English121 Writing vs Presenting

To help us understand more of the purpose and approach to the multimodal Final Project (the presentation), I want us to spend some time on analyzing both a written and a performed speech. For this, I’ve chosen two powerful Presidential addresses in American History, President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address from 1961 and President Ronald Reagan’s speech following the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1986. NOTE: THESE ARE NOT SOURCES FOR THE ESSAY. THIS IS NOT THE TOPIC OF THE ESSAY. These are simply resources we are using to analyze written techniques versus performed techniques. Written Speech: President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address (Links to an external site.) 1/20/1961 Performed Speech: President Ronald Reagan’s Challenger Disaster Speech 1/28/1986 President Ronald Reagan’s Challenger Disaster Speech (Links to an external site.) Initial Post For your initial post, do not enter them in a single paragraph!!! I want you to number these and answer them individually, in the order they are given. For each number, aim for a response of at least 3 fully developed sentences. 1. Give your first impression of President Kennedy’s written inaugural address. What stood out most to you? Did you find the speech persuasive? Why or why not? 2. What techniques do you see in President Kennedy’s written address (for example, emotion, repetition, tone)? Provide an example of a specific appeal he makes or a strategy he tries to use. 3. Give your first impression of President Reagan’s spoken address from the Oval Office. What stood out most to you? did you find the speech persuasive? Why or why not? 4. What techniques do you see in President Reagan’s spoken address (for example, emotion, repetition, tone)? Provide an example of a specific appeal he makes or a strategy he tries to use. 5. Finally, examine the two selections in conjunction with one another. Which did you find more appealing? Why? Do you think Reagan’s performed speech was able to persuade more than Kennedy’s written speech? Why or why not? Response Post For this week’s response post, we have one small extra step. Now that you’ve completed the initial post, I want you to watch some pieces of the video of President Kennedy’s Inaugural Address. It’s 15 minutes long, but you don’t need to watch the entire speech. I want you to watch a few bits and pieces of it and follow along with the written text of it. If you want to watch all of it, you absolutely can: President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address (Links to an external site.) President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address Find a classmate’s post and respond to it now that you’ve watched some of the above video. Do you think their notes on President Kennedy’s written speech hold up or remain true? Why or why not? What’s the main difference you see between the written speech and the video of it? Aim for a response of at least 5 sentences here where you go deep in comparing your classmate’s ideas on the written speech versus your analysis of the performed speech.