Step 2: Read the following excerpts from three different speeches.
Analyze each speaker’s style and language strategies. Identify which CORE style(s) each speaker uses.
Oprah Winfrey Receives the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award – September 22, 2002 (from http://famous-speeches-and-speech-topics.info/famous-speeches-by-women/oprah-winfrey-speech.htm Links to an external site.)
“Thank you everybody. Thank you Tom, and Bob and Dolores, who are home watching I hope, thank you so much, and to everyone who voted for me.
There really is nothing more important to me than striving to be a good human being. So, to be here tonight and be acknowledged as the first to receive this honor is beyond expression in words for me. ‘I am a human being, nothing human is alien to me.’ Terence said that in 154 B.C., and when I first read it many years ago, I had no idea of the depth of that meaning.
I grew up in Nashville with a father who owned a barbershop, Winfrey’s Barber Shop, he still does, I can’t get him to retire. And every holiday, every holiday, all of the transients and the guys who I thought were just losers who hung out at the shop, and were always bumming haircuts from my father and borrowing money from my dad, all those guys always ended up at our dinner table. They were a cast of real characters—it was Fox and Shorty and Bootsy and Slim. And I would say, ‘Bootsy, could you pass ***
The greatest pain in life is to be invisible. What I’ve learned is that we all just want to be heard. And I thank all the people who continue to let me hear your stories, and by sharing your stories, you let other people see themselves and for a moment, glimpse the power to change and the power to triumph.
Maya Angelou said, ‘When you learn, teach. When you get, give.’ I want you to know that this award to me means that I will continue to strive to give back to the world what it has given to me, so that I might even be more worthy of tonight’s honor.
Thank you.”
President Obama’s Speech to a Joint Session Of Congress, February 24, 2009 (from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/24/politics/main4826494.shtml#ccmm Links to an external site.)
“Now, I understand that when the last administration asked this Congress to provide assistance for struggling banks, Democrats and Republicans alike were infuriated by the mismanagement and the results that followed. So were the American taxpayers. So was I. So I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I promise you—I get it.
But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment. (Applause.) My job—our job—is to solve the problem. Our job is to govern with a sense of responsibility. I will not send—I will not spend a single penny for the purpose of rewarding a single Wall Street executive, but I will do whatever it takes to help the small business that can’t pay its workers, or the family that has saved and still can’t get a mortgage. (Applause.)
That’s what this is about. It’s not about helping banks, it’s about helping people. (Applause.) It’s not about helping banks, it’s about helping people. Because when credit is available again, that young family can finally buy a new home. And then some company will hire workers to build it. And then those workers will have money to spend. And if they can get a loan, too, maybe they’ll finally buy that car, or open their own business. Investors will return to the market, and American families will see their retirement secured once more. Slowly, but surely, confidence will return, and our economy will recover. (Applause.)
So I ask this Congress to join me in doing whatever proves necessary. Because we cannot consign our nation to an open-ended recession. And to ensure that a crisis of this magnitude never happens again, I ask Congress to move quickly on legislation that will finally reform our outdated regulatory system. (Applause.) It is time—it is time to put in place tough, new common-sense rules of the road so that our financial market rewards drive and innovation, and punishes short-cuts and abuse.
The recovery plan and the financial stability plan are the immediate steps we’re taking to revive our economy in the short term. But the only way to fully restore America’s economic strength is to make the long-term investments that will lead to new jobs, new industries, and a renewed ability to compete with the rest of the world. The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil and the high cost of health care; the schools that aren’t preparing our children and the mountain of debt they stand to inherit. That is our responsibility.”
Response to President Obama’s Speech to Congress from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (from http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/24/sotn.jindal.transcript/ Links to an external site.)
“Today in Washington, some are promising that government will rescue us from the economic storms raging all around us.
Those of us who lived through Hurricane Katrina—we have our doubts.
Let me tell you a story.
During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office, I’d never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: ‘Well, I’m the Sheriff and if you don’t like it you can come and arrest me!’ I asked him: ‘Sheriff, what’s got you so mad?’ He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go, when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn’t go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, ‘Sheriff, that’s ridiculous.’ And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: ‘Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!’ Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and go start rescuing people.
There is a lesson in this experience: The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and the enterprising spirit of our citizens. We are grateful for the support we have received from across the nation for the ongoing recovery efforts. This spirit got Louisiana through the hurricanes and this spirit will get our nation through the storms we face today.
To solve our current problems, Washington must lead. But the way to lead is not to raise taxes and not to just put more money and power in hands of Washington politicians. The way to lead is by empowering you, the American people. Because we believe that Americans can do anything.”
Step 3: Copy and paste the following questions into a word processing document:
Which speech excerpt did you select? Who was the speaker, and what was that speaker’s main topic?
What CORE style(s) does the speaker use in his or her speech? Cite the choice of word phrases and other clues from his or her speech to justify your answer.
Based on reading the transcript of the speech, write what you believe to be the speech’s specific purpose.
What strategies did the speaker use to achieve the specific purpose of the speech?
Based on the portion of the speech transcript that you read, do you believe the speaker was successful in achieving the specific purpose of the speech?
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