Oratory: Winning the Soul with Words

What do the great speeches of history have in common with a winning slam poem, an inspirational locker room speech, or a TEDTalk gone viral? Do the tools of persuasion change when the speaker is fictional? With guidance from Aristotle and Winston Churchill, we will apply the principles of rhetoric to a wide variety of speeches in which a highly-motivated speaker attempts to “win the soul” of the audience. In addition to analytical writing, students will deliver two short speeches of their own, completing an immersion into oratory designed to help them communicate with precision, empathy, and authority.