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a few people live the American Dream • limited changes to be successful →not enough well-paid jobs • concept of a "classless society" has never become reality discrimination / racism • not able to work (handicapped) = not living the AD • high quality schools /universities are very expensive impossible to pay • not everyone has same opportunities • (AD: for (rich) whites only?) Analysis of the political speech Political speeches: 1. A political speech generally starts with an introduction by which the speaker intends to attract the audience's attention, for example by - making the purpose of the speech clear mentioning the topic and by emphasizing its importance beginning with question or a little story - showing or referring to something related to the topic, such as an object, a photo, statistics, etc. 2. In the main part of the speech the speaker tries to maintain the audience's attention, for instance by - forming rather short and clear sentences developing his/her thoughts and main points step by step - backing up his/her main ideas with facts and background information suggesting what should be done to improve the situation or presenting solutions to the problem - including personal experience, examples or a story to make his/her speech more lively, - is establishing a "personal" relationship to become well-liked - using rhetorical devices such as repetition, alliteration, comparisons, etc. 3. At the end of his/her speech the speaker may appeal again to the audience's intellect and/or emotions, for example by - summing up his/her main ideas/arguments in one or two sentences - briefly mentioning what the outlook might be - asking the audience to support his view, ideas, programs, etc. Some important aspects for the analysis of political speeches: Pay special attention to a) key words, symbols, slogans phrases b) use of special semantic fields (e.g. religion, family, war, ...) c) positively and negatively connoted words d) oppositions (e.g. negative/positive; near/distant; familiar/alien) e) eye-catching grammar (e.g. passive or active voice, ...) f) the use of personal pronouns (e.g. 'T', 'us', 'we', 'you', 'they' etc.) and the meaning of these pronouns in the context of the speech Is america still the promised Land? Pro •strong economy + high living standards • a lot of good schools →good chances for education → everyone can go to highschool • one of the leading world power (führende Weltmacht) english as a world language african american poverty has fallen ↳ Armut Decleration of Independence (1776) • Individual rights Uberty (Freiheit), pursuit (verfolgen) of happiness, life all men are created equal The Bill of rights (1791) • freedom of religion/press/speech • the right to bear arms - das Recht Waffen zu tragen • the right for privacy Famous speech (example) • a summary of Obama's victory speech (example) introductory sentence (author, title, audience, place and date of delivery, topic) Barack Obama's victory speech, addressed to the supporters of his presidential campaign and delivered in Chicago in November 2012, deals with the vision of the American people and the nation's future. According to Obama America will make progress due to its people who were able to cope with difficult situations in the past. Main body Con • expensive living situation •no medical insurance (Krankenversicherung) social promises are unfulfilled: - lot of homeless people - lots of crime - racism - discrimination • gab between rich and poor people - expensive education ·more male worker + well paid - sexism At the beginning of his speech, Obama claims that America's future will be great and compares the people of the country to a family that must stick together. Although, he is of the opinion that American people are very different, he holds the view that they have certain hopes in common. They hope for the best education for their children as well as an economically and climatically stable country which guarantees equal opportunities. Moreover, American people want a strong military that will establish peace, freedom and dignity all over the world. They hope for a tolerant America where immigrants will be able to fulfill their dreams. Obama promises unlimited opportunities to America's children and describes the American Dream throughout his speech to his audience. He presents America as a country without any flaws, a country that is admired around the world. According to Obama, Americans appreciate the American Dream and therefore want to keep its promise that if you work hard, you will be able to fulfill your dreams, regardless of your nationality, skin colour, sex, class, physical ability or sexual orientation. often founded devices • methaphor & symbols • direct adress (we, you,...) • enumeration (Aufzählung) • parallelism Useful phrases (to) address issue/a problem (to) outline a vision (to) personally address sb. (to) connect with sb. (to) introduce (far-reaching) reforms (to) stress, emphasize, underline, highlight (to) reinforce one's point by •rethorical questions • alliteration • anaphora (to) bond with sb. (to) inspire hope in the audience Hol (to) evoke a positive mood/reaction and a p (to) flatter the audience (to) encourage the audience (to) appeal to the audience (to) create a memorable phrase (to) create a vivd picture/mental image in the reader's mind The aim/purpose of this stylistic device is to The speaker uses/makes use of/employs/applies this divide in order to By using this device the speaker tries/hopes/aims to achieve Americas History: Event 1492 Columbus arrives in North Americal around 1600 Arrival of first European colonists (the chosen people") 1775-(1783) Revolutionary War (against the British) 4 July 1776 Announcement of the democracy. Declaration of Independence 1787 Implementation of the constitution. 1791 Addition of the Bill of Rights to the constitution since 1830 Active removal of Indian tribes from their territories (westward expansion) 1845-1852 potato famine Freeland 1861-1865 The American Civil War 1863 History Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation 1920 women gain the right to vote in the US 1931 James T. Adams publishes The Epic of America" 1945 Japan Incident 1950s-1960s Civil Rights Movement 1963 Martin Luther King performs his famous. speech since 1970 2001 9/11 Additional information from individual research Although he was one of the first European explorers to discover the American continent, he insisted that found lands were page of Asia. European colonists introduced unknown and therefore deadly diseases to the native population: killing thousands. The desire for Independence was not the only cause of the conflict; heavy taxation of the colonies caused widespread discontent with British legislators The American Declaration of Independence inspired similar documents around the world; including Europe. US Constitution goes into effect. The former colonies are now the United States of America. The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments. They define many of the personal freedoms that the US are famous for. The Indian Removal Act was part of a larger effort to remove Indian tribes from the southeast. The act increased pressure on Indians to accept land exchange treaties. Disease and hunger were so severe that about 1 mio. people died and another million turned to immigration; decreasing. population by 20-25% Approximately four millions laves were freed at the end of the Civil War. Declares all slaves as legally free; beginning of segregation The 19th amendment was ratified after almost a century of protests. James T. Adams was the first person to coin the term American Dream", a concept common in popular culture. USA drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 African Americans experienced heavy segregation/ discrimination and were often kept from voting. It begins with the Montgomery bus boycott. Protests against segregation in Washington. Martin Luther King performs his I have a dream" speech. The idea of a multicultural/diverse America becomes dominant. Terrorists attack the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Analysis of a Political Speech General aspects of political rhetoric The purpose of most political speeches is persuasion rather than informa- tion. There is always a (hidden, underlying) message involved, often related to certain attitudes and values of the speaker. A political statement intends to affect the listeners by making use of diverse structural and rhetorical devices. In order to understand and evaluate a political speech, one should consider the following aspects: first (general) impression: contents and structure: topic, subject matter, general tone, issues and purpose of the speech salient and striking topics, important aspects • organization of the text, arrangement of parts (e.g. introduction, main part or body, conclusion) train of thought, composition, line of argument. circumstances of the speech/ time and place/medium (e. g. TV, radio, face-to-face, Internet) political context: formal and stylistic devices: a) language b) grammar c) rhetoric d) manner of speaking/voice evaluation: . position of the speaker (president, leader of a political party, leader of a protest movement, etc.) audience (mass audience, a limited group of people) occasion (election campaign, protest demonstration, political debate, informal gathering) genre and type (presidential address to the nation, sermon, speech at a demonstra- tion, campus speech, testimony) keywords and phrases word groups/clusters related to a certain topic different registers for different addressees (e. g. sophisticated language to address wealthy and/or educated people, use of dialect, etc.) • choice of words (colloquialisms, slang expressions, poetic expressions) sentence structure/syntax (use of main/sub-clauses) use of grammatical tenses (indirect references to history, future, etc.) use of rhetorical questions • use of contrast and oppositions (positive/negative, familiar/alien, near/distant, etc.) use of key symbols, slogans, stereotypes abstractions and generalizations use of grammatical persons (I, us, we-you, they: patterns of identification and solidarity or vice versa) metaphors, personifications allusions and references to history (American Dream, important political/historical issues, good/bad times, tradition, future, etc.); quotations repetitions (alliterations, anaphora); parallelisms comparisons, numbers, factual information irony, exaggerations, simplifications imperatives, emotionally-loaded words concentration on essential points vs. wordy elaboration .insertions volume, tempo, stress, intonation, abrupt changes, pauses, rhythm → Comment on the personal integrity of the speaker, the general political circumstances, the impact on the listeners. →Compare the speech/speaker to other political speeches/speakers. Was he/she convincing? Note: Explanations of the respective technical terms can be found in the Literary Terms section, pp. 538 ff.