Sunday, February 15, 2009
Week 4 Post 1: Influential Speakers
I am not sure if this is an accurate example because I didn’t hear this speech live, but I heard the recording and I definitely think that this is one of most influential speakers of our time. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of the best rhetoricians in our countries history. He was eloquent and good at using the three modes of persuasion, ethos, pathos, and logos. A good example of his skills with pathos, emotional appeal, is his most famous speech after Pearl Harbor. Aristotle once warned rhetoricians of the dangers of emotional appeal because if you arise emotion in the mass public, you must be able to control it or you will end up with riots. President Roosevelt’s speech arose the pride in his country and directed it into appropriate masses to support the war effort. One of the worst speakers I have ever heard is definitely President George Bush. In looking at the five canons of rhetoric, I think that he fails in every way. His arguments are not convincing, his material is never well organized or easy to follow, his language selection is way too simple for a leader of his status, and his delivery is extremely poor.
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Hi Nicciri,
ReplyDeleteI have never heard President Franklin Delano Roosevelt speak but I will definitely look up his speeches. I do agree with you pathos can be a very dangerous mode of communication because it can penetrate deeply into the listener's heart and manipulate their feelings. Hitler for an example used pathos to arise fear and anger in Germany and directed those hatred towards the Jewish people. But in reality, Germany was desperately looking for a leader who can lead them out of a crisis. Hitler rise to the occasion but became very evil along the way. He figured a way to tap into the people's emotion and manipulated them to into believing his false statements. Therefore I do agree that Pathos can be a very dangerous mode of communication if the leader is not morally good.
Signing out
Events Dreamer
I think you brought up a great point in this post. If a speaker is going to risk bringing up strong emotions in their listeners, then they must also be willing do deal with the actions of their listeners later. It takes a very strong and influential speaker, like President Roosevelt, to bring up those emotions but also direct in the right way. I think our current president is also good out bringing out the right emotions in his listeners.
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