This week we are making a study of the various techniques used in persuasive writing/public speaking - ie RHETORIC.
http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/rhetoric.html
The above website is a valuable resource to help with your study of some of the key techniques that have been employed by powerful writers and public speakers for thousands of years in order to make their words resonate with their audience and sway their audience over to their point of view.
We're starting out by making a particular study of the speech made by US President Barak Obama on the evening of May 1st 2011, and examining the ways in which he uses language to make a very precise impact upon his audience with a view to (1) winning the hearts and minds of the voting public; (2) trying to avoid inflaming anti-Muslim sentiments; (3) persuading the rest of the world that the USA had a moral right and responsibility to carry out the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.
It's been a big weekend for President Obama; on Friday he made very different (but equally precise, calculated and powerful) use of language to undermine Donald Trump, the multimillionaire who has appointed himself responsible for hounding the President regarding the validity of his American citizenship, with claims that Obama was not really born in the United States. In his short, pithy speech, the president very effectively made Mr Trump look like a petty, ineffectual and slightly crazy person, whilst presenting himself as being calm, collected and wholly confident in his position of authority. It was a terrific example of language being used as both a weapon and a shield, and it was presented at a time when Obama was very well aware that he was a few days away from breaking the news of the discovery (and hopeful capture or assassination of) Osama Bin Laden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hdKTaUA1sk&feature=related
The language and level of formality in THIS speech contrasts starkly with that of the Bin Laden speech - this reflects the context in which it was delivered, and the audience to whom it was addressed, but it's also a very canny piece of politics.
Obama is using humour as a weapon very effectively at the White House Correspondants' Dinner; in the speech about Osama Bin Laden, however, his language is much more measured and dignified.
