“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and help them to become what they are capable of being.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832 )

Special Occasion Speech Development

Requirements for Special Occasion Speeches:

TIME LIMIT: 4.5 minutes GENERAL PURPOSE:

To Inspire or To Entertain MANUSCRIPT:

2 copies due on the workshop day (FRIDAY) 2 copies of the final version the day you

deliver the speech Manuscripts must include the specific

purpose and central idea Manuscripts must include 5 stylistic

devices you must label and highlight them

FOCUS OF ASSESSMENT: creative ideas and language sense of structure

Usually topical Introduction, Body, Conclusion

connection with/impact on audience accomplishing the goal of the speech

whether it be to inspire or to entertain

originality of thought and expression

Good Delivery DELIVERY:

Use a delivery manuscript or a speaking outline (see workbook p. 108 for advice on manuscript delivery)

Continue to aim for a conversational style Helpful hand gestures

80% eye contactNo distracting movementsVocal inflection

Quiz Question 1 What are the two General Purposes you

can choose from for this speech assignment? Hint: Not “to inform”

Language Matters

Denotation vs. Connotation

Denotation is the dictionary definition. Connotation is the cultural meaning—what

the terms suggests or implies. "House" vs. "Home"

One feature of vivid language is imagery.

Concrete Words Simile Metaphor

Personification

Stylistic Devices Simile – Explicit comparisons using the words like

or as to compare things that are different yet have something in common.

“While working at the North American Review, I saw a picture of him on the cover of a tribute issue, with lines within the lines of his face like tree rings.”

Stylistic Devices Simile Example

“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”

Stylistic Devices The cliché is like the cardinal sin of similes!

Originality matters this round.You can do better than using other

people’s words.

Quiz Question 2 Create a simile about Speech 212. Don’t

use a cliché or you won’t get points for this question!

Stylistic Devices Metaphor – an implicit comparison that

does not use like or as to compare things that are different yet have something in common.

Stylistic Devices Metaphor example:

A crocodile’s teeth are white daggers ready to tear through you.

Metaphor Referring to the “chapters” of a life Space as a “frontier”

Stylistic Devices Personification – Giving life-like qualities

and characteristics to inanimate objects. “James farmed Maplehearst until age

forced him to move into town—but the land followed closely behind him as he wrote.”

Stylistic Devices Personification Example:

I think that batteries are the most dramatic of all objects. Most things will break or stop working, but batteries die.

A second feature of vivid language is rhythm.

Parallelism Alliteration Antithesis Repetition

Stylistic Devices Parallelism – The similar arrangement of a pair or

series of related words, phrases, or sentences.

Stylistic Devices Parallelism Example

I would not, could not, on a boat! I would not, could not, with a goat!

Parallelism Examples Parallelism

Reagan “There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews, and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space.” (W p. 93)

Bush “Americans are generous and kind, resourceful and brave.” (W p. 100)

Stylistic Devices Alliteration – Repetition of the initial consonant

sound of close or adjoining words.

Stylistic Devices Alliteration Examples

Peter Piper Picked a Pack of Pickled Peppers “The kind of friend you don’t need to dress

up for in the morning—a better breakfast buddy than Cap’n Crunch or Count Chocula.”

Stylistic Devices Antithesis – The juxtaposition of

contrasting ideas, usually in parallel structure.

Stylistic Devices Antithesis Examples

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

“We are not defined by our traits, we define our traits.”

"Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.”

Stylistic Devices Repetition – Repeating the same word or set of

words at the beginning or end of successive clauses or sentences.

Stylistic Devices Repetition Examples

I have a dream… One hundred years later… Go back to…

Quiz Question 3 What kind of stylistic device is the underlined

portion below? “Like any good friend, caffeine doesn’t

scold you when you ask it for help. It doesn’t judge you for the mistakes you’ve made. Instead it rolls up its sleeves and gets to work.”

Quiz Question 4 What kind of stylistic device is the underlined

portion below? “I believe in the power of stories. I believe

in the power of shared experiences. I believe in the power of knowing life through someone else’s point of view.”

Quiz Question 5 What kind of stylistic device is the

underlined portion below? "We must learn to live together as

brothers or perish together as fools."(Martin Luther King, Jr., speech at St. Louis, 1964)

Final Exam Here in this room:

2 o’clock lecture: 12 – 2:00 Monday, Dec. 12 3 o’clock lecture: 12 – 2:00 Friday, Dec. 16

We’ll ask you to RSVP in LAB Review materials posted by Monday Reminder:

We’ll drop your lowest test score It’s all multiple choice It’s cumulative (covers material from all semester)

Course Evaluations

•Lecture Evals (you’ll do Lab evaluations in Lab sections)•Instructors: Mr. Anderson & Dr. Slagell

END