A speech It is a genre of rhetoric characterized by the personal, subjective, unique and argued approach to a specific topic within the framework of a specific situation, such as a public event, a political assembly or a social event.
Although they can be transmitted in oral or written form, the speeches use expressive strategies typical of verbal communication such as argumentation, persuasion and rhetorical questions.
The function of language that prevails in a speech is the appellative, since it focuses on the receiver and seeks to transmit a message that generates a certain attitude.
Speech types
According to the nature of your dissertation and your resources, the speeches can be:
- Scientific-technological. They can be directed to the specialized public or of divulgation, and they deal with the transformations of the hand of the man on the reality that surrounds it.
- Aesthetic. They are concerned with reaching a very high degree of depth in the use of language and beauty, as a way to move or invite reflection, contemplation or passion.
- Religious. They offer their recipients a set of imaginaries and ritual practices that point to contact with the divine, with mysticism and other forms of spirituality.
- Educational. They are formative speeches, focused on the transmission of a message as clearly and didactically as possible, which ensure the training of its recipients.
- Historical. They contemplate the events that have already occurred and establish relationships between them.
- Politicians. They address the construction of a community ideology, proposing arguments and solutions to the needs of a community.
- Rhetoricians. They seek to convince the audience of a certain position in the face of an ideological or moral event.
Examples of speech
- A priestly sermon (religious / rhetorical)
Offer the audience certain theological positions or specific spiritual doctrine during the congregation or mass. For example:
1 Timothy 4:12
When we are looking for an opportunity to be useful in God’s work; We generally set our eyes on those areas that are regulated in our Church; such as: leading in worship, singing in choir, teaching in children’s classes, or at best, preaching. If at the moment we see that we are not given an opportunity in any of these fields; We begin to get discouraged thinking that we are living uselessly, doing nothing important to God.
- A product advertisement (rhetorical)
It seeks to convince recipients to consume a specific product or service. For example:
Don’t miss out on the new offers on boots and ankle boots for winter! The best quality, at the best price, only in our Carpincho stores. 100% domestic raw material and labor!
- A literary work (aesthetic)
It addresses any subject for aesthetic purposes, be it an essay, a poem or a narrative, emphasizing the way to use written language for it. For example:
Pablo Neruda – ‘To my obligations’
Fulfilling my trade
stone to stone, pen to pen,
wintertime and leave
abandoned sites,
dead rooms:
I work and work,
I must substitute
so many forgetfulness,
fill the darkness with bread,
to found hope again (…)
- A theatrical performance (aesthetic)
Offer your viewers a staging for aesthetic or reflective purposes, be it moving, sensitizing or simply distracting. For example:
Aristophanes – ‘The Frogs’ (excerpt)
SHEAR
Oh underground Hermes, who you watch
over the paternal kingdom, give me help;
I finally come to my homeland and enter it.
BACCHUS
Do you find any fault in those verses?
EURIPIDES
More than twelve.
BACCHUS
But if they are not more than three verses.
EURIPIDES
It is that each one has twenty faults.
- A party pronouncement (political)
It exposes society and possible voters a specific position regarding a matter of social, historical or economic interest, according to the ideological guidelines of the party. For example:
Adolf Hitler – ‘We will defeat the enemies of Germany’, April 10, 1923
My dear compatriots, German men and women!
In the Bible it is written: ‘What is neither hot nor cold I want to spit out of my mouth.’ This phrase of the great Nazarene has preserved its deep validity to this day. Anyone who wants to wander the golden middle road must renounce the achievement of great and maximum goals. To this day mean and lukewarm have also remained Germany’s curse. The situation of our homeland, according to the geographical condition one of the most unfavorable in Europe, was actually understood for the first time, by the small, hated Prussian state, a rival in a spiritual and material sense for all the surrounding peoples, I remain reserved for you this small model state became the champion of German thought until that union of the German trunks that, deep down, despite two wars won, was not yet a union.
- A medicine manual (educational / scientific)
It offers the reader the opportunity to learn about the proper use and risks of the drug in question, thus enabling them to learn how to use it or to decide responsibly whether to use it. For example:
OMEPRAZOLE
THERAPEUTIC INDICATIONS: Gastroesophageal reflux esophagitis. Duodenal ulcer, benign gastric ulcer (including those caused by NSAIDs). Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcer associated with Helicobacter pylori.
CONTRAINDICATIONS: Hypersensitivity to the components of the formula. Malignant gastric ulcer.
GENERAL PRECAUTIONS: Treatment with omeprazole, like other antiulcer drugs, can alleviate the symptoms of a malignant gastric ulcer and make it difficult to diagnose in time, so this diagnosis should be taken into account in middle-aged or older patients with gastric symptoms. recent onset or with significant changes (recurrent vomiting, hematemesis or melena, dysphagia and weight loss).
- An encyclopedic article (educational / scientific-technological)
It exposes technical or academic knowledge to the interested parties, using the simplest and most didactic forms possible, in order to transmit specialized information. For example:
From Wikipedia:
Black holes
A black hole or black hole is a finite region of space within which there is a concentration of mass high enough to generate a gravitational field such that no material particle, not even light, can escape from it.
- An ecological campaign (rhetoric)
It seeks to move the recipients of a specific position regarding the environment and thus influence their respective daily lives and ways of life. For example:
FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT, EVERY THING IN ITS CONTAINER
Did you know that in our country the presence of solid waste has been continuously increasing, being among the countries that generate the most garbage per capita, 62% of domestic origin and 38% of industrial origin (BIOMA, 1991)? It is estimated that, on average, each person produces 1 kg of garbage per day. If the waste from shops, hospitals and services is added, the amount increases by 25-50%, reaching up to 1.5 kg per person / day (ADAN, 1999). We must do something about it!
- A prohibitive (rhetorical) poster
It is intended to prevent readers from carrying out a certain action in the specific place where the poster appears. For example:
It is strictly forbidden to enter the premises with pets or other types of animals, as well as drinks and food. Our users are asked to collaborate with the hygiene of our facilities.
Thanks,
The management
- A museum text (historical / aesthetic)
Explain to visitors the content necessary to understand the historical relevance of the exhibition, especially when it is an art museum or a documentary museum. For example:
Author: Augusto Schiavoni 1893-1942
Title: ‘With the painters friends’
Technique: Oil
Measurements: 1.90 x 2.00m.
Date: 1930
In this oil we see four male figures in an instantaneous frontal, staring at a mirror, except one in profile. The walls and floor of a room act as the background. The standing figure initiates the development of an imaginary spiral.
- A protest graffiti (rhetorical / political)
He uses certain strategies of expression to denounce, claim or convince regarding a political position or some consideration of current social or economic order. For example:
Governments pass but the hunger remains. (Seen on a wall in Caracas)
- A film review (aesthetic / rhetorical)
Based on the appreciation of certain artistic elements of the reviewed film and certain sensibilities of the reviewer, it promotes or condemns the intention of going to see the film among readers. For example:
On Magic in the Moonlight by Woody Allen, Sebastián Zavala writes:
It is impossible not to go wrong by releasing a movie every year. For every Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Midnight in Paris or Blue Jasmine, Woody Allen brings us a Scooped, From Rome with Love or, unfortunately for this review, a Magic in the Moonlight. Don’t get me wrong, the prolific director’s latest production isn’t necessarily a bad movie. It has a number of brilliant scenes and a couple of solid performances, but overall it feels like one of his weakest endeavors, a film that never gets too far-reaching and, while amusing, contains nothing particularly special.
- A national anthem (political / aesthetic)
Using the poetic strategies of art, it preserves a political message among the specific population concerned, giving them a sense of national belonging. For example:
National Anthem of France – ‘La Marseillaise’ (excerpt)
Let us march, children of the country,
That the day of glory has come
The bloody banner of tyranny
It is already raised against us (bis)
Can’t you hear howling through the countryside
Those fierce soldiers?
Well they come to slaughter
To our children and to our wives
- A love serenade (aesthetic / rhetorical)
It seeks to convince the loved one to give in or respond to the singer’s loving feelings, using music for this. For example:
“Title: ‘Cielito Lindo’
Author: Quirino Mendoza and Cortés
Lyrics (fragment):
That mole you have, Cute Sky next to your mouth,
don’t give it to anyone, Cielito Lindo, it’s my turn,
and that mole that you have, cute sky next to your mouth,
don’t give it to anyone, cute little darling that’s my turn.
- A penal code (political / rhetorical)
It contains the legal or juridical provisions that govern the punishable conduct of citizens belonging to a nation. For example:
Penal Code of the Argentine Nation – article 14
Parole will not be granted to repeat offenders. Neither will it be granted in the cases provided for in articles 80 paragraph 7, 124, 142 bis, second to last paragraph, 165 and 170, second to last paragraph.