Rhetoric Methods for Speeches

1. Rhetoric Methods for Speeches http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

2. Rhetoric is the study of effective speaking and writing. • "That form of speaking which has the intention of making an impact upon, persuading, or influencing a public audience." • Rhetorical devices are frequently used consciously in advertising and in public speeches to create an effect. • Rhetoric may be used to present a case in the most effective way, showing verbal dexterity. The danger of rhetoric, with its intention to persuade, is that the speaker may "stretch" the truth and effectively present a worthless or immoral cause. http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

3. Rhetorical Devices • Onomatopoeia (sounds suggest meaning) • Metaphor (a thing is spoken of as being that which it only resembles) • Syllogism (a logical argument in three parts - two premises and a conclusion which follows necessarily from them) • Irony (deliberate use of words to mean the opposite of their literal meaning) • Allegory (a symbolic narrative) • Isocolon (the use of clauses or phrases of equal length) • Antithesis (words balanced in contrast) • Anaphora (repetition of a word at the beginning of consecutive sentences) • Hyperbole (exaggeration) http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

4. Examples • Isocolon: "With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage" Claudius, Act 1 Scene 2 of Hamlet • Antithesis: John Dryden's description in The Hind and the Panther: “Too black for heaven, and yet too white for hell.” • Syllogism: All men are mortal. All Greeks are men. Therefore, all Greeks are mortal. • Rhetorical irony: Kitty and Lydia Bennett walked to Meryton “three or four times a week to pay their duty to their aunt and to a milliners’ shop just over the way” in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

5. Socrates’ Two Principles of Rhetoric • The orator should offer a preliminary definition of the nature of his topic • He should divide his subject into its component parts. http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

6. Cicero’s Principles of Rhetoric The orator ... • must first hit upon what to say; • then manage and marshal his discoveries, not merely in an orderly fashion but with a discriminating eye for the exact weight of each argument; • next go on to array them in the adornments of style; • after that guard them in his memory; • and in the end deliver them with effect and charm." http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

7. Skills of Rhetoric: Invention • ETHOS or proof deriving from the character of the speaker himself.the tone of the speech should establish the speaker's virtue and moral worth. • PATHOS The emotions induced in the audience. the audience begins to feel that the speaker must be right and is won over to his side. • LOGICAL PROOF Demonstration of the case by means of argument such as syllogisms, examples and maxims. http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

8. Skills of Rhetoric: Arrangement • INTRODUCTION to put the audience in the right frame of mind e.g. "Friends, Romans and countrymen...“ • NARRATION a short statement of the facts of the case • PROPOSITION the narrator states succinctly the facts of the case. • DIVISION the main headings under which the subject will be treated. • PROOF the orator marshals all the arguments on his side of the case, giving points in ascending order of importance leading to a climax. This is the core of the argument. • REFUTATION the orator attempts to answer or discredit the arguments advanced against him. • CONCLUSION • summing up • amplification - an emphatic statement of the speaker's position, often invoking "commonplaces" to move the audience to indignation or enthusiasm. • an appeal to the audience's tender feelings http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

9. Skills of Rhetoric: Memory • The speech should appear unpremeditated and should whenever possible be delivered from memory. http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

10. Skills of Rhetoric: Delivery • Use the appropriate gestures and facial expressions - the wagging finger of exhortation, the arms and hands spread wide in appeal... • The tone of voice may be conversational, intimate or energetic according to subject matter, and given with varied amplification http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

11. Skills of Rhetoric: Style • PURITY and correctness of language • CLARITY and intelligibility • DECORUM and appropriateness • ORNAMENT, figures of speech, metaphors, prose rhythm • QUESTIONS • Interrogatio- a question which requires no answer because it expresses a truth which cannot be denied. • Rogatio- a question to which we immediately supply our own answer • Quaesitio- a string of questions uttered in rapid succession for the sake of emotional emphasis • Percontatio- an enquiry in a tone of bewilderment or amazement and allowing no satisfactory or easy reply. http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

12. Examples of Rhetoric in Practice Saint Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V (IV.iii 18-67) http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

13. Examples of Rhetoric in Practice • Saint Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V (IV.iii 18-67) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jXFnQUU7yg • Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Been to the Mountaintop” speech • http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html