Analyzing Sarah Palin Speech

Warfield AP Junior English Analyzing Sarah Palin VP Acceptance Speech http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/sarah-palin-rnc-conventio_n_123703.html We will watch a short clip from Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. As we watch, consider and take notes on the following rhetorical elements: 1. What is the context of the speech? (occasion or time and place)

2. What is/are the purpose(s) of the speech? (goal that the speaker wants to achieve)

3. What is the persona of the speaker? (Aristotle wrote of the speaker’s persona, referring to the character the speaker creates when he or she speaks.) How does Palin present herself? Give a couple examples that reveal this persona.

4. What are some assumptions about her audience that Sarah Palin makes? Give examples that reveal her assumptions about her audience’s values and knowledge of the context in which she speaks.

Warfield AP Junior English Analyzing Sarah Palin VP Acceptance Speech 5. How does Palin appeal to ethos? How does she establish credibility and trustworthiness with her audience? Give at least two examples.

6. What are the shared values between speaker and audience and how does Palin establish these shared values?

7. How does Palin appeal to logos or reason? Think about specific details, examples, facts, etc. that she uses. Give a few examples.

8. Does Palin use any counterarguments? What are they?

9. How does Palin appeal to pathos or emotion? Give several examples.

Warfield AP Junior English Analyzing Sarah Palin VP Acceptance Speech Analyzing Humor: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/ 1. What is the context of the SNL skit?

2. What does the skit assume the audience knows about the context? What does the skit assume about the audience’s values? Give specific examples.

3. Satire aims to point out or expose flaws or weaknesses in its target. In this skit, there seem to be at least 3 targets. What are some flaws or weaknesses that this skit attempts to expose? Hillary Clinton

Sarah Palin

4. Is this skit rhetorically effective? Why or why not?

Politics/ Media/ Society