Comments:

Caitlin Leahy- you had a great opening and you made good points. I could tell you really researched you ideas! You had a good conversational tone throughout and you made good use of your visual aid. The only thing I could suggest would be to work on eye contact a little more (like make it smoother) and to vary emphasis just a little bit more than you are already doing. Otherwise, great job!

Alex: Hey Maria, excellent speech! I thought your attention getter was awesome and really made me want to listen more. I'm going to give you the EXACT criticism Mike gave me on my speech "Overall eye contact was good, but I think with a little more practice, you would have had more solid and consitent eye contact" Awesome Job.

Speech 2 Outline:I. Introduction

A. Attention Getter: How would you feel if you were known simply as this? (Show visual 1). Personally, I don’t think it would be very pleasant- I would feel as if I were a criminal. This is precisely the feeling of thousands of Indians at the time of General Smut’s law proclaiming all Indian people to be fingerprinted. Such a proclamation sparked much controversy and feelings of injustice from the Indian population. Gandhi used this situation to make his famous Nonviolence speech to the people.

B. Credibility: I have always found Gandhi’s perseverance and unwillingness to give up throughout his many struggles inspiring. During my last speech, I discussed the target audience, exigence, and constraints of this particular speech, reenacted in the film “Gandhi”. Today, however, I would like to focus more closely on the content.

C. Preview of main points: I’d like to provide a little background for the timing of the speech, analyze the tone, and emphasize the importance of giving the speech, including it’s effect on future generations.

D. Thesis: The way in which Gandhi delivered this speech, as well as his carefully-chosen words, not only made an impact on his audience at that moment but also made an impact on audiences for decades to come.

Transition to Body: First, I think it’s important to provide you with a quick overview as to what was going on in India at this time.

II. Body

A. Point 1: A McDougal Littell textbook described this time period as being the Age of Imperialism.

1. British Imperialism began in 1840 and lasted until about 1914.

a. An associate professor of history at UCLA described The British East India Company, as controlling all trade in the East Indies, becoming a major component of India’s lack of independence (Lal).

b. British law controlled which raw materials, such as coffee and cotton, the Indians would harvest, as well as “forcing Indian manufacturing out of business” (McDougal Littell).

c. British control provided advantages such as a strong railway system, better schools, and communication improvements (McDougal Littell).

d. The disadvantages, however, were numbered as well. Many of the profits bypassed the Indians and went into British pockets; many farmers died hungry because of the emphasis on cash crops, and feelings of bitterness among the Indians, leading to a revolt (McDougal Littell).

Transition: As you can see, the British’s control of India began as a good idea, but eventually led to resentment and resistance. This leads me to analyze the way in which Gandhi actually delivered the speech.

B. Point 2: Gandhi needed to react quickly and with careful consideration to the growing unrest of the Indian people. Here I’d like to show a short clip from the film in which Gandhi is addressing the issue of nonviolent resistance.

1. Gandhi had to choose his words carefully.

a. Any personal digs on the British may add fuel to the fire.

b. Gandhi believed that “violence was found in forms of speech”, so doing so himself would make him appear as a hypocrite (Bode).

c. He also used repetition of certain words, like courage, as to stick in his audience’s minds as a way to act.

d. Gandhi was also careful to refer to the people as “us”, implying that he as well as the Indian people are in it together; he did not want to seem above anyone else.

2. The timing of this speech was of essence.

a. According to the speech excerpt on American Rhetoric.com, Indian audience members were proclaiming they were “willing to kill” a British official offering “insult” to his home and family (AmericanRhetoric.com). Without Gandhi’s timely words, the latter might have been a reality.

3. The delivery of Gandhi’s words affected the listeners.

a. Gandhi spoke in a slow manner, as to let every word count.

b. According to the Internet Movie Database, Gandhi was a small man, measuring at 5’4”. He had to project his voice and speak confidently in the presence of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people.

c. Gandhi also used pauses effectively in his speech. According to our Zarefsky text, pauses are used to enhance a speech by allowing the listener to absorb and make sense of what the speaker is saying (Zarefsky, p. 306).

Transition: Now that you understand a little better the reason for the speech and how it was delivered, I wanted to talk with you briefly about the effects Gandhi’s words had on others.

C. Point 3: Inspiration from Gandhi’s words didn’t cease to affect many people, years after his speech and ideals were made.

1. A common comparison people some make with Gandhi is Martin Luther King Jr.

a. Both men fought against injustice towards their people.

b. Both preached nonviolent reactions in response to the violence and hate crimes that were inflicted upon their people.

c. According to Spartacus Educational, MLK Jr. was said to have been inspired by the following quote by Gandhi: “Through our pain we will make them see their injustice” (Spartacus Educational).

2. A more recent example occurred in the West Bank a little over two years ago, reported by a writer from the New York Times.

a. The film “Gandhi” was finally translated in Arabic, allowing local Palestinians to view the movie and perhaps take in the message of nonviolent resistance Gandhi had stressed (Myre).

b. The screening was part of an effort by “The Gandhi Project” to expose refugees and citizens of the violence-ridden area of the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Myre).

c. However earnest the effort is, though, many Palestinians are set in their violent ways. A Palestinian official is quoted as saying, “I know Gandhi and his principles. But I also know my enemy very well” (Myre). In case you aren’t aware, the “enemy” he is referring to are the Israelis.

Transition from Body: Despite how inspiring the words and actions of Gandhi may be, it does take an inner desire for peace to truly make the dream come alive. In conclusion, I’d just like to restate a few points.

III. Conclusion

A. Restate Thesis: The manner in which Gandhi delivered this speech, as well as his carefully-chosen words, not only made an impact on his audience at that moment but also made an impact on audiences for decades to come.

B. Review of Main points: The social and political history of that time period greatly influenced the thought process of many Indians and the need for such a speech to be made. In his speech, Gandhi had to choose his words carefully and speak clearly and effectively in order to give meaning to them. Also, people like MLK Jr. and “The Gandhi Project” initiative, among many others, are inspired by this nonviolence stance and have taken steps to make changes with its help.

C. Decisive closing: I know that some say nonviolent resistance, in many different situations, is easier said than done. And that may very well be the case. But next time you come at a crossroads, just remember this quote by Gandhi: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” (The Quotations Page). Any Questions?

References:

American Rhetoric. “Gandhi”: Mr. Gandhi Advocates Policy of Nonviolence. 2001-2008. 1 Feb 2008. http://americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechgandhi1.html

Bode, Robert Allen. Gandhi’s Nonviolent Rhetorical Perspective: A Unique Strategy for Peace Communication. Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association. New Orleans, LA, November 3-6,1988. 2 March 2008. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED297389&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED297389

IMBD. The Internet Movie Database: Biography for Mahatma Gandhi. 1990-2008. http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0003987/bio. 29 Feb 2008.

Lal, Vinay. UCLA MANAS. The East India Company. 1998, 2007. 2 March 2008.

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/British/EAco.html

Modern World History. Patterns of Interaction, Telescoping the Times: The Age of Imperialism, 1850-1914. McDougal Littell, 1999. 29 Feb 2008. http://mclane.fresno.k12.ca.us/wilson98/Assigments/ImpCH11.html

Myre, Greg. The New York Times. On a Screen in the West Bank, Gandhi’s Message of Nonviolence. 7 April 2005. 2 March 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/07/international/middleeast/07gandhi.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=gandhi+nonviolence&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Simkin, John. Spartacus Educational. 2008. 2 March 2008. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkingML.htm

The Quotations Page. Quotations by Author: Mahatma Gandhi. 1994-2007. 2 March 2008. http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mahatma_Gandhi/

Zarefsky, David. Public Speaking: Strategies for Success (Special Edition for the Pennsylvania State University). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1996.

Visual Aid References:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yGllzwttUPc

http://education.vetmed.vt.edu/Curriculum/VM8054/Labs/Lab14/IMAGES/FINGERPRINT.jpg

YB - I really enjoyed listening to your comparison between MLK and Ghandi. I thought it was a great way for the audience to understand the importance of Ghandi world wide. Your transitions were smooth and I think the restatement of your points really summarized your speech. Good job!

Nate Scarbrough- Hey Maria. I have no complaints with your speech. You didn't seem nervous or anything. The whole thing flowed pretty much flawlessly. Congrats.

John Galvin- Maria, you had a great introduction which was interesting and helped show the development of your essay very well. You gave a really good background of the speech/Indian internal issues, which helped give the audience a very good base of knowledge. Your speech was very easy to follow, great job.

Scot Brown: Try not to hold the note cards. You said that this was based on Ghandi's real speech. If that is so, why not just do your analysis on Ghandi's speech, instead of the movie version. There can be value in looking at media representation, but we didn't really get anything out of this that we wouldn't have from the original other than a nice visual aid. And as we discussed in the Q&A section, the connection with the Palestinian situation is shaky at best. But I don't mean to be discouraging, this was still a good speech.