Words and such

 From my list, I have chosen a couple of examples from each of the 6 examples provided, which I shall now list out. Physically, I'd consider wearing glasses to be pretty distinct, as I've worn them since age 3, and for the second is my flexibility in general, which works as a great party trick. Social trait-wise, I am definitely awkward, and I have a tendency to mumble. When it comes to roles, I am not completely sure what that refers to, but I suppose I'm a decent listener? I have plenty of defining interests (dogs, my slightly unorthodox music taste, etc), and I am unsure of talents I possess. Memory, maybe? And, finally, as far as belief systems go, I don't subscribe to any religion. All of that being said, I have always perceived myself as fairly average, if not a bit on the introverted side. I am by no means fantastic at speaking, and when it comes to actually presenting or giving my thoughts, I usually stumble over my words and start shaking like my best friend...

     To be completely honest, I hardly know any celebrities or public speakers. I have never been engaged in that sort of thing (after all, isn't it a little odd how these peoples' lives are put on a pedestal just because they're super dramatic or controversial or entertaining, meanwhile normal people, many of whom are just as interesting, fade into obscurity 10 times as fast once they die? Maybe I'm just cynical, but it irks me).         That being said, I do know a lot of fantastic public speakers in real life, so I'll instead be showcasing them rather than some random celebrity. Namely, my high school Rhetoric teacher Mr. Adam Depew. What a legend, that fellow. Although the class was primarily for writing essays and analyzing literature, what times he did give a lecture were always so engaging.          Usually, he'd give lectures after an essay when introducing our next topic, or as we were reading The Sea-Wolf, our no...

After reading through the transcript of Dandelions: The Uncommon Weed, I can conclude that Hirsch's rhetorical purpose is to inform her public speaking class about the health benefits and cooking purposes of dandelions, likely as a way to persuade them into incorporating dandelions into their diets.  In an attempt to engage her audience immediately, Hirsch begins by asking questions regarding the plant's scientific name. After revealing that it is in fact the common dandelion, she uses a more grounded approach and acts her audience if they are familiar with the act of blowing the white fluff off of dandelions, to which they likely agreed. Although I do understand her method of starting with an overly complicated idea and then revealing that she will actually be referring to the most common weed, her example did feel a bit perplexing when she brought up the mention of "'Mama had a baby and its head popped off!'", as this is a phrase that holds no personal conne...

 This week's prompt led me to look for a speech that really stood out. I wanted to dive into a speech from a person whose name I did not recognize, and I also wanted to find a title that stood out. Thus, I ended up reading through Clarence Darrow's "A Plea for Mercy" speech, as the title came off as high stakes and exhilarating. After reading it, I can definitely understand its placement on the top 100 speeches. According to an Encyclopedia Britannica article about Leopold and Loeb, two men affiliated with the speech, Darrow was attorney representing the two at a murder trial following the death of 14-year-old Bobby Franks. The two men had killed Franks with no clear motive (they demanded a ransom; however, both boys were wealthy already and had no reason to request the money) aside from a curiosity of whether or not the deed was possible. The court was dead set on the death penalty for Leopold and Loeb despite the two being late teens, but Darrow prepared a defense t...