PEER DICUSSION RESPONSES – PLEASE RESPOND WITH AT LEAST 150 WORDS TO EACH POST
PEER POST #1
What did I learn by self-evaluating my PowerPoint Speech?
I am starting to see a bit of a change in my self-evaluations, whereas this time I was a bit more lenient with myself regarding my overall performance. Not that I was easy on myself, by any means, but I am starting to see a change regarding my strictness I have towards my own performance, and I am applying the same techniques I use in my peer reviews, therefore watching my performance as an outside entity rather than beating myself up for little technicalities.
What did I learn by completing reviews on my peers’ PowerPoint Speeches?
This week, I was able to compare my performance with my peers as a total overall view, therefore providing insight into what I can pull from each of my peers to make my speeches better next round. By pulling the best attributes from each classmate in my group, I am able to not only better myself, but I am able to show recognition for those attributes and boost my classmate’s confidence in their speeches.
Fisher’s speech was extremely compelling in the fact that they pull from all corners of persuasion, the ethos, logos, and pathos model we have all learned previously. They have used emotional tactics, logical examples, and ethical reasoning in order to connect with the audience and portray a very vibrant picture full of sorrow, heartache, and sadness. Listed below are some of the tactics they use correctly in order to paint this overall picture:
- Visual Images:
- Fisher paints and image of the average American for the audience, therefore having the audience sympathize with their fellow citizen. However, Fisher takes this one step further and is then able to show how this disease is slowly pulling apart the fabric of time for these families and citizens (stanzas 5 and 6).
- Repetition:
- Fisher uses the overall theme repetition of the average American in order to break down the barriers between them and the rest of the population, therefore persuading the audience to not only see where they are coming from, but to understand that this disease can affect anyone leading to a sense of urgency and understanding between both parties involved (stanza 4, 8, 12, 15, and 18).
- Parallel Structure:
- Similarly, I am going to use the same example for repetition to showcase the parallel structure of this speech. Fisher methodically rotates between ethos, logos, and pathos, as clearly shown in the example above, as you can see they used an emotional response in the stanzas above.
PEER POST #2
Question #1
In evaluating myself, I learned that I needed to practice more on saying my speech without looking at the paper. After evaluating my peers, I realized that my peers practiced a little more than I did.
Question #2
- The speaker utilizes the methods of visual images, repetition, and parallel structure to enhance the impact of her ideas. She drives the audience to see the reality of AIDS by stimulating the visual sense of the audience. She clearly describes that AIDS is brutally clear that many Americans are dying. The speaker said, “But despite science and research, White House meetings and congressional hearings, despite good intentions and bold initiatives, campaign slogans and hopeful promises—it is, despite it all, the epidemic which is winning tonight.” To further vividly describe the actuality of AIDS cases, the speaker says what she is truly representing, the speaker said, “Tonight, I represent an AIDS community whose members have been reluctantly drafted from every segment of American society. Though I am white and a mother, I am one with a black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital. Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family’s rejection.”With these statements, the audience is introduced to the sad reality of AIDS patients in America. The audience is able to visualize the materiality of the word AIDS in society. To impact further her ideas, the speaker applies the method of repetition in emphasizing her main points. In paragraph 6, she said that AIDS is not a distant threat; it is a present danger. In paragraph 11, the speaker remarks again in her words,“My call to the nation is a plea for awareness. If you believe you are safe, you are in danger.” Many times the speaker mentions the danger of AIDS to our lives, especially to children. That a nation is always at risk when people do not recognize the risks of AIDS. Lastly, the parallel structure of the speech is well- organized that ables the audience to grasp and understand the message easily. It has an effective introduction and the body of the speech clearly explains the possible risks of AIDS. The conclusion has a lasting and effective impact on the audience. It calls for action to the audience to start on putting right action to AIDS.
- One of the main strategies that the speaker employs is statistics. Statistics is the representation of an organized data that gives factual information that is helpful in your persuasive speech. Mary Fisher used a lot of statistics in her speech, “A Whisper to AIDS.” In paragraph 3 she said, “Two hundred thousand Americans are dead or dying; a million more are infected. Worldwide 40 million, 60 million, or 100 million infections will be counted in the coming few years.” and in paragraph 6 she shares in saying that, “The rate of infection is increasing fastest among women and children. Largely unknown a decade ago, AIDS is the third leading killer of young adult Americans today—but it won’t be third for long.” This statistical strategy is effective in generating her ideas even more for it provides credibility and it adds the specification of the context about AIDS. It is a powerful way to quantify the persuasive aspect of the message and it could provide a strong basis for building an argument.
