Tuesday, March 23, 2010

How to do a Speech Analysis

Well, today was butt. But, onward and upward.

If you came to see me before you went to NHS, you got the materials needed for doing a speech analysis; i.e. the rhetorical triangle graphic.
The rhetorical triangle consists of 3 separate but equally important parts: The message, the audience, the speaker. Each category lends itself to appeals to logos, ethos and pathos. The handout should be self-explanatory about that, but if it isn't or if you need clarification, let me know.

So, the first thing you need to consider is: What is the message or the thesis of your speech? What is it that the speaker is trying to get across? Once you figure that out, you have the thesis of your own analysis. Therefore, the "message" should be explained in your intro. The message always appeals to logos--yes, pathos is often at work as well, but any speaker worth his or her salt, (what does that expression even mean, anyway??), will need to incorporate a healthy dose of logic in order to be heard. Why? Because you can be as passionate as you want about something, but if it doesn't make sense, your message is lost in the rhetoric. Watch any GOP debate if you don't believe me! ;)

Next, you need to reflect on your audience--well, not YOUR audience--but the audience who was listening to the speech you were assigned. You may need to research the context of the speech on your own--awwwwww...stop whining....in order to fully understand who the audience was. Knowing that will be an integral part of your analysis though, because if you know who your audience was then it will be easy to clarify the message and the purpose.

Last, think about the speaker. Most people, when they are listening to someone speak, have the benefit of seeing them as well. You don't (unless you can find a YouTube vid of your particular speech). Therefore, you need to depend solely on the diction contained within the speech to determine credibility, likeability, believability etc. Look for lit devices at work, or lack thereof, determine their use and include all of that in the analysis.

Questions?

4 comments:

  1. I'm a loser, so when you used the term "worth his or her salt," I was really curious and nerdy and looked it up...

    http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/worth-ones-salt.html

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  2. Bunje
    -Should I use my religious reference to what the speaker was saying or should I take the words and analyze only that?
    -I don't see how mine's executes logos considering it's strictly based on faith and the power to belief that is what's good for you?

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  3. So, speech analysis thesis should pretty much hit those three? [insert author name here] uses [speech name] to [logos use], [ethos use] and [pathos use]?
    (did that make sense? ^_^')
    Also, for synthesis paper, do we have to fill out an AP planning guide or soapstew? And I'm assuming you're expecting a soapstew for the speech analysis paper as well?

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  4. Ms. Bunje,
    Sorry it's so late; I was trying to write my speech analysis for tomorrow, but it's not really working out. I will definitely e-mail it to you before 12th period Friday, I just need you to answer a couple of questions.
    -How long should my analysis be?
    -Should I talk about background information? I have Nelson Mandela's speech so should I include facts about the trial and his prison sentence?
    -Do I need to hand in a SOAPSTEW?
    -Should I only address message, audience, and communicator, or can I include literary techniques and devices in my thesis?
    Thank you so much! :-)

    ReplyDelete

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