A Word about Words & the Magic of Rhetoric | BRIght & Early, BRI’s Student Web Series

0:03 well hello again young people of the internet welcome to another episode of Brighton early the Bill of Rights Institute’s web series my name is Rachel Davis and humphreys I’m director of outreach of the Bill of Rights Institute I’m here with my fabulous colleagues Kirk and Gary hi so guys as we start off

0:23 every every one of our web series how are you doing what’s going on I’m doing okay you’ll notice that I did put on a tie today because I’m realizing suddenly but I’m publicly speaking in a way and I suddenly became aware of it and so I’m doing pretty well and I’m suddenly very

0:43 reflective how are you all doing yeah also reflective and in thinking about thinking about the things I’m hearing not only the things I’m reading lately and and how it is that different words are being used both because of my job at the Bill of Rights Institute but also just in things I’m hearing especially as things tend to be trending

1:06 toward opening up a little bit but how that’s being talked about and what what words are being used is all I think playing pulling heavily into those announcements and in that process yeah absolutely and I think what we’re what we’re looking at is you mentioned this idea of words and whenever I hear people talking about words I always think of

1:28 words words words which is this moment in Shakespeare where are in Hamlet where he’s asked what are you reading your highness and he’s just like words words words and there are a lot of words in our world right now that we’re not coming three months ago right the biggest one is obviously quarantine so

1:51 if you’re familiar if you’re not familiar with it do you guys know where the term quarantine comes from they do I mean you you guess kind of just within it right let me breaking it down something to do with an amount of time I and corn corn corn quorum is 40 right Quadro court takes like a magic number

2:13 42 when it comes it’s a real habits our remember that comes up a lot when it comes a time it’s true in the magic number forty I mean obviously has biblical origins and actually goes back further than that you have Moses on the mountain for forty days and forty nights you have Jesus doing things for forty days and forty nights and so that’s pretty common um but then it also came from a period when

2:34 they um so it was car antenna in its Hallion or quarantine in English but it also came from a time when I ships that were brought into into ancient Italy were known to have were known to have disease on them they would have to sit in harbor for forty days and so that

2:54 that term quarantine the forty days that you would sit in Harbor before you would be allowed in if you had disease on your ship is another another moment but the thing that I really like about this article is it doesn’t focus on the illness part the illness history but it actually focuses on the kind of you know meditative and reflective time that quarantines would often give people so

3:16 isolating yourself creates creates kind of meditative moment to think about how we’re communicating so we communicate a lot in modern society we have lots of words that we’re thinking about right now but I want to throw it over to Kirk to help us think through what the

3:36 modality of communication in the past has done to us so we have lots of different you know speeches and talks and and people interacting so I’m gonna toss it to you Kirk and tell us what you’ve been thinking about yeah so I so part of my job at the Bill of Rights Institute is making sure the things that we say are accurate which seems pretty

3:58 reasonable right and pretty straightforward but it actually gets really tricky and one thing that I find really interesting is the etymology of words which is a fancy word for saying where words come from and that’s what Rachel just walked us through with the etymology of the word quarantine is really interesting and as new things come up we have to make decisions about

4:18 how we use those words and that can have a lot of consequences because the way we use the words that we use is really important again on its face seems pretty obvious but it can be really tricky and if you can master how it is that you use language it can be really powerful and so one example that’s come up recently

4:39 obviously is the actual use of the word Cove in 19 so we are we are living through the cove in nineteen pandemic and so at Bri we had to make a decision about how we would use that word so we’ve seen it all over the place and so what does it really mean well Cove in

4:59 nineteen specifically is the disease that’s caused by the current strain of the corona virus right so Cove in nineteen is the disease SARS coat v2 is technically the virus that’s causing that disease and so SARS I believe is the family name for this particular strain of corona virus I’m not sure

5:22 exactly what each of these means I’m no scientist but but specifically talking about the virus this is what’s intended to be used corona viruses are actually a bunch of different types of viruses in the same family we often heard especially at the beginning that this was the novel coronavirus it’s not the only novel coronavirus but it’s

5:43 certainly novel now novel meaning do I think Ovid I was even interested missed that there’s actually an acronym built into this the corona virus disease move it in nineteen is the year in which this disease is occurring or I get I guess began occurring now it’s 2020 but it’s still nineteen yeah yeah it emerged in

6:05 2019 and so it’s interesting even here because you’ve probably read articles where people may refer to this as the corona virus well technically we’re actually as Gary likes to say that’s not that’s not exactly correct and for us when we’re talking about things we want to be exactly correct and that correctness and intentionality is

6:27 something that that individuals who give speeches particularly government officials and other public figures giving speeches are very intentional about the way that they construct their arguments and this goes into a bigger study about something called rhetoric which I think we’ll get into a little bit but I wanted to highlight so today May 8th is the

6:48 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe day almost Lincoln anthem that Allied forces it’s right allied forces defeated the Axis forces in Europe during the Second World War the war would obviously go on for a few more months I mean to August when Japanese Imperial forces were defeated but on June 6 1944 on

7:11 Dwight David Eisenhower who is this gentleman I’m in the picture uh gave this speech um he was the overall commander of Allied forces in Europe and he gave this speech on an issue this is a written order to his men on the eve of d-day or which is another etymology designated days it was the day the

7:31 landing was taking place and his word choices are really interesting because he frames up here in argument so you can read the speech and it’s really powerful and that’s one way of interpreting this but when you really zero in on some of his words you start to see what his intention was in writing this speech the way he did it so I’ve highlighted a few things here that I think are interesting

7:52 so since you were about to embark upon the Great Crusade toward which we have striven these many months so here he’s he’s showing this to be something that’s greater than one’s own and it’s not just an invasion and it’s not just individuals acting towards some end that is trying to overcome something but it’s a great crusade something that we’re all

8:12 building towards that we’re all a part of and at the end of this paragraph I think it’s interesting that he says we’re going to bring about the destruction of the German war machine the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe and security for ourselves in a free world and what’s interesting about that is what he’s not saying is that we’re fighting the Germans or the German people or that

8:35 were somehow going against a certain race or a faction of individuals what we’re going against is the German war machine and the oppressed peoples of Europe which includes those in German and so he’s setting this up as an argument that then this liberating force is coming in in freeing people who have been suffering under this horrific terror and in doing

8:56 he is adding sort of a rhetorical emphasis and saying that we are doing this not to conquer but to liberate and just a few other things you know he’s reassuring his men on the eve of this battle saying you know your enemy is well trained but so are you um you know and he says you know you’ve been trained you you know we’ve come a long way you

9:17 know he’s referencing history which is something that often happens in in these speeches he says but this is the year 1944 if you know your history of the Second World War German forces Nazi forces had many victories leading up to Tommy in 1940 1941 until they were finally beginning to start defeat being defeated and he says that he says much

9:38 has happened since the Nazi triumphs in 1940 and 1941 and and then he concludes by saying you know the tide has turned in the free men of the world are marching together toward victory again this disassembled miss this togetherness on that we are working together and that together we will overcome this evil foe which is Nazi Germany so I say all that

10:00 just to say that that these words are important and that listening to the speech hearing the speech is one thing but really picking it apart understanding what his intentions order can be a really powerful tool whenever you’re listening to to a speech whether it be by a military leader in the past or our governors and our representatives now made public leaders is that are helping us get through this virus

10:23 absolutely and I think that those speeches those speeches of the past again are a tool that we can use to practice analyzing what we’re hearing now right and so I’ll talk a little bit later in the episode about different speeches that I think are really exemplary that come from now but I want to I want to turn it over to to Gary

10:44 because you know in education and in our circles in schools there are lots of ways to engage with words and speeches and you in your career have been a part of a lot of those different ways to engage with words and speeches so tell us a little bit about that no absolutely yeah and and you as students out there whether or not right

11:05 now you’re still having some kind of version classes we’re even thinking back to clastic there probably were occasions where you you submitted writing quite a bit but there may have been also occasions where you presented in front of the class you may have even given a speech where you may have studied speeches and and and either in your English classes or your social studies

11:26 classes spoke through them aloud and that’s sort of the what I was thinking this pair is pretty well to our prior episode which I hope you watched but if you did it really focused on the art of writing and something this is this is another aspect of that that writing and as kirk was saying word choice is extremely important to all of this but

11:47 there’s also something about the public speaking aspect so you’re right not only when I was in high school was I on the Speech and Debate team or forensics if you said that in your class and yes I it is an amazing planet club if I may I plugged for that it was fun oh my god I wasn’t cool enough to be on the speech and all my friends were and it was very

12:11 fun but then when I was teaching went on to to coach it as well and so you really kind of again enhance your thought of how things are written and word choice and and the logic by which you you aren’t you’re making an argument or a statement or anything like that and then when you’re delivering it it’s a whole other thing and when Kirk when you were

12:34 just talking you there were two things I noticed one you mentioned the idea of rhetoric which is a very important powerful thing right it’s if there’s writing of course but then then the speaking aspect is something but then I also noticed in in General Eisenhower speech it’s a number of exclamation points the the way he structured how he was saying this again there’s something about saying it aloud that is really

12:55 important and so I know it is it is often said and I do think it’s true that public speaking is one of the scarier things they have measured stress levels and many say that getting up in front of someone and speaking particularly live can can be very can be very difficult but with to the two P is practice

13:20 preparation it sort of works itself out and as Rachel was saying as you were saying it’s if you look through history there are reasons some of them stay for a while eluding Richmond Virginia so if you are ever in Richmond I have highly recommend stopping by st. John’s Church on a day when they are

13:40 having one of the reenactments of Patrick Henry’s speeches because they’re very very powerful to watch they do them regularly I’m sure they will again I don’t know they’re doing them right now but I’m sure they will again and there’s something to it and it got me thinking about the idea of the power of looking at the way it’s written and the way it

14:02 said and as a matter of fact Bill of Rights Institute and I’m going to share my screen here has a bit on Patrick Henry and specifically his speeches some of the the lessons that we have and some of the activities we have really go into the analyzing the rhetoric part of it and the way he gave these speeches and I

14:22 really enjoy these I’m not gonna be giving this speech just now but I encourage you to take a look at it this was an excerpt about Liberty and Empire alright I’ll do the beginning is this if we admit this consolidated government it will be it will be because we like a great splendid one some way or other we

14:43 must be a great and mighty empire we must have an army and a navy and a number of things when the American spirit was in its youth the language of America was different Liberty sir was the primary object but now sir the American spirit assisted by the ropes and chains of consolidation is about to convert this country into a powerful and

15:05 mighty empire and I’m that’s just an excerpt but again there’s a couple of things that go into there one word choice very important and in this section that we have we get into the the word choice the vocabulary there you see below you know the exact word you choose but sometimes in the variation of the words but then there’s the delivery of it and what what may look good on page

15:26 may change when you’re deliberative and so if you are practicing this yourself and preparing for this yourself think about um now a lot of these amazing speeches unfortunately we do have to see Britain because they were at a time before recording but there are a lot of examples and exemplars of amazing speeches in American history that you

15:47 can see recordings of and we’re very fortunate to have them so so sometimes just speeches you’ve heard of it’s good to actually hear I mean these are some this is a listers kind of generated from some of the more popular ones but again there’s something about actually hearing it straight through or hearing the

16:07 important pieces that are incredibly powerful when from the people themselves so Martin Luther King Junior’s I have a dream speech you may have heard sections of it but listening to it actually hearing the way to deliberate is very powerful as is FDR’s Pearl Harbor address or Barbara Jordans speech on the articles of impeachment incredibly and

16:28 you can find these throughout the Internet in lots of different places at as a as a gen Xer myself when President Reagan spoke of the Challenger address the timing of that was so so important because we were looking for something and he had just the right thing at just the right time to say that not only

16:50 informed but also really comforted and helped fannie lou hamer freedom summer is three and a half minutes long and one of the most powerful public speeches General General MacArthur’s farewell address a lot of important things that again are the way they’re delivered and what is said is really important so so

17:10 for this particular episodes observe and instead of journal maybe speak aloud think about these things what are some speeches that you’ve made the time to listen to lately has there been a time we say now I’m gonna catch this person say this through a live stream or on the internet or something like that or even on the news um what are some things that

17:31 are really powerful when they’re said in addition to being written um and you yourself whether or not you you presented in class yet or or think you’re going to at some point or made join speech in debate how do you prepare to give an important speech I bet there’s preparation that goes into it and it’s really good to stop to consider what

17:51 word choice is how you’re delivering it and how you put yourself in that place to speak so some things to think about absolutely I think one of the I mean so young people are talking all the time to each other and right now it’s probably more mediated through text but you’re doing tic TOCs are you doing Instagram

18:12 stories or you’re you’re using your faculties of speech making in really unique and interesting ways and what these models can do for you is provide you with some frameworks for how to think about how you’re telling the story is that you’re that you’re telling one of the most traditional ways of thinking

18:32 about how to of how we’re telling stories is with this idea of classical rhetoric so we said the word rhetoric which is which is how you how you choose to give to give argument through speeches and they always have these three components and so anytime you’re thinking about giving a vocal verbal

18:54 presentation think about like what is it I’m trying to communicate what’s the logic what is the ethos or like why am I the person to tell this and then what’s the emotional impact of the story I’m telling so eat logos ethos pathos there are a million versions on the internet this actually comes Gary from the New York improv theaters about a different

19:17 episode where we talked about improv quite a bit and its importance but the other thing to do is to recognize that there are so many right now amazing models of speech making and your ability to be critical about those features that are being given and and what is the logos ethos and pathos what are the rhetorical tools being used how are

19:37 these leaders asking us to do what they’re asking us to do and what effect is that having on us is it an emotional appeal are they are they is it a logical appeal so Governor Cuomo in New York City has been making a lot of waves because he has been giving lots of speeches as New York

19:59 has weathered the crisis one of the speeches that got a lot of a lot of traction was the State of the State speech in in Minnesota that Governor Tim waltz gave it was this really engaging speech to to invite the community to come together and then most recently I think this was just last week president george w bush gave a speech online so he

20:22 published a speech calling for care and compassion during the pandemic but it very much is a speech in the same way that speeches have been given throughout history it’s a it’s an exhortation to come together for a purpose with some really interesting ethos pathos and

20:43 logos so as you’re listening to all of these things as you’re exploring all of these ideas no analyzing them critically from no matter who they’re coming from is part of what allows us to not only become better speech man makers ourselves but better citizens so one of my favorite quotes about rhetoric is the

21:04 idea that rhetoric is lawful magic how we choose to interact with each other creates an a creates a experience in the person who listens and receives what we say so we can make them feel things and we can make them experience things with our words and that’s the kind of magic and it’s a very powerful magic and I’m

21:26 gonna tweak something and say with great magic comes great responsibility I’ll take that from spider-man becoming very Doctor Strange but that that there is a responsibility when we make choices about our speech because our speech has

21:48 wide-ranging effects and you never know where it’s gonna go or who it’s gonna touch so make good decisions thank you for being here please we are going to continue these episodes through mar through the end of May so we still want to hear what do you want us to talk about how do you want to think about these things what’s valuable in what we’re doing when we do these episodes

22:10 for this web series so reach out to us on Twitter on Facebook on Instagram on YouTube and we will get back to you guys to have any thoughts for the for the young people of the internet now I think that was the perfect sort of approach to say we’d love to hear from you if you’ve taken a few moments to to listen to us speak then we would love to hear from you as

22:32 well so this is this exchange there’s a value that we are giving to this kind of connection so I think yeah we’d love to hear from you yeah and I was just gonna say you know when we mean critical we just mean in the sense of a critic so speaking of Entomology but in the sense of carefully analyzing to understand

22:53 better so critical doesn’t mean criticism which it could but that’s another word but critical just means being attentive to the information that we’re hearing and receiving and responding and so we will critically evaluate the feedback that you send us in order to criticize ourselves do I probably make this matter well that’s

23:16 right spirit of in the spirit of words make good choices enjoy yourselves love those around you and thank you for tuning in we’ll see you next time all right thanks thanks