Article Title
Arrangement: Understanding the Ubiquity of Problem, Cause, Solution in the Persuasive Speech
Document Type
Public Speaking Events
Abstract
There is, in certain Christian circles, an old joke. In a Sun-day morning Sunday School class the teacher asks the following question: "What has short fur, a long bushy tail, climbs trees, and collects nuts?" The students immediately answer: "Jesus!"
Of course, this answer is ridiculous. Immediately following the question the class may think "squirrel!" or perhaps – the creative ones, "chipmunk!" However, before they can convince themselves to speak up and correctly answer the question, they think of the context. This is church; the answer must be "Jesus!"
Now, this paper is about Individual Events Competition, more specifically, "Arrangement: Understanding the Ubiq-uity of Problem, Cause, Solution in the Persuasive Speech." Here is the link: The problem in both the theoretical Sunday School classroom and the real Forensics Tournament is a lack of creativity, or a lack of freedom to think creatively, based on the students' surroundings and context.
This paper will examine the current state of the persuasive speech as practiced at competitive Individual Events tournaments before looking, historically, at how our predecessors in the rhetorical tradition - including Aristotle, Thomas Wilson, Cicero and Geoffrey of Vinsauf – viewed creativity. This creativity will be framed by the Canon of Arrangement. Finally, some suggestions will be made for alternatives to the current standard of Persuasive Speech giving - with the hope of spurring a meaningful conversation amongst the educators that will lead to a change in how our students approach this educational activity.
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Recommended Citation
Warner, Matthew
(2010)
"Arrangement: Understanding the Ubiquity of Problem, Cause, Solution in the Persuasive Speech,"
Proceedings of the National Developmental Conference on Individual Events: Vol. 5:
Iss.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/ndcieproceedings/vol5/iss1/5