Speech 2 Comments:

Alex Franklin:

Let me just say that Imagine is one of my favorite songs ever so the fact that you played the video clip in class was amazing! Anyways, I really enjoyed your speech. Not only was it informative, but it was entertaining! I also thought you did a really good job summarizing the main points in your introduction. The only criticism I really have is that sometimes your hands would bend and twist the index cards while you were speaking, which was sort of distracting. Overall, great job!

Scot Brown: I would suggest not holding the note cards, and not having so much description and quotation from the work, and having more analysis. Also you claimed that this song was successful in it message, but I wonder if just because it was a commercially successful song, does that mean that his message has been successful, or just the song?

CAS 100C

Jones

Speech 2

I. “We are writing in the sky instead of on paper, that's our song… lift your eyes and look up in the sky, there's our message.”

A. This is how John Lennon described Imagine in May of 1979.

B. Last time I talked to you about why Lennon wrote Imagine and its tremendous impact.

C. Since then, I have done more research and found some great sources, so with this new information, today I will go deeper into the song, discuss its meaning, and analyze the devices Lennon used that made Imagine so effective and successful.

1. Before I go further into the specifics of his song, I want to show you a clip of the song to make sure you are all familiar with it and so you can get the feel of the song.

a. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wp2Qv3VEiK0&feature=related

II. Wasn’t that relaxing and peaceful?

A. The combination of the lyrics and melody make people feel at ease, which makes it easier to imagine living a peaceful life.

1. The music behind the words is definitely a stylistic device that Lennon put a lot of time into.

2. Since it is music, an obvious device used by Lennon is rhythm.

3. Other devices used were imagery of a peaceful world, and parallelism by saying “Imagine…” at the beginning of most phrases.

B. He also chooses his language carefully. He uses simple words and short sentences that everyone would be able to understand because in a world of peace, we would all understand each other.

1. Lennon spent time thinking about these devices because, as you can see from the clip, he is very passionate about what he is singing about.

III. That passion made him as well-known as a peace activist, as he was a musician. Since he is so well known and famous, he is easily able to portray this passion for peace and influences others to feel the same way, which brings us to ethos.

A. His celebrity status makes people look up to him and want to emulate his values and politics.

1.As Neil Strauss wrote in a 2001 New York Times Article, “ He just

wanted to be a good example, which he sometimes was.”

B. He was well regarded, so people trusted him and knew he had well thought out, good intentions.

1. Therefore, he was able to relate to his audience through this song in a very effective manner.

IV. Another reason that he related well to his audience is that they were all going through the same turmoil in the world at the same time, so he truly understood the pathos of the situation.

A. He and his generation of fans were active in the anti-war movements.

1. Therefore, he is able to make emotional appeals that everyone can relate to.

B. He is appropriate and sincere, and clear in communicating to his audience how we should think about war and peace.

1. As Yoko Ono said in May of 1971, “Total communication equals peace. That is our aim. That is what artists can do for the world!”

a. They communicate their views of peace very well in a short excerpt from an interview in late 1969.

i. http://youtube.com/watch?v=CbKsgaXQy2k

V. As you heard, Lennon and Yoko Ono describe peace as a world without frustration and violence.

A. Imagine’s lyrics are trying to help us imagine this peace by envisioning a world without the things that cause so much friction.

B. This also explains why in the first clip of the song that I showed you, they were in a room that was all white.

1. The white room was representing the pureness of peace, and how pure the world would be without the things that cause war, bloodshed, frustration and violence.

C. These views and logical appeals bring us to the logos of the song; the specific content and what Lennon is trying to say.

1. In the song, one of the things Lennon asks us to do is to imagine a world with no religion, and also with “no hell below us and above us only sky.”

2. Many people criticize this point saying that religion brings people peace.

a. However, Lennon described what he meant by these lyrics in 1980.

i. “It is the concept of positive prayer Imagine is saying that. If you can imagine a world of peace, with no denominations of religion -
not without religion but without this 
"my-god-is-bigger-than-your-god" thing, 
 then it can be true.” ii. Basically, he’s saying that religion is good but that people should not compete for their religions or make war over whose religion is the right one.

3. John believed that possessions also caused friction in the world, so this is another thing he asks us to imagine being without.

a. However, it is not just physical possessions that he is referring to.

b. In 1980 he wrote, “Possessions are ideas. 
 Most people are choked to death by concepts and ideas that they carry around with them; usually not their own but their parents' and society's. 
 Those are the possessions you've got to get rid of to get through the eye of the needle.”

c. Built in ideas are the possessions Lennon thought people needed to throw out in order to obtain a life of peace.

4. “Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do… nothing to kill or die for… no need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man.”

a. By these lyrics, Lennon means that we should not be divided but that instead, “the world should live as one”.

b. If the world did live as one, if “all the people shared all the world”, then there would not be greed or power struggles or hunger, and nothing to kill each other or die for.

5. Many people dispute Lennon’s lyrics in Imagine, saying that his views are naïve.

a. Many say that without countries and government there would be no order.

b. Many argue that without possessions there would be no progress.

c. Lennon knows that many people think he is naive, which is represented by the chorus of the song, “you may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”

d. As Yoko Ono said in a 2001 interview, “Imagine all the people living life in peace. I think that that’s a very strong thing to do. It might be a very controversial thing to do. Because it’s a very powerful thing to do.”

VI. The success of this song proves that it was a very powerful thing to do.

A. Though we are not yet living in a world of peace, Lennon’s message was very effective.

1. Through stylistic devices and simple language, his fame and earned global respect, his passion and understanding and his thought out, heartfelt arguments about how to obtain peace, he makes people imagine all the people living life in peace every time this song plays.

2. A review of the song in 1997 best summarizes its success. "Imagine, is tender and beautiful, but not maudlin or lugubrious. Lennon invites the listener to find the better world we all seek within ourselves; in finding it, he says, we could change the world. A marvelous song.”

Bibliography

"John Lennon- Imagine." Lyrics007. 3 Feb. 2008 <http://www.lyrics007.com/John%20Lennon%20Lyrics/Imagine%20Lyrics.html>.

John Lennon: Imagine Peace. Perf. John Lennon, Yoko Ono. You Tube. 1 Mar. 2008 <http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wp2Qv3VEiK0&feature=related>.

"John Lennon Biography." John Lennon, the Official Site. 3 Feb. 2008 <http://www.johnlennon.com/html/biography.aspx>.

Lennon, John. Interview. You Tube. 1969. 1 Mar. 2008 <http://youtube.com/watch?v=CbKsgaXQy2k>.

Ono, Yoko. "Imagine Peace." Imagine Peace. 2 Mar. 2008. 1 Mar. 2008 .

"Reviews: Shaved Fish." Bagism. 21 Mar. 1997. 1 Mar. 2008 <http://www.bagism.com/reviews/shaved-fish-reviews.html>.

Strauss, Neil. "Music; Waiting for Our John Lennon." The New York Times 30 Sept. 2001. 3 Feb. 2008 <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E7D7123AF933A0575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2>.

Carolyn Graham

CAS100C

Jones

Speech 1

I. Take a second to imagine. Imagine a world with no countries, no possessions, and no religion.

A. This is what John Lennon asks us to do in one of the most popular songs of all time, “Imagine.”

1. Released in the United States in October of 1971, “Imagine” was immediately embraced as an anthem of peace.

B. This song has always been one of my personal favorites; however, before researching the history surrounding the popular song, I did not understand the impact it has had on the world.

1. I now realize why the song was written, for whom, and how.

II. The Viet Nam War, which lasted from 1959 to 1975, was “complicated conflict rife with moral ambiguity,” according to Jason Aaron who wrote a book about the conflict.

A. Confusion and protest broke out in America especially among young students.

B. The Viet Nam War was the first war to be broadcast, showing gruesome images of violence and death.

1. A movement for peace was the reaction to this controversial war.

2. Hence, the hippie movement, the movement known for protests against contemporary society, colorful clothing, long hair, sex, drugs, music, peace, and love.

3. The young protestors embodied the spirit of idealism, and so did John Lennon.

C. John Lennon made it clear that he was not in support of the war.

D. After leaving the Beatles, he, with Yoko Ono at his side, became leaders of the anti-war movement.

1. According to John Lennon’s official site, they even had two week long ‘bed-ins’ for peace, when the two of them stayed in bed and talked about peace, urging people to “give peace a chance”.

2. “Imagine” was written as a plea for peace, and John Lennon sang it at many political protests.

3. Neil Strauss described Lennon’s lyrics in “Imagine” in an article in the New York Times on September 30, 2001. “He didn’t demand peace now; all he asked the listener to do was to imagine peace or to give it a chance.”

a. The song served its purpose.

E. “Imagine” is the most popular anti-war song written by Lennon, and has been described as an anthem of that generation.

1. He wanted the nation to see his vision, accept it, and join in the fight for peace, and he used his fame and his musical talent to do so.

III. As one of four members of the most popular bands of all time, John Lennon’s listeners and fan base was huge. Beatles’ fans mostly consisted of teenagers and young adults, especially girls who went ga-ga for the Beatles.

A. In February of 1964, a New York Times headline read “3,000 screaming teenagers greet the Beatles.”

1. Those 3000 young, screaming fans were only the beginning.

B. Even those who did not consider themselves Beatles maniacs, could not escape hearing and becoming familiar with the Beatles in the 60s and 70s.

C. Though Lennon’s split from The Beatles was very controversial, most Beatles’ fans continued to listen to and support John in his solo career.

D. Lennon was always the most intellectual of the Beatles, and his primary fans became intellectual, free-spirited protestors for peace.

E. By the time Lennon was shot and killed when he was just forty years old, he had become a legend.

1. His success with the Beatles, his amazing talent, his heart-wrenching lyrics, and his true belief in a peaceful utopia keep him and his songs alive and well known to this day.

2. “Imagine” is timeless and I think that people of all races, genders, and ages will be listening to it for decades to come.

3. Therefore, the audience continues to grow every day.

IV. Because Lennon was so forward and open regarding his beliefs, there were not many constraints on what he could and could not say to his audience.

A. However, one constraint would be that his words were in the form of a song, so he had to have something catchy, a chorus, and fit it all to a melody in order for people to grasp it.

B. In my opinion, another constraint is that in order to make the song timeless, so that it could represent peace in all times of need, he could not be too specific to the situation in Viet Nam, and instead focus on his vision of peace for the world.

V. John Lennon translated this vision of peace effortlessly through a beautiful melody, in the midst of war and turmoil.

A. Thanks to John Lennon, to this day, people are still singing about and imagining “living life in peace.”

.

Bibliography

Arrant, Chris. "The Other Side Offers Both Sides of the Vietnam War." Publisher's Weekly. 18 July 2006. 4 Feb. 2008 <http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6354135.html>.

Gardner, Paul. "3000 Fans Greet British Beatles." New York Times Online 08 Feb. 1964. 04 Feb. 2008 <http://www.time.com/time/columnist/corliss/article/0,9565,588789- 3,00.html>.

"John Lennon Biography." John Lennon, the Official Site. 3 Feb. 2008 <http://www.johnlennon.com/html/biography.aspx>.

Strauss, Neil. "Music; Waiting for Our John Lennon." New York Times Online 30 Sept. 2001. 3 Feb. 2008 <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E7D7123AF933A0575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2>.

"That Old Feeling: Meet the Beatles." TIME 7 Feb. 2007. 4 Feb. 2008 <http://www.time.com/time/columnist/corliss/article/0,9565,588789-3,00.html>.

Comments:

Quan,Zou: Your topic is pretty cool by using a song for this speech. You have performed well and your extensions towards the song are brilliant (viet-war, Beattles..) The song was great and your speech was also wonderful!

Joe Belack: Great topic. Your info was all very well thought out. Speed and volume were good as well. Overall, very well done.

Maria Martin: I agree, your topic was really unique and interesting. Your speech flowed really well with each point you made, and you had a really catching intro and conclusion. You may want to work on eye contact a bit but other than that you did a great job.

Scot Brown: Your speech presented an analysis of a lot of the content of the song, something that may have been better saved for the next speech. The Vietnam War was was discussed, along with the pleas for peace in this song, and the youth/student movements, but it would have been useful to have some talk of the where Lennon wanted to place the song in the broader sense, beyond the war in Vietnam. And to talk about what other influence the peace movements and Lennon had at this time.