Across eras of tragedy and peace in our world's history, a great many leaders, writers, politicians, theorists, scientists, activists and other revolutionaries have given powerful and galvanizing speeches in their bids for change.  

What makes a significant and iconic speech? There are countless examples of exceptional orators and speechmakers throughout history, from classical times to the present day. But what the best speeches tend to have in common are more than just a solid intellectual argument: they have emotional power - they have the ability to awaken people to action, or move people to tears – or both.

But of course, historic speeches are often also associated with landmark and momentous occasions in a nation, culture and/or empire’s history: when Churchill delivered his series of wartime speeches to Britain in 1940, it was against the backdrop of a war which was still in its early, uncertain stages. And when Martin Luther King stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, he was addressing a crowd who, like him, were marching for justice, freedom, and civil rights for African Americans.

In this class we will explore and discuss the literary techniques and rhetorical devices of some of the most well known and lesser known iconic speeches were given to help learners gain a deeper understanding of the speech itself and its significance.  Weeks spent in this class will help students hone rhetorical and literary analysis skills, as well as develop skills to help with healthy, respectful debate and discussion. Questions and discussion points will be prompted by me as the instructor, but students will be the ones making observations and analysis of the weekly speeches. Each class stands alone allowing learners to enter the class at any time and be able to participate in the discussions. 

What are the analysis / discussion methods? We will use the SPACECAT method to guide our discussions; key points  are outlined below. Because time in class is limited, this class will focus on meaning, literary devices, appeals, and tone, while considering how the context, speaker, etc factor into those elements.

SPACECAT:

Speaker: Who created this speech? Was it an individual, a business, a government, or something else?
What do you know about creator, their background, and their experience? What do you not know about them?
How is the speech's meaning or effect changed or influenced because of the person who created it?

Purpose: Why was this speech written? What are they hoping to accomplish with it?
Are they trying to persuade, educate, entertain, inform, incite, motivate, inspire, or something else?
How well does the medium or channel in which they’re communicating help accomplish the purpose?

Audience: Who is the intended audience of the speech? Who did the message reach beyond the initial audience?
What assumptions did the creator make or what expectations did they have about the audience?
What impact did the audience’s culture, background, mood, or experience have on the message?

Context: When and where was this speech created and delivered? How was it intended to be received?
What was happening in the community, country, culture, or world when the speech was created?
Would the message have been interpreted differently if it were delivered in a different time, place, or event?

Exigence: Why does this message matter, especially in the moment of creation, for the speaker or audience?
What moved the creator of the speech to create it? Were they inspired, angered, frustrated, or something else?
Does the message have lasting impact, even after it was created? Why or why not does it matter now?

Choices: What specific communication choices did the creator use to convey the message? Why did they make those choices?
What impact does diction, sentence structure, organization, layout, figures of speech, etc. have on the message?
Are there choices the creator could have made but didn’t that may have changed the message?

Appeals: How did the creator intend to appeal to their audience? Through emotion, logic, or credibility?
Are elements of the speech specific to likely intended appeal to the audience? Are there elements that did not appeal or may have offended?

Tone: What is the general tone of the message? Happy, serious, energized, something else? How do you know?
What do you learn about the message or speaker’s attitude from the tone?
Does the tone shift in certain parts of the communication? What is the purpose for the shift?


Speeches are listed by week below:

Week of September 2: "Space Shuttle Challenger Address" by Ronald Reagan

Week of September 9: "9/11 Address to the Nation" by George W. Bush

Week of September 16: "The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln

Week of September 23: "We Are Virginia Tech" by Nikki Giovanni"

Week of September 30: Steve Jobs Commencement Speech" by Steve Jobs

Week of October 7: "I Have a Dream" by MLK

Week of October 14: No class

Week of October 21: "And the World is With Men" by John Steinbeck

Week of October 28: "Woman's Right to the Suffrage" by Susan B. Anthony

Week of November 4: "What it Takes to be Number One" by Vince Lombardi

Week of November 11: "Surrender Speech" by Chief Joseph

Week of November 18: No class

Week of November 25: "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July" by Fredrick Douglass

Week of December 2: "Pearl Harbor Speech" by FDR

Week of December 9: "Perils of Indifference" by Elie Weisel

Week of December 16: "Lou Gherig's Farewell Speech" by Lou Gherig


Other speeches to be discussed include:

"Speech at the March on Washington" by Josephine Baker
"Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat" by Winston Churchill
"Purple is the Noblest Shroud" by Empress Theodora
"A More Perfect Union" by Barack Obama
"The Whiskey Speech" by Noah Sweat
"Aint I a Woman" by Sojourner Truth 
"Opening Address to the Day of Mourning Protest" by Jack Patten
"Women's Rights Are Human Rights" by Hillary Clinton
"Sport has the Power to Change the World" by Nelson Mandela
"A Plea for the Opressed" by Lucy Stanton
"Ghana is Free Forever" by Kwame Nkrumah
"Why Sit Ye Here and Die" by Maria Stewart
"First Inaugural Address" by FDR
"Tillbury Speech" by Queen Elizabeth the First
"Their Finest Hour" by Winston Churchill
"Critique on British Imperialism" by Aung San of Burma
"Inaugural Address" by JFK
"I Decline to Accept the End of Man" by William Faulkner
"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" by Patrick Henry

Links to PDFs and / or recordings of speeches will be available the weekend before class, but prereading or listening to them is not required. Students will also be provided a note sheet if they would like to take notes during our discussion. 

Who would do well in this class? While this is a discussion-based class, students of all abilities and personalities can do well in this class. Students are not required to keep cameras on after initial check-in, and are welcome to participate in the discussion either verbally or via the chat feature. There is no writing or reading aloud by students.