price so that we may live as we do today. Commemorating the lost is an ideal which has an effect on everyone, as we have all lost something in our lifetime.

The role of religion in society has proven to be one that has been discussed by many speakers in a vast range of contexts. One of these speakers, Sadat, in his “Statement to the Knesset”, openly references ‘God, the Gracious and Merciful’ and that he teaches ‘love, sincerity, purity and peace’. Likewise, Deane’s speech at the `ecumenical service references the book of Matthew in his first paragraph prepares his listeners for his closing statement- ‘May they all rest with God’. By explicitly evoking God’s name, Sadat uses religion, the fact that Christians, Muslims and Jews all worship god as a common ground. He reminds them of God’s teachings and commandments of peace and forgiveness and by doing so, presents himself as a humble and peace-seeking figure subject to the will of God. He repeats ‘God Almighty’ throughout his speech to keep the theme going. In the same way, Deane’s references to God, like Sadat’s, are used as both a link between all the people involved in the tragedy, as well as a reassurance to anyone who was close with the victims in that they were in a better place now. Deane expertly structures his speech, beginning with a quote from the bible, and then recalling the reference to God in the final line, thus returning the speech to where it began. Religion is an ideal which has intrigued an abundance of people in the past due to its ability to both unite and divide people, hence making it something which would capture an audience’s attention almost immediately, making it an extremely effective way to relate with the audience.