Rhetoric I
Prof. G. Steinberg

SPEECH 3


 
The focus in your third and final speech will be on audience.  You will divide into groups of four students.  In each group, all four students will present an argument for exactly the same claim (as chosen and developed by the group).  But each student will argue the group's claim as if to a different audience.

For example, one group might choose to argue the claim that the food service on campus does not serve the needs of TCNJ students adequately.  Each person in the group would present an argument for this claim, but each group member would imagine that he or she is arguing before a different audience.  One person could argue the claim as if in front of the President of TCNJ; one person could argue it as if in front of one of the food service's competitors; one person could argue it as if in front of the food service's manager here on campus; and one person could argue it as if in front of his or her parents, who are footing all the bills for room and board.

Each member of the group should tailor the argument specifically to his or her particular audience.  In fact, each of the four members of the group should make an entirely different argument -- based on what reasoning and what evidence would be most likely to persuade this or that audience.  Some members of the group may even need to adapt the group's claim slightly to make it more palatable or relevant to their imagined listeners.  If any two students in a group stand up and deliver essentially the same speech, they will not really have done the assignment of choosing different audiences and tailoring their arguments to those audiences.


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