Contemporary Public Address
Sample Journal Questions

1. What are the similarities between Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Pericles’ Funeral Oration, and Reagan’s Eulogy for the Challenger Seven? Discuss these similarities using any of the concepts we’ve referred to in class.

2. Select any of the speeches we have read up to this point in class and identify which of Campbell’s rhetorical purposes it fulfills. Be sure to define your terms and defend your answer with examples. (You may repeat this entry for up to three speeches.)

3. Select any of the speeches we have read up to this point in class and argue for its meaningfulness by using Rod Hart’s guidelines. Be sure to define your terms and defend your answer with examples. (You may repeat this entry for three speeches.)

4. Select any of the speeches we have read up to this point in class and argue for which of the functions of rhetoric according to Rod Hart. Be sure to define your terms and defend your answer with examples. (You may repeat this entry for three speeches.)

5. Why does Campbell make the distinction between rhetoric and a “rhetorical act”? Why is this distinction important? To answer this question, be sure that you define your terms and provide examples from any of the speeches that we’ve read.

6. Select any of the speeches we have read thus far and use it to illustrate Carey’s definition of ritual communication. Be sure to define your terms and defend your answer with examples.

7. Select any of the speeches we have read up to this point in class and identify the rhetorical “strategies” that Campbell outlines in “Elements of Descriptive Analysis.” Be sure to define your terms and defend your answer with examples. (You may repeat this entry for up to three speeches.)

8. Select any of the speeches we have read up to this point in class and identify the speaker’s tone by identifying the attitude to audience and the attitude to the subject. Be sure to define your terms and defend your answer with examples. (You may repeat this entry for up to three speeches.)

9. Select any of the speeches we have read up to this point in class and identify the speaker’s position as outlined by Smith. Be sure to define your terms and defend your answer with examples. (You may repeat this entry for three speeches.)

10. Select any of the speeches we have read up to this point in class and analyze the speaker’s major and supporting claims using Toulmin’s model. Evaluate the arguments. Are they adequately supported? Are the warrants acceptable and persuasive? Are the arguments effective? (You may repeat this entry for three speeches.)

11. Compare and contrast the way that Smith and Campbell ask us to analyze speeches. Which approach is better and why? Be sure to define your terms and defend your answer with examples.

12. Select any of the speeches we have read up to this point in class and identify the rhetorical situation involved, including the exigence, the audience, and any constraints. How well did the speaker address the rhetorical situation? Be sure to define your terms and illustrate your answer using examples from the speech. You may repeat this entry for up to three speeches.

13. Select any of the speeches we have read up to this point in class and evaluate it according to Smith’s discussion of ethics and rhetoric. Be sure to define your terms and illustrate your answer using examples from the speech. You may repeat this for up to three speeches.