Delivery
Delivery is one of the five canons of
rhetoric. While it's one of the last canons, it's one of the most important and
can help establish ethos and pathos. Delivery can be simply defined as a way a
speech is delivered. In terms of rhetoric, the delivery of speech can make or
break it; it could successfully persuade an audience or deter them completely.
Delivery has to do with how a speech is said, not what is said. Delivery mainly
deals with how the voice is handled during the speech, the overall tone of the
voice. Besides vocal, delivery also deals with body language such as gestures
and eye contact with the audience. Digital media has millions upon millions of
this canon at work, both successfully and unsuccessfully. For example, everyone
has seen the commercials of the beaten up and starving animals with the sad
music playing in the background while some actress asks viewers to donate money
to help these poor animals. This is an example of a successful delivery of a
speech. First, the actress pulls you in by establishing her pathos with a slide
show of pictures of hurt kittens and puppies. Then she keeps her voice calm as
she tells viewers facts and statistics of animal abuse, which also establishes
her ethos. The actress only lets her voice crack and then changes her tone to a
desperate pleading when she's asking for viewers to donate money, establishing
more pathos. She chooses the right tone and handles her voice correctly for the
subject of her speech. Next, when the actress appears on screen, usually with
an animal, she is making direct eye contact with the audience and only looks
away to look at the animal. Lastly, her body language is open and relaxed as
she talks to the audience. All of these factors play into delivery. Because she
accurately used all these key factors, the delivery of her speech is successful
and audience members are persuaded. Voldemort's speech in the last few scenes
of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a great example of a speech
that is poorly delivered. Voldemort's voice is handled in a whisper and in a
threatening tone, a tone that is surely to put off his audience. He addresses
his audience in commands and orders and talks at them rather than to them. He
establishes no real form of ethos in his speech and only establishes pathos
when he is talking directly to Harry, by guilting him into believing that
everyone who had died that night was his fault. Voldemort is not seen while he
is giving this speech, so there is a lack of gestures and eye contact to back
up his speech. Voldemort is only successful in persuading Harry to meet him in
the forest, but it wasn't the speech that convinced Harry, it was his own
guilt. Voldemort's speech greatly lacks the key qualities to make the delivery
of his speech a successful one. The delivery of speeches can be found in all
types of digital media such as, Presidential inauguration speeches, other
charity commercials, monologues, debates, etc.
Arrangement
Arrangement is also one of the five canons of rhetoric
and is a vital role in how successful the delivery of a speech is. Arrangement,
in simple terms means, the order of a speech or text. According to Classic
rhetoricians speech can be divided into six parts: introduction, statement of
facts, division, proof, refutation, and conclusion (McKay). In an introduction, the speaker ideally
should state the speech's topic and then establish ethos (McKay). The
introduction of a speech is incredibly important; the introduction is what will
get the audience interested in what else the speaker has to say. Statement of
facts is exactly what it sounds like; it's the part of your speech where you
should share facts or history on your topic. Division is the summarizing the
argument or points of your speech that your about to state (McKay). Proof is
where the speaker should establish logos for the audience. Refutation is when
the speaker points out faults of their speech and or argument (McKay). And
finally, the conclusion should be where the speaker sums up the argument,
possibly re-state a few facts, and draw the speech to a strong close. All six
of these factors make up the perfect arrangement of a speech and in return, a
solid delivery. Sticking with the theme of Harry Potter, Dumbledore makes a
speech in the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Dumbledore
introduces few people and has some announcements and then his speech truly
starts with a capturing introduction by telling the students that they have the
right to know why they were searched upon arrival. His introduction captures
his audience’s attention completely. Dumbledore's statement of facts is his
small story of the history of Tom Riddle. This keeps his audiences attention.
Dumbledore's speech does lack in the division area in the arrangement of his
speech. He doesn't summarize the points he's about to make, he just states
them. Dumbledore's proof can be found when he argues that Tom Riddle was just
like every student sitting before him. Dumbledore also doesn't technically have
a refutation part to his speech. He says “...dark forces attempt to penetrate
these walls, but in the end their greatest weapon is you...” this could be seen
as refutation because he inadvertently points out that he has failed the
students, but it's not a strong enough case to be considered refutation. Lastly,
Dumbledore doesn't have an ideal conclusion either. He wraps up his speech by
saying “just something to think about. Off to bed!” while this would make the
speech memorable to his audience, it does not fall into the definition of
conclusion in terms of arrangement. Dumbledore's speech, while memorable, is
not a good example of arrangement in practice. A better example of all six
parts of arrangement in practice is John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address in
1961. Kennedy opens with a strong introduction where he claims his ethos by
referencing the oath he took. Kennedy's statement of facts is his brief and
slightly vague references to heirs of America. Kennedy begins his division by
stating a pledge to allies, surrounding states, and other nations of promises and
hopes for the future. Proof in Kennedy's speech is intertwined with his
division. Refutation can be found in this excerpt from his speech “All this
will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in
the first one thousand days; nor in the life of this Administration; nor even
perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.” And Kennedy
concludes his speech not in the typical way of Classical rhetoricians, but he
does end it in a motivating and reflective way. Arrangement and its six key
factors can be found in just about any political speech, and many, many movies.
Sources:
http://www.artofmanliness.com/inaugrual-address-of-john-f-kennedy/
(Kennedy excerpt)
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/02/26/classical-rhetoric-101-the-five-canons-of-rhetoric-arrangement/ (McKay/Arrangement resource)
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