help me on my speech class.(update-finished speech)

[DAM]

i have to write an essay for my "history of rhetoric" class. the prompt i chose is the following.

Kenneth Burke claims that language does not just describe truths, experiences, or ideas. Instead it directs us towards seeing some things, and ignoring others. Do you agree with his claim? If so, what difference does it make to our public life?

well, i dont usually do this, but for the life of me i can not think of an example. i was thinking writing about a building of a dam that destroyed the habitat of an ednegered species or some political event either recent or from history.


do any of you have any ideas?



thanks




dam(unwer)

 

[Helpless]

A good example, at least in my opinion, would be political focus groups...the way a problem is defined, the way they tell the story with their rhetoric, helps with agenda setting in public policy...Newt used to present a series of different sentences using emotionally-loaded words and look at the public's reaction...helped with the choice of language when framing "The Contract With America." Do you need to reform Medicare, or restructure it? Do We need to end welfare as we know it, or do we need to stop enslaving welfare recipients? ...is this what you mean?

 

[Dameon]

Wholeheartedly. The news especially.. they "frame" a story, telling you essntially how to view the event, often with commentary. Color commentators highlighting violence make it seem more violent than just watching the same tape.

 

[palad]

You could make a reference to the language known as 'political correctness', and how certian terms are emphasized over others in an attempt to modify behavior.

 

[Helpless]

A good book on political language is "Policy Paradox" by Deborah Stone...great examples of how politicians use ambiguity to further their claims...I like the "War on Poverty" metaphor myself...I picture a *bazillion* ATF agents storming downtown D.C. looking for poor people to help

 

[Helpless]

..and let us not forget the *holds fingers in the air making simulated quotation marks*


"IRON CLAD LOCK BOX"

 

[DAM]

thanks for the info guys.


ill keep you updated on what i write.



dam()

 

[DAM]

Sophist America

Innocent souls are sacrificed everyday. They are sacrificed in the name of democracy, in the name of free enterprise, and in the name of justice. The innocent suffer the consequence of deeds they did not commit, while the guilty walk freely among us. It is this America that has turned its back on truth that so closely resembles the Sophist from ancient Greece.
Like the Sophist, society now concentrates on the appearance of things, never the true essence. The media points us to what is now hot, what we should be talking about, how we should conduct ourselves, and what we should be thinking about. Yellow journalism and sensational stories, we crave these things, it is our fix. Like a drug addict, we feel compelled to throw out exuberant amounts of money, for things we do not really need, for ?necessities? that we never really wanted. Big businesses and large wealthy individuals are allowed to run rampant through our nation, they are given the permission to pillage and plunder at will, all this done in the name of free enterprise.
The seeds of Sophistry are in full bloom in our legal system. Who else but a lawyer claim to have the ability to make the worst seem the better? How often has an astute lawyer been able to twist and turn our laws in order to set a guilty man free? Our legal system is the niche of all Sophistry. Sophist concentrated on rhetoric and used laborious speeches and fallacious argument to win over their audience, now, we call them court hearings and closing statements. Not much has change in more than two thousand years, just the terms that we use.
Lastly, our political leaders are the true incarnation of the ancient Sophist. They swoon the crowd with incredible speeches and pompous actions, they sway in whatever direction the crowd is leaning towards. They have lost their identity, and are now just like every other politician, a cardboard model one and the same. Exactly like the Sophist, they are merely interested in their political futures. Ancient Sophist had students, now modern Sophist has children and their children have children, forming what we call a political dynasty. Once, the ?knowledge? could be bought by anyone with the means, but in modern times, to break into the circle, you need more than money, you need a Sophist family name.





dam(almost done)