Oral Arguments

Week 5 Discussion: Oral Arguments 

As we get ready to write a speech evaluation, we will start with some practice here. Let’s look at some speeches and analyze how strong or weak their arguments are based on the elements of rhetoric we have been learning.

Happy Writing! 

Step 1 Watch ONE of these Speeches  

Here are a few TED talks that I think will be great to analyze:

Susan Cain-“The Power of Introverts”

Chimamanda Adichie-“The Danger of a Single Story”

Brené Brown-“The Power of Vulnerability”

Tim Urban-“Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator” 

Drew Dudley- “Everyday Leadership”

Margaret Heffernan-“Dare to Disagree”

Step 2 Respond and Analyze 

In academic paragraphs, answer the following questions about the speech:

PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE

Who was the speaker?

Where was the speech given?

When was the speech given?

Who was the audience?

What is the speaker trying to accomplish?

CONTENT AND TONE

What were the important points that were to be made?

What information did the audience need?

What attitude did the speech convey?

STRUCTURE

Did the speech have a clear beginning, middle, and end?

Did the speech contain repetition?

1. If so, what was the effect of the repetition?

If not, where would repetition have been useful?

• Did the speech contain parallel structure?
• If so, what was the effect of the parallel structure?
• If not, where would parallel structure have been useful?
• Was the vocabulary appropriate? Explain your answer.
• Was the sentence structure appropriate? Explain your answer.

1. DELIVERY

What first impression did the speaker create?

• How was the dress and appearance of the speaker appropriate to
  the speech?