Analysis of a meaningful speech and its rhetorical techniques

¶ … Speech

Eulogy for Robert F. Kennedy by Edward M. Kennedy

Why did you choose this speech? The speech by Senator Edward Kennedy was brilliantly written as a dramatic and emotional salute to his brother. But it was also a positive projection of why "moral courage" was needed in the world. The country went through years of protests against the Vietnam War; Bobby Kennedy had won the 1968 Oregon and California Democratic Primaries and there was hope that he could become president and end the war.

What tools does the speaker use to get the point across? Edward Kennedy used colorful, literary-level narrative as he mapped out a future where "…each of us can work to change a small portion of events," adding that "…each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others…he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope." Edward poignantly linked his brother's progressive vision for peace and justice with the need for a more peaceful, just world.

THREE: What did you learn from this speech? I learned that in a time of grieving over the death of a future leader, a brother can stand up and get the world's attention with a powerful speech that adds a strong sense of hope to a gloomy moment. "Some men see things as they are and say why…I dream things that never were and say why not," Edward quoted his brother, as an ending to his eulogy. I understood after reading and hearing this speech why many people have said that there is a Kennedy "mystique" -- there is something very special about the Kennedy family even though they seem to have been involved in one tragedy after another.

FOUR: Which lines or phrases are most meaningful to you? Why? Edward insisted that his brother "…need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life." Bobby should simply be remembered as "…a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it." This was a powerful description of a brother and a national leader and that line applies to a good friend of mine who died in June.

FIVE: What situation would you be in where you would quote from this speech? If I were to make a presentation at my friend's memorial service, I would definitely quote from the Kennedy speech. My friend was also a "good and decent man, who saw wrong" and tried to make it right and who tried to help those who were suffering from illness and injury.

Three main reasons why mothers should stay at home to raise their children

There are strong reasons why the mother of a new baby should continue to be in the workplace; these are difficult times for families and being financially solvent is vital for a family that is raising one or more children. However there are also a number of good reasons why mothers should be in the home when the baby is very young, and I will review three of those reasons.

The first reason -- and probably the most commonly expressed reason -- is that in the first three years of a baby's life its developing brain is learning many important things while it is doubling in size. Hence, those three years are vitally important for a baby's initial absorption of information, knowledge and socialization. When the baby's mother is there to nurture the child, read to the child, take the child on walks in a stroller, and give constant love to the child, a strong bond is developed as the brain is also developing. The level of "fulfillment" a mother gives to her child, and the amount of time she spends with the child "…are the biggest components to his intellectual and emotional development and to his ability to succeed in the world" (Zamora, 2009).

Secondly, when mother is home with a baby she has opportunities to bond with other mothers that are raising babies in the neighborhood or mothers that are friends living elsewhere in the community. Mothers with children about the same age have a wealth of information to share with each other about the idiosyncrasies of infants, about the proper medical care for very young children, about what their pediatricians are recommending -- and when two or more mothers take their babies for stroller walks together, there is a combined sharing of joy, hope and health that cannot be found elsewhere. A baby is the future living in the now, and mothers seem to know this better than fathers.