Optimism In Times of Social Division and Racial Conflict

Great speeches offering practical solutions, optimism for the future and moral clarity can unify and motivate people in times of social conflict and racial division. Subsequently, an understanding of people and the world is developed, and a relationship between the voice and the audience is created. This profound level of optimism and hope can be seen in JFK’s Inaugural Address, and Jessie Street’s Is It to Be Back to the Kitchen? A relative distinctive voice is also significantly found in Anthony Burgess’ classic novel, A Clockwork Orange.

The compelling speeches display a significant level of hope and optimism by creating a distinctive, reasoning and humble voice that addresses issues of inequality and racial conflict; and by outlining their intention of unifying and motivating the nation in order to create change and a more prosperous future. This allows a greater understanding of people and the world, and can be compared to the ever-changing voice portrayed in A Clockwork Orange. John F. Kennedy once said, “I am not the Catholic candidate for President.

I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President, who happens also to be a Catholic. ” In this single sentence, he uses a method of Aristotle’s persuasive speech making. One of the greatest examples of using rhetorical strategies is indeed John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address of 1961. JFK uses diction, syntax, and Aristotle’s method of persuasion in his inaugural address that not only made it uniquely his own, but made it undoubtedly one of the best, emotion-tugging speeches ever . He displays certain distinctive qualities in his voice that provide a unifying and motivating sense of hope.

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Kennedy appears to be humble and reasoning, and offers practical solutions and optimism for the future of the nation through various discourses to establish his “good character”. As Kennedy was a powerful and authoritative figure of that time, he was able to create a profoundly influential and famous speech that not only captured the audience’s attention, but allowed a sense of hope, optimism and moral clarity in a difficult time. He does this through his range of discourses throughout the speech, including religious and cultural.

For example, Kennedy states that “the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. ” By saying this, he suggests that “God” is not a religious stranger, but rather a trustworthy, like-minded leader. This technique opens the minds of listeners and allows his audience to be influenced and lead by his powerful directional voice. Through this masterful and influential voice, he both motivates and his audience on an emotional level and reassures them as to the reasonableness of his call to action on an intellectual level.

This opens a greater and deeper understanding of the world and the way in which directional and influential voices allow the world to remain optimistic and become unified in a time of social conflict and racial division. Similarly, opposite techniques are used in Jessie Street’s “Is It to be Back to the Kitchen? ” are used to achieve a similar outcome- through her influence and distinctive voice. In comparison to JFK’s Inaugural Address, in Jessie Street’s “Is It to be Back to the Kitchen? a distinctive voice occurs, in which Street addresses the nation in a much more straight-forward and uncomplicated way. This is a significantly powerful yet excessively prosaic speech that both unifies the nation, and offers a sense of hope and optimism in a time of social conflict and racial division. The strong and highly influential views of Street are conveyed through her distinctive unifying voice, and her ability to convey her message on the level of her listeners without seeming condescending or superior.

Street's distinctive voice is highly prosaic, and possesses a somewhat conversational quality, that allows her to convey her powerful message at a deeply personal and casual level, that is straight forward and easy to understand. She also augments this by using rhetorical questions and repetition of questioning, and by addressing her audience directly. This applies throughout the entire speech. For example, when Street asks “Do you remember that one of the first things that the Nazis did when they came to power was to put the women out of the professions; out of the factories? or “Don’t you agree? ” not only is Street directly addressing her audience to reach them on a personal level, she is also using excessively prosaic language to come to terms with her audience and level with them in a reasoning way. By using this significantly prosaic and reasoning language, we are able to identify ways in which a message can be conveyed through everyday conversation, rather than by giving a highly thought-out and eloquent speech.

Similarly, the colloquial yet unusual speech of A Clockwork Orange is highly distinctive, and Alex’s vileness in A Clockwork Orange underlines the theme that human beings, no matter how depraved, shouldn’t be deprived of their freedom of self-determination. The State’s destruction of Alex’s ability to make his own moral choices represents a greater evil than any of Alex’s crimes, since turning Alex into an automaton ultimately sanctions the notion that human nature is dispensable.

Alex truly grows as a human being only in the last chapter, after the government removes his conditioning and he can see the error of his ways for himself, without the prompting of an external, controlling force. In contradiction to previous points made, this restriction and deprivation of voice In conclusion, when composers use distinctive voices in their texts they allow us to better understand significant issues in the world and the people in the world who are involved in these issues, which is the nation as a whole.

Great speeches offering practical solutions, optimism for the future and moral clarity can unify and motivate people in times of social conflict and racial division. Subsequently, an understanding of people and the world is developed, and a relationship between the voice and the audience is created. This can be seen clearly in JFK’s Inaugural Address, and Jessie Street’s Is It to be Back to the Kitchen? I is also highly relevant in Anthony Burgess’ classic novel A Clockwork Orange. These texts allow us to significant issues and the world and understand people and the world through the use of distinctive voices.

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