Released March 2007
Context
The power of oratory in politics has long been evident. Good orators can be spellbinding and persuasive and, therefore, popular and powerful. Many students will be able to identify a good orator but may be unable to pinpoint exactly why.
Having covered public speaking at NCEA Levels One and Two many will have some grasp of the techniques of oratory. This unit examines the skill of oratory and the techniques involved. The DVD comes with transcripts of each extract and includes detailed analysis, as well as discussion points designed to encourage students to recognise and evaluate the effectiveness of these techniques. The DVD focuses primarily on New Zealanders but has two special international guests. The extracts cover a wide range of situations and purposes, but all have one thing in common: excellent orators at their persuasive best.
Outline
As mentioned above, having encountered public speaking in Years 9 and 10, and in NCEA Levels One and Two, students should be familiar with the requirements of presenting a speech. But effective oratory is all about persuasion and winning an audience over. The Oratory DVD contains examples of orators in action and as the students watch each extract they need to work through the accompanying analysis and discussion points.
Ultimately the students will use what they have learned in this unit for the internally assessed achievement standards 90725 Construct and deliver an oral presentation and/or 90726 Complete independent research on a language or literature topic and present conclusions in writing.
Objectives
This unit aims to prepare students for internally assessed achievement standards 90725 and 90726 by providing a range of resources and information. By the end of this unit students will be able to:
- Identify the language techniques used in oratory
- Identify the paralinguistic techniques used in oratory
- Discuss, interpret and respond to examples of oratory.
Vocabulary List
Linguistic/Language Techniques:
- Abstract nouns
- Allusion
- Antithesis
- Appeals – to prestige, patriotism, personal prejudices, emotions
- Clarity of voice
- Climax/anti-climax
- Emotionally-toned adjectives
- Euphemism
- Hyperbole
- Imagery
- Imperatives
- Irony
- Parallel construction
- Pause for effect
- Personal appeals – through use of first person plural, ‘we’, ‘us’ etc (inclusive) and direct personal appeal through use of second person ‘you’. Also helps to establish rapport with audience
- Pun
- Repetition
- Statistics
- Stereotypes
- Superlatives
- Tone variation
- Welcome to audience (especially relevant in multi-cultural situations)
Paralinguistic Techniques:
- Body language
- Eye contact
- Facial expression
- Gesture
- Sense of drama (if appropriate)
- Stance
- Use of cue cards
- Use of props
Resources/Links
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/oratory/home.html This useful web site has a number of units designed by NZ teachers for use at all levels. This particular unit has some useful information and activities, as well as links to a number of interesting resources and transcripts.
http://www.tki.org.nz This handy site contains the assessment information and exemplars for the Level 3 achievement standards 90725 and 90726. Go to NCEA on tki then to Internal Assessment Resources, English, scroll down to Eng 3/6 – A3 Say it on Words; Eng 3/7 A4 A Question of Language; or Eng 3/7 – C1 All for the Cause.
www.historyplace.com/speeches/previous.htm
www.history.com
www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches
The three web sites above have a large range of transcripts from some famous examples or oratory.
Allan Papprill’s Advertising, Persuasion and Oratory – has an excellent section on oratory, with some worthwhile activities.
Assessment
Formative/peer assessment – as they work through the unit, students can check their understanding of texts and ideas with peers and the teacher.
The formal assessment criteria for each of the internally assessed achievement standards 90725 and 90726 can be found at http://www.nzqa.govt.nz or http://www.tki.org.nz
Activities
- Transcripts, discussion points and syntax analysis which accompany DVD items
- Students are to find an extract from a speech transcript and complete an analysis of the language techniques used therein. They should annotate the transcript, making note of each technique, and discuss the effectiveness of these techniques. They should also identify the target audience and purpose of the speech.
- The major activity is clearly the internally assessed achievement standard/s 90725 and/or 90726.
