Reading Response to Chapter 12 Delivery

For this week’s reading response, I found the section in Chapter 12 on delivery of oral discourse to be quite interesting.  Although it seems that throughout most of my blogs I have talked about the importance of speech, and the key elements that make for successful oration, I will dig deeper into the process of grabbing the audience’s attention through gestures of the speaker rather than the mere fluency of the speaker’s voice. 

Not everyone is meant for speaking in front of people. Most people dread the thought of being the center of attention in front of an audience.  Personally, I believe that having the ability to comfortably express your thoughts and opinions in front of any size audience is one of the best qualities a human can have!  Even though Crowley and Hawhee assert that “The ancients gave a great deal of attention to the use of tone and pitch to convey emotions; but since contemporary audiences prefer that a speaker’s tone and pitch reflect those that occur in conversational speech, today speakers needn’t worry about such matters”(409).  This is pure bull crap. They even go on to say that ancient rhetoricians changed the volume of their voice to emphasize certain words, while today speakers can rely on technical equipment to support their voice.  I believe that today, having a strong voice is essential in getting any point across. Regardless of the person’s lung size, the speaker should be able to convey his or her thoughts with great stress and emotion on their words, not the level of volume in which they announce it. 

Let’s use a speech about informing the class about the pros and cons of eBay.  As an audience member of an intro public speaking class, my expectations are not very high. But in this case, I would hope that the speaker has at least rehearsed his or her speech because “…rehearsal helps you decide where to pause and where you can look up at your audience in order to establish contact with them” (410).  Furthermore, eye contact is a key component in any speech.  Imagine standing at a podium and never looking up to your audience while reading your speech. Your speech would become lifeless, as well as your audience. Not only is eye contact important, but in most cases pacing around your given area, and using hand gestures, ultimately feeds the audience with entertainment. The more the audience has to look at, improves the context of your speech as well.

Response to Chapter 11, Memory

Memory is an interesting concept. Can you imagine how much crap is stored in our brains that we rarely use? It’s funny to think that if we really wanted to dig deep into the history of our life, we can picture things that happened at certain points of our life.  As a college student, I personally rely on memory every day. All the way from when homework assignments are due, to upcoming test dates, memory is a key aspect of my everyday life. In chapter eleven, Crowley and Hawhee discuss how important memory was within rhetorical theory.  Crowley and Hawhee assert that “Ancient Rhetoricians distinguished between natural memory and artificial memory” (376).  Furthermore, “…artificial memory is a memory that has been carefully trained to remember things” (376). I find it quite interesting how heavily ancient rhetoricians relied on artificial memory as terms of invention.  In this case, relaying back on information that they previously stored, then “reorganized and expanded upon these, and added their own interpretations of the traditional material” (376). I never thought of memory as a form of invention.  For many today, the practice of reading, re-reading, and writing down material can help us retain material. But living in a world where technology is constantly advancing, the process of retention is not a necessity. In my opinion, we can easily look up a term, theory, event, etc, on our phone faster than taking the time to dig back in our memory, and correctly arrange our ideas.   

Response to Chapter 10, style and appropriateness

For this week’s reading response I was quite interested in kairos and style. Chapter ten of ARCS begins by discussing appropriateness of oration.  “Appropriateness probably derives from the Greek rhetorical notion to prepon, meaning to say or do whatever is fitting in a given situation” (331). Although, appropriateness heavily relates to Gorgias’s notion of kairos, Cicero argues “the universal rule, in oratory as in life, is to consider propriety” (331). And “Cicero defined propriety as “what is fitting and agreeable to an occasion or person; it is important often in actions as well as in words, in the expression of the face, in gesture and in gait” (331).  For the rest of the reading response I will briefly go over the importance of understanding your audience and how it relates to the optimal performance of a speech.

Before giving a speech, it is essential that one develops and has a grasp of their surroundings. That is, an understanding of their audience. In most speech giving situations, this is extremely vital because it allows the speaker to become relaxed, and ultimately prepare the style he or she will used throughout the whole oration.  For example, before I gave my speech with the first assignment in this class, I quickly analyzed my audience. In this case, I knew that it was a classroom situation where people were just as nervous as I was about giving their speech. Therefore, I had to lighten up the classroom by asserting more of a humorous speech. Not only did giving more of a humorous style oration lighten up the classroom, but it allowed me to focus, and relax throughout it.  Depending on your audience, the style of your speech will alter.

Response to Chapter Nine/ Exordium and Introduction

Yet again, I decided to dedicate this blog to one major aspect of speech in classical oration. Chapter nine of ARCS begins by examining exordium. Both Quintilian and Aristotle have two different concepts on exordium, which in my opinion are relatively the same. Quintilian urges that, “The sole purpose of the exordium is to prepare our audience in such a way that they will be disposed to lend a ready ear to the rest of our speech” (295).  Aristotle contends that exordium is “to make clear what the end (telos) of the discourse is” (295).   Having a captivating introduction is an essential component in almost everything we do as humans; performing speeches, writing essays, or even greeting others, generally include an introduction of some sort. But before an introduction, “The quality of the rhetors case determines the kind of exordium required: honorable, difficult, mean, ambiguous, and obscure” (Crowley and Hawhee, 296).  Woah, that is a lot to grasp before giving an introduction to a speech.  Of course it is important to recognize the personality of your audience, while examining the situation before orating, or writing an introduction.  For example, if I’m writing a statement of purpose that I will be handing in to the English department, there are some things to consider when developing my introduction. First, I want to thank the department for reviewing my application. Next, I write a very brief description of myself kind of relating it to my major. Third, I want to create a thesis, in essence, of my goals in life, ultimately explaining why the major supports my career goals.  And in many ways, this way of creating an introduction exemplifies Quintilian and Aristotle’s concept on Exordium.  In class, I will ask about introductions, and how important Cicero’s cases are to classical oration, and modern oration.

Response to October 14th/ Extrinisic proof!

                                                                                    

 “Extrinsic proofs include empirical evidence such as facts, data, artifacts, and the testimony of authorities and witnesses” (Crowley and Hawhee, 267) All of these aspects of extrinsic proofs remind me of a typical case in a courtroom. For Thursday October 14^th’s responding response I will analyze a courtroom hearing I had concerning an MIP charge.  I will briefly go over the extrinsic proofs used against me in the courtroom, while explaining the significance of technology when discovering the validity of a book or document through extrinsic proof.

About a year ago I was involved in a bench trial where I pleaded innocent to an MIP charge I received in the fall of 2009. In fact, if you have never been involved in a court case where you are pleading innocent, they are actually quite informative.  The evidence against me was over whelming. Very much like Aristotle’s definition of extrinsic proof, facts, data, objects, and testimonies of authorities and witnesses were all used in deciding my sentence.  Facts were presented to the judge explaining the situation in which I received my MIP. First, background information of the event, as far as when, where, who, what, were all explained to the judge.  Next, data was given to the judge, and this is what ultimately deciphered my case. The data used against me was a pen test that the officer initiated on me at the scene.  And later I would go about saying the pen test was inaccurate due to the fact that I had misplaced my contacts that day. Finally, testimonies were given by me, my witnesses, and the officer.  I will not go over the specifics, but as you can see, Aristotle’s extrinsic proofs are used today in a typical court case. Other than using extrinsic proofs to decide a case in a courtroom, we need extrinsic proof to decide whether books are valid as well.

The other day I was wondering around the old Terrell library and just couldn’t help but notice the wear and tear of some of these books. While I opened one of the books to check the date published, an odd looking bug crawled out that must have been eating lunch. How can we trust a book that was published in the 1800’s? Well, we have extrinsic proof, purpose, context, points of view; all of these go into the process of evaluating the validity of a book or source. In ancient times, credibility from a rhetor was either situated or invented. People had to determine the credibility of a rhetor by understanding the background of the rhetorician; exploring his character, personality, financial stability, etc. Today, we are able to type the title and date of a book, or author into a search bar and receive numerous facts on that book, allowing us to induce whether or not the book is valid.