Speech 2: Practicing Pathos

Use one of the emotions discussed by Aristotle to argue a perspective on a public issue. If you are looking for ideas, I would suggest the Stump, which is the Oregonian opinion page. However, your public issue does not need to currently be in the news. If you would like, you could talk about a historical issue, like the removal of the Berlin Wall, or a more general issue, like smoking.

I will pass around a sign up sheet, so we have good coverage of the emotions. The options are as follows with page numbers from Aristotle:

• Anger or calmness (pp. 92-100).
• Friendship or enmity or hate (pp. 100-103).
• Fear or confidence (pp. 103-107).
• Shame or shamelessness (pp. 107-111).
• Kindness or unkindness (pp. 111-112).
• Pity or indignation (pp. 113-118).
• Envy or emulation (pp. 118-121).

You must use at least one visual whether PowerPoint, prop, or otherwise, and you must attribute at least one source. In the evaluation, I will also be looking for the specific techniques that Aristotle recommends for eliciting these emotions.

Length: 2-5 minutes.

Points: 20 / 200 (10% of term grade)

Due: 22 or 24 November.

Above is Homer Simpson doing “The Scream,” originally by Edvard Munch (1893).