speech analysis

Analysis of speech

I begin the speech by repeating the word ‘Today’ across three sentences following one another. This is both a triadic structure and use of anaphora. I purposefully use these techniques at the beginning to establish a transactional purpose and to entice an audience of college students which would most likely be rather switched off by a more boring speech.

I go on to ask a rhetorical question: ‘causing us to live in an uncomfortable tomorrow?’ I do this to stimulate the audience and make them question themselves on what they do with regards to the question. This will help the audience to understand my point, specifically the word ‘tomorrow’ is important as it brings effect after the anaphora of ‘today’. This will help the audience to understand both the persuasive purpose and formal register.

Later I use an A-syndetic list including the repetition of the inclusive pronoun ‘you’ to drum the reality of the topic into the mind of the audience. I do this at this stage specifically because it is important to the chronology of the speech; the speech is designed to take people on a journey from where they are now to where they could be if they make (what I consider to be) bad life choices. This helps to make the students emotionally engage with the speech.