Topics and Purposes Selecting a Topic Selecting a

Topics and Purposes

Selecting a Topic

Selecting a Topic Choose from among topics in which you already have some expertise…or topics you like to learn more about.

Selecting a Topic

Selecting a Topic – Audiences take interest in issues that concern their health, happiness, or security

Selecting a Topic – Audiences take interest in issues that concern their health, happiness, or security – Audiences take interest in speeches that offer a solution to a recognized problem.

Selecting a Topic – Audiences take interest in issues that concern their health, happiness, or security – Audiences take interest in speeches that offer a solution to a recognized problem. – Audiences take interest in topics that are surrounded by controversy or conflicting opinions

Selecting a Topic – Audiences take interest in issues that concern their health, happiness, or security – Audiences take interest in speeches that offer a solution to a recognized problem. – Audiences take interest in topics that are surrounded by controversy or conflicting opinions – Audiences take interest in speeches that provide information on a misunderstood or ignored issue.

Selecting a Topic Once you select a topic, write a good specific purpose and ensure that your writing is all purpose-driven.

Selecting a Topic Once you select a topic, write a good specific purpose and ensure that your writing is all purpose-driven. Form: To persuade my audience that… or To persuade my audience to…

Types of Persuasive speeches

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of value:

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of value: Engaging questions about opinion, judgment, or comparative worth.

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of value: – To persuade my audience that the US has a moral obligation to accept Syrian and Yemeni refugees – To persuade my audience that 90’s techno music is culturally significant – To persuade my audience that voting is a waste of time. – To persuade my audience that math is beautiful

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of fact:

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of fact: Engaging questions of interpretation, definition, existence, action

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of fact: – To persuade my audience that Syria meets the political-science definition of a “failed state. ” – To persuade my audience that music education helps promotes academic excellence in children. – To persuade my audience that the modern American prison system is a racist and classist institution.

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of policy:

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of policy: persuading audiences to support or adopt a course of action

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of policy: • Passive adherence: – To persuade my audience that the US should pay reparations for its involvement in human rights abuses in Central America in the 1970 s – To persuade my audience to support comprehensive sex education in public schools. – To persuade my audience to support the Palestinian bid for statehood.

Types of Persuasive speeches Speeches about a question of policy: • Passive adherence: • Immediate Action: – To persuade my audience to boycott NFL football – To persuade my audience to try periodic fasting – To persuade my audience to give blood

Fact, Value, or Policy with a Single topic • Fact: To persuade my audience that long-term solitary confinement in US prisons constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. • Value: To persuade my audience that long-term solitary confinement in US prisons is morally and legally wrong • Policy – Passive Adherence: To persuade my audience that the policy of solitary confinement should be changed. – Immediate Action: To persuade my audience to write to their representatives demanding a policy change.

The categories can blur

The categories can blur To persuade my audience to learn more about contemporary cosmology and astrophysics.

The categories can blur To persuade my audience to learn more about contemporary cosmology and astrophysics. (a speech of action that relies heavily on arguments about fact to advance a value judgment)

Your assignment Select one or several topics and write specific purposes for a speech of fact, value, or policy.

Your assignment Select one or several topics and write specific purposes for a speech of fact, value, or policy. Then, do some initial research on the subject: do a library database search and find at least one article supporting (or opposing) your basic claim.