Bloomsburg University
James Tomlinson

ARGUMENTATION/PUBLIC SPEAKING

Words and how you use them, are an important of your preparation in speaking before an audience.  This exercise is designed to help you practice choosing words, creating structure, and style before you get up in front of an audience. Complete each exercise per instructions given in class.

PART A:   FIGURES OF SPEECH

    Alliteration - Using words which have the same opening consonants ("slippery slope")   Assonance - Using words which have the same vowels

Example - "Let us believe, in spite of doubts and dogma, and tears and fears, that these dear words are true."  Robert Ingersoll

A1. Create an example of Alliteration or Assonance.

    Allusion - Referring to  a shared cultural heritage/myth.

Example - "Just as Johnny Appleseed, we are planting the seeds of a federal deficit from which future generations  will harvest bitter fruit."

A2. Create an example of Allusion.

    Antithesis - Use of contrasting or opposing ideas/words, in such a way to dramatize the difference.

Example: "Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country."  J.F. Kennedy - Inaugural Address

A3.  Create an example of Antithesis.

    Climax - Building to a point of intensity.

Example: "At the local level, the homeless are a nuisance, at the state level they are a budget item, but at the national level they are a reflection of our inhumanity"

A4. Create an example of Climax.

    Hyperbole - Language used to exaggerate.

Example:  "Listening to this speech, is as exciting as watching paint dry."

A5. Create an example of Hyperbole.

    Metaphor -  A metaphor compares two things that are different. Considered the most important figure of speech.  Aristotle wrote that the use of metaphor was so powerful because human beings have "an eye for resemblances."  He means, we like to see how one thing resembles another!!!   I.A. Richards (whom you should know if you are a Communication major), said that the use of metaphor in language was "the omnipresent principle of all its free actions."

Example - "Like a cobra, any new enemy will more likely strike when it feels... events are in its favor..."  General MacArthur addressing Congress 1951.

 A6.  Create an example of a Metaphor

    Omission - Sometimes, you can leave out information to have a greater impact with the words you choose:

Example - "Sighted sub.  Sank same."

A7. Create an example of Omission.

    Oxymoron - Using language to imply a contradiction.

Example: "The silence was deafening"

A8. Create an example of an Oxymoron.

    Personification - Make the inanimate seem human. 

Example - "Their apartment is as cheerful as can be!!"

A9.  Create an example of Personification

Repetition - Using a phrase or word, with appropriate frequency, to create a memorable impression on the audience.

Example - "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth"  Abraham Lincoln - Gettysburg Address
(note how this example also illustrates the "rule of threes")

A10.  Create an example of Repetition

    Rhetorical Questions - Used to stimulate an audience to think/focus on a particular idea/issue - does not seek an overt response.

Example - "How can we sit here in comfort and warmth and ignore the plight of the poor, the cold, the homeless?"

A11. Create an example of a Rhetorical Question.

PART B: Vocal Stylistic Devices

            Review the sound files discussed in class.

            Now, practice using stylistic devices each of the phrases below.
            Be prepared to discuss and use these examples in class.

                A:  A cold, rainy day

                B:  An unworkable policy

                C:  A delicate, intricate procedure

                D:  A huge crowd

                E:  A date which will live in infamy

                F:  I have a dream....

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