Transcript TOP GRADE PERSUASION

Speech Writing
Objectives:
To analyse examples of speech writing
• To identify the language aspects of speech
writing
•
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Listen to the speech made by
Winston Churchill
 Read the transcript in pairs
 Identify how this speech is persuasive
 Think about:
 The pronouns he uses
 The modal verbs he uses
 The structure of his sentences
 Use of poetic devices
http://www.charleswelty.com/authors/churchill.htm
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Winston Churchill’s address to
Parliament on June 4, 1940
We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in
the air,
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be,
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing
grounds,
We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets,
We shall fight in the hills; We shall never surrender,
And even if, which I do not for a moment believe,
this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving,
then our Empire beyond the seas,
armed and guarded by the British Fleet,
would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time,
the New World, with all its power and might,
steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.
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Parallelism
 is repeating the same syntactical
structures
 Several parts of a sentence or several
sentences are similar to show that
the ideas are equal in importance.
 adds balance and rhythm and, most
importantly, clarity to the sentence.
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
Any sentence elements can be paralleled. E.g. You might choose
parallel subjects with parallel modifiers attached to them:
Ferocious dragons breathing fire and wicked sorcerers casting their
spells.

Or parallel verbs and adverbs:
I have always sought but rarely obtained a parking space near the
door.

Or parallel verbs and direct objects:
He liked to eat watermelon and to avoid grapefruit.
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Antithesis
 establishes a clear, contrasting relationship
between two ideas by joining them
together or juxtaposing them, often in
parallel structure
To err is human; to forgive, divine. –Pope
 The contrast of two terms or ideas, is useful
for making distinctions or for clarifying
differences which might be otherwise
overlooked.
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Anaphora

Repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive
clauses or sentences
To think on death it is a misery, To think on life it is a vanity; To think on
the world verily it is, To think that here man hath no perfect bliss. -Peacham
Epistrophe

Repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive clauses or
sentences
reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is subdued, and all things else
that withstand evil, for ever are subdued

Epistrophe can often be more emphatic because of the emphasis placed on
the last word in a phrase or sentence.
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Parenthesis
 consists of a word, phrase, or whole sentence inserted
as an aside in the middle of another sentence e.g.
But in whatever respect anyone else is bold, I speak in
foolishness, I am just as bold myself.
 The violence involved in jumping into (or out of) the
middle of your sentence to address the reader about
something has a pronounced effect.
 This device creates the effect of immediacy: you are
relating some fact when suddenly something very
important arises
 The parenthetical form also serves to give some
statements a context
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Look back at the transcript of Winston
Churchill’s speech
 Can you identify any of these
rhetorical features
 Label them on the text and
comment on their effect
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Alliteration
 The recurrence of initial consonant sounds.
 The repetition can be juxtaposed (and then
it is usually limited to two words):
The day consisted of troubles and triumphs
 Done well, alliteration is a satisfying
sensation.
 Two-word alliteration calls attention to the
phrase and fixes it in the reader's mind,
and so is useful for emphasis.
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Oxymoron
 A paradox reduced to two words, usually in an
adjective-noun ("eloquent silence") or adverbadjective ("inertly strong")
 It is used for emphasis, wit or as an ironic contrast
I do here make humbly bold to present them with a short
account of themselves and their art. -- Jonathan Swift
 oxymorons, can show the complexity of a situation
where two apparently opposite things are true
simultaneously.
 The device is most effective when the terms are not
common opposites.
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Analogy
 compares two things, which are alike
in several respects, for the purpose of
explaining an unfamiliar or difficult
idea by showing how the idea or
object is similar to a familiar one.
Life is like a box of chocolates – you
never know what you’re gonna get.
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Metaphor
 compares two different things by speaking of one in
terms of the other. Unlike a simile or analogy,
metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, not
just that one is like another.
The fountain of knowledge will dry up unless it is
continuously replenished by streams of new learning.
 A metaphor not only explains by making the abstract
or unknown familiar, but it also touches the
audience’s imagination.
 It shows a relationship between things seemingly
alien to each other.
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 The fact that two very unlike things can be
referred to in terms of one another
comments upon them both.
 Metaphors must be chosen carefully,
especially in regard to the connotations the
image will transfer to the audience.
 Consider the differences in meaning
conveyed by these statements:
 That club is spreading like wildfire.
 That club is spreading like cancer.
 That club is really blossoming now.
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Hyperbole
 deliberate exaggeration for emphasis or
effect. In your writing the hyperbole must be
clearly intended as an exaggeration, and
should be carefully restricted.
 That is, do not exaggerate everything!
There are a thousand reasons why more
research is needed on solar energy.
 Hyperbole is the most overused and
overdone rhetorical figure in the whole world
(and that is no hyperbole).
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Litotes



A form of understatement: it is generated by denying the opposite
of the word which you want to use
litotes can either retain the effect of understatement, or becomes
an intensifying expression. Compare the difference between these
statements:
It is common to have heat waves in the summer.
It is not uncommon to have heat waves in the summer.
Occasionally it can convey an ironic sentiment by its
understatement:
We saw him throw the buckets of paint at his canvas in disgust, and
the result did not perfectly represent his subject, Mrs. Jittery.

Usually, though, litotes intensifies the sentiment intended by the
writer, and creates the effect of strong feelings moderately
conveyed.
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Listen to the speech by Martin
Luther King
 http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihave
adream.htm
 Using the transcript, look at the first few lines down to
‘unearned suffering is redemptive.’
 Identify the persuasive language features in the text
 In particular look for:
 Litotes
 Metaphor
 alliteration
 Parallelism
 Anaphora
 sentence moods
 Use of pronouns
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The Art of
Persuasion
alliteration
Litotes
anaphora
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out
of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come
fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come
from areas where your quest for freedom left you
battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by
the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans
of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith
that unearned suffering is redemptive.
parallelism
Imperative
2nd person Personal pronoun
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In pairs…
Read through the text of a speech written
by a student.
What effective language features have been
used?
Think about:
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Rhetorical devices
Use of pronouns
Appeals to the emotions
Sentence structure
Formal/informal language
Is the register appropriate for the task?
What things would you improve on?
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In groups…
 You will be modelling your own example of
this speech
 This will be assessed by other members of
the class
 You are going to give a speech at your local
community centre about a proposed rock
festival in the area.
 You are going to argue either for or against
the festival
 To begin: think of at least five points for or
against your argument.
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Tips
 Try to start with your strongest point
 Think about which pronouns you use
 Try to use at least three of the language features that
we have discussed today. E.g
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Parallelism
Anaphora
Metaphor
Oxymoron
Alliteration
 Think about the sentence moods that you use and try
to be persuasive by using emotive language.
 Don’t forget: audience, purpose, tenor
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Imagine that you are taking part in a school or college
debate on the topic: ‘Young people today do not believe
that political ideas are worth fighting for.’
Write the speech that you would make
as your contribution to the debate.
(approximately 300 words)
You may take either side of the debate, but you should
argue your point of view passionately providing examples
to support your argument.
Text Z can be used to give you some ideas for the content
of your speech.
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20 minutes
Chiasmus
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This could be called "reverse parallelism," since the second part of a
grammatical construction is balanced or paralleled by the first part, only in
reverse order.
E.g. Instead of
learned unwillingly
paralleled by
forgotten gladly
The phrase would be followed with
gladly forgotten
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So instead of writing, "What is learned unwillingly is forgotten gladly,"
you could write, "What is learned unwillingly is gladly forgotten."
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