Unit 4: The Speech & Analyze Literature

A speech is a public communication or expression of thought in spoken words.

The purpose of a speech often is to inform an audience about a given subject or to persuade them to a particular point of view.

The ancient Greeks probably were the first to analyze oratory (public speaking) and to categorize the elements of public speaking.

In the fourth century BCE, Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote down a theory of rhetoric, or effective language use, that is still referred to today.

An argument is a form of persuasion that makes a case to the audience for accepting or rejecting a proposition or course of action.

In a persuasive speech, the argument is the thesis, or the main idea the speaker wants to share with the audience.

Style is the manner in which something is said or written, as characterized by qualities like word choice (diction), syntax (word order), sentence structure and length, and other regular features of a writer’s or speaker’s work.

A rhetorical device is a technique used by a speaker or writer to achieve a particular effect, especially to persuade or influence.

A second rhetorical device, repetition, reinforces a message and creates a rhythmic effect.

Many effective speakers use rhetorical questions, which are asked for effect but not meant to be answered because the answers are clear from the context.

Language that is meant to be understood imaginatively instead of literally is called figurative language.

An analogy is a comparison of two things that are alike in some ways but otherwise quite different.

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is written about as if it were another.

A dialect is a version of a language spoken by the people of a particular place, time, or social group.

A memoir is a type of autobiography that focuses on one incident or period in a person’s life.

The setting of a literary work is the time and place in which it occurs, together with all the details used to create it.

A plot is a series of events related to a central conflict, or struggle between two forces in a literary work.

A plot is a series of events related to a central conflict, or struggle between two forces in a literary work.

Realism is the attempt to achieve, in a work of art, an accurate portrayal of the world.

A reversal is a dramatic change in the direction of events in a drama or narrative, especially a change in the fortunes of the protagonist, or main character.

Irony is a difference between appearance and reality.