{"id":148,"date":"2018-09-21T09:26:01","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T13:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/?p=148"},"modified":"2018-09-21T09:26:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T13:26:01","slug":"handbook-of-the-war-for-public-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/2018\/09\/21\/handbook-of-the-war-for-public-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Handbook of the War for Public Speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The National Catholic Forensics League has very clear (although often unspoken) rules for those hoping to succeed in the category of Original Oratory. Having competed in the NCFL for four years, I know these rules inside and out, and the first thing that I thought when I picked up the National Security League\u2019s \u201cHandbook of the War for Public Speakers\u201d was <\/span>oh, my god, they\u2019re following all of the rules<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rule Number One is to start with a quote, usually from a respected or well-known person. The Handbook\u2019s first page after the title contains a selection of political rhetoric from Abraham Lincoln that stresses the value of American freedom and the unfortunate necessity of sometimes having to fight for it (Hart 2). Although Lincoln spoke of a war that took place fifty years prior and within American borders, the NSL nevertheless appropriates his words to lend authority to their argument regarding the present war in Europe. Additionally, as a good orator would, the editors refer back to Lincoln\u2019s gloomy prognosis about the inevitability of the war when they make their claim about the justice and necessity of entering into WWI (Hart 2). The succeeding chapters of the handbook provide further sources of quotes and evidence to lend credibility to an orator\u2019s argument.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rule Number 2 of the NCFL is to provide a roadmap for the listener of what the speaker intends to cover. The editors make clear that they have two main goals in publishing the handbook and writing its introduction: to provide an introduction to the pro-war standpoint and to enable the education of the \u201ccitizens of the Republic\u201d regarding the importance of going to war (Hart 3). They elaborate on the first point by placing the Handbook in the context of other volumes which the NSL plans to publish, giving an idea of the vast scope of the organization\u2019s propaganda activities. In the second case, they appropriate the progressive idea that, as Kennedy writes, \u201csocial change should come about primarily through education and the appeal to people\u2019s enlightened, better selves\u201d (Kennedy 47). Hart and Lovejoy\u2019s language has deep parallels to Kennedy\u2019s when the former pair writes about \u201cinforming the understanding [and] \u2026 awakening the moral vision and the moral passion, of the entire people\u201d (Hart 3).<\/span><\/p>\n

Rule Number 3 is that every speech should have, aside from a central argument, a theme following through the whole. This short essay\u2019s theme is patriotism. By constantly evoking the need to appeal to \u201ccitizens of the Republic,\u201d \u201cevery honest and loyal citizen,\u201d \u201call Americans deserving of the name,\u201d etc., the editors suggest the pressing nature of this issue for the American psyche (Hart 3-4). The U.S., Hart and Lovejoy suggest, has been \u201cforced\u201d to enter the war on the part of all mankind due to its status as an upholder of justice and human rights. The strong appeal to American values such as freedom and justice calls to mind present-day accusations that those who kneel during the national anthem are not \u201ctrue patriots\u201d and do not show proper support for the U.S. military. Patriotism, it seems, has always lent itself well to militant causes.<\/span><\/p>\n

By following these rules, the Handbook provides in its introduction an example to help guide its readers when they eventually speak to their own audiences. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Catholic Forensics League has very clear (although often unspoken) rules for those hoping to succeed in the category of Original Oratory. Having competed in the NCFL for four years, I know these rules inside and out, and the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4162,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/greatwarssir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}