Rhetorical Criticism as a Method of Understanding History and the Art of Persuasion

Rhetorical Criticism as a Method of Understanding History and the Art of Persuasion

Alvin Sherman Library 4009

U.S. history has been shaped by the speeches of great individuals. Democracy is built upon freedom of speech, which allows even the least privileged to speak the truth and their concerns to those in power. Those of privilege have given many of the great speeches in our history. However, some of the best have been delivered on behalf of all people in this country, and in the world. It is important that these archives of freedom and democracy be studied not only so we can understand the power of political rhetoric, but so that we can understand the events that have shaped our country.

In this class, our capstone assignment was to present a speech of rhetorical criticism. We learned principles of rhetoric—classical and modern—and used these as methods for analyzing speeches. The research into the methods and speeches was the main component of the assignment. The results were presented in an oral report to the class. First, we selected a speech that interested us. Then we decided what about the speech was compelling and selected a rhetorical method by which to critique it. Finally, we conducted the analysis and shared the results. The speeches studied ranged from FDR’s “Day of Infamy” to Mother Theresa’s “Give Until It Hurts” to Margaret Chase Smith’s “Declaration of Conscience”. We concluded that by studying the structures of language, organization, content, and delivery, a great deal could be learned about public speech.