hr3 ELA12 for america’s sake
Read the adaptation of remarks made by Bill Moyer from his speech For America’s Sake and blog your response. (link to video clip also provided)
Reference your handout regarding what to expect from the genre of speech. While reading, pay attention to the essential questions of this year’s disposition… leadership qualities and to the power of story.
Your blog should mention all of the following: author’s purpose/thesis, structure (genre, point/purpose/theme. Does he use story? If so, where? Consider word choice, sentence length and placement. How might this affect audience? Point out the call to action. What does he want listeners/readers to do? Point out his use of allusion. Is he effective? If so, how?
DUE before class 09.11
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070122/moyers.html
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070205/moyers_video
Now try the President….
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gDqQJuGAC0Xb5hUlwfuOZ-0hr5_gD9AJ0AK80
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/08/obama.school.speech/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
September 10th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
In Bill Moyer’s speech, For America’s Sake, he talks about the basic idea that freedom and democracy should be a reality for all people, regardless of income or political power. His thesis states, “Here is the real political story, the one most politicians won’t even acknowledge: the reality of the anonymous, disquieting daily struggle of ordinary people, including the most marginalized and vulnerable Americans but also young workers and elders and parents, families and communities, searching for dignity and fairness against long odds in a cruel market world.”
He uses several stories, one being of a woman named Carol Ann Reyes. He uses the fact that she did not receive medical attention because she had no health insurance and was homeless. Moyer uses her as an example to prove how American citizens are being treated unequally, even in a country that promotes freedom.
Moyer’s word choice in his closing paragraph helps all readers of many ages connect to what he is trying to say because he addresses all areas and ages of the people. He states, ” Go now, and tell it on the mountains. From the rooftops, tell it. From your laptops, tell it. From the street corners and from Starbucks, from delis and from diners, tell it. From the workplace and the bookstore, tell it. On campus and at the mall, tell it. Tell it at the synagogue, sanctuary and mosque.” His purpose for this word choice is to connect and bring together all types of readers.
Moyer wants his readers to spread the story of equal power for all people in America. He uses allusions to Abraham Lincoln, JFK, and a number of different authors to drive his point home.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Bill Moyers uses a strong sentence structure to make sure his point is perceptible to the target of his speech, in other words, the well educated americas whos voice have some pull in the workings of our government. He also uses a well developed and broad vocabulary to show that he is a smart man and knows what he is talking bout.
The point of his speech is to show that America used to stand for the place that left no one behind and that we have strayed from that; using many examples from previous presidencies.
He also uses allusion of the Gettysburg Address to show what America used to be and should be to reinforce his point.
September 10th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Moyer’s speech:
His purpose to his speech is to influence the audience that not everyone in America is equal and they don’t equal opportunities. His theme would be not everyone is equal in America. One of the first story he uses is in the last paragraph of the first page, which emphasizes on the theme that not everyone is equal in America. I believe that his choice of words helps pulls in the audience into his speech more. At the last paragraph he asks the audience to go out and tell everyone that the promise of America is to leave no one out. He uses allusions to Abraham Lincon, JFK, and the two roosevelts.
September 10th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
In Bill Moyer speech, for americas sake in his thesis he talks about that in america no one should be left out. his point is to get the attention of well educated americans and he pulls the audience in well with his large vocab and shows that he too is well educated man. one of his stories e talks about americas past time. he wants the readersto spead te meesage of his speech. he uses allusions of abraham lincoln jfkand the rooseevlets
September 10th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Bill Moyer’s thesis is “America leaves no one out”. Even though this is the very point he was arguing against. People are not being treated equally, even in a country that promotes democracy and freedom. He uses a few stories, one of which about Carol Reyes. She was denied medical attention for the sole purpose she had no health insurance and resided in no place of her own.
He uses this story to show the real America. Not everyone is equal. In the end, Moyer wants everyone to spread the word of equality to everyone and everything (which include allusions to a number of different authors, and various previous presidents).
September 10th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Bill Moyer’s thesis is “America leaves no one out”. He reinforces the fact that America DOES leave people out. He does this by story, one of which regarding Carol Reyes, who was denied medical treatment due to not having health insurance or a place to call her own. This helps solidify the fact no one is equal. This shows the American people the truth, and is meant to draw out a reaction from the readers. He wants people to spread equality, and his word of freedom (also, allusions were used toward numerous authors and previous presidents)
September 10th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
In Moyer’s speech for america’s sake the point is that not all americans are given equal opportuities, the rich get richer. One of the sories appairs one page two parghraph six, talkes about the ideology and that contary to beleafe it did not happan. the ideology that was being talked about was everyone having equal opportuities. Moyer uses his words to pull in the lessenors or readers, by the fist parghraph you are allready hooked. Moyer uses allusions to Shakspear, Robet Lampman, president Johnson, Jon F Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan to get his point across. Moyer’s speech also uses allusions to historacal events such as the Civil war, the Mayflower, the Great Depression, the American Revolution, and the New Deal. Moyer says in the last paragh whants Americans the he wants them to go out and tell “every candidate for office, every talk show host and pudit, to corporate executives and schoolchildren,” that the Amieica promise is to leave no one out.
September 10th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
In Bill Moyer speech, for Americas sake in his thesis he talks about how in america no one should be left out. Hes trying to get the peoples attention pulls the audience in with his efficient use of words. He also states how he wants everyone to spread and tell his message portrayed in his speech. This shows bills level of intelligence. Most all of this tell about Americas past time. Bill uses allusions of Abraham Lincoln JFK and the two Roosevelt’s.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
In Bill Moyer speech, his thesis is “America leaves no one out.” Yet he gives reasons and facts on how America dose leave people out. One story he had told was about a lady named Carol Reyes, who was denied medical treatment due to not having health insurance or a place to call her own. This proves that there isn’t always Americas being treated equal. Moyer wants everyone to spread the word of equality to everyone and everything. He graps peoples attention by using big words and facts which make him look like a smart man and make it look like he knows what his talking about. He also uses allusions to Abraham Lincoln, JFK, and the two Roosevelt.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
i think that his main purpose for the speech is that America isnt suppose to leave anyone out, but we have a long history of doing so. He uses stories constantly, including one about a poor homeless woman who was denied health care, and stories about JFK’s speech at Yale or Ronald Regan’s at a National Convention. He practically throws a new story in every paragraph. He creates new attention every time he starts a new paragraph with a new story. He wants people to “claim (democracy) as our own”. He wants the people to take charge. the only time things get done is when the people stand up and do it together, and for themselves. he wants people to tell their story. To tell people, that america leaves no one out.
he uses a lot of allusions, almost in every story he references, mostly of famous political figures like Lincoln, and JFK, but also of God and Jesus. These help to grab peoples attention and associate what they believe and things that they know and bring them further into his speech.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
In Bill Moyer’s speech, For America’s Sake he says that Americans strive and preach about how all Americans have equal opportunity, yet he shows in his story that not all Americans are equal. He illustrates in his story how as American’s some are treated as kings and some are treated slaves. With his words and examples he brings all sorts of readers to the table to think about what he is trying to stay and how we must change. Moyer’s call to action is him asking people to spread the word of equal opportunity to all Americans. Moyer is effective in getting his allusion out to not only people who spend time at delis but also coffee shops, mountains and rooftops, he is trying to reach out to all to spread the word to educate all Americans.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Bill focus the speech on “America leaves no on out.” His purspose is to drive the American people to change the American Gov’t, which obviously DOES leave people out to fit the needs of all people. A story he refrences is Carol Reyes at the bottom of the first page, where the hospital dumped her on the street. Another story was of radical laissez-faire gov’t on page 4, about the rich getting richer while the poor got the scraps. He alludes to John Power’s thing of “Born of centuries…” He also alluded to the gospel of wealth and the american dream on page 3. He uses the stories to try to inspire the reader to go out and change america. Frankly, this speech was boring to me when read and I constantly found myself thinking of other things while reading the speech. If the audience, such as myself is not pulled into speech I cannot bring myself to call it an effective speech.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
In Bill Moyer’s speech he talks about how not so wealthy americans are not being treated equally compare wealthy americans. He wants the people to take a stand and speak up. His thesis i believe is “america leaves no body out”. He uses a strong structure and pretty lenghty sentences. This affects the audience because it grabs the audiences attention. It gets them thinking about what he is talking about and making them have an opinoin on the issue he is talking about. He tells a couple stories one about the daily struggle of ordianry people, along with younger adults. He also talks about a lady named Carol Ann Reyes and how she wasn’t treated equally becuase she was not given the medical attention needed because she did not have health care. I believe he said this speech to get the readers to stand up and tell the government what they want. He also talked about the past on John F. Kennedys speech on the cold war. He also talks about God. I believe this speech was effective because it got a lot of people thinking and i believed it helped many americans see what was happening around them.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
The thesis tor for Americas sake by Bill Moyers is the America leaves no one behind. The genre in informative, he wants everyone to know that we must stand together to help our democracy. At one point in his speach he tells a story about K Street corruption and how bad things were at one point. And he believes we have become this way because of geroge bush. most of the speech he uses very long sentences. i believe he does this more make the listen pay more attention to what he is trying to say and get across. our call to action is to tell it. Tell it to Starbucks,delis and from diners, workplace and the bookstore, on campus and at the mall. everyone needs to know that America leaves no one out. he alludes to the bible story where mustard seed that began small but grew. he compared that story to his point. he also makes allusions to JFK and Shakespeare and i think its very affective in showing how something small can become big in time.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Obama’s thesis was “If you quit on school, you’re not just quiting on yourself, you’re quiting on your country.” His speech is trying to inspire us to put our best effort into everything we do.He alluded to Michael Jordan and his failling to make his highschool team. his stories include the girls Perez from Texas, Schultz from Los Altos and Shantell from Chicago. His point was that no matter what our circumstances we should work as hard as we can in school. The speech was short, simple, kept my attention and got me the point. So I guess I can call it effective.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
In Obama’s speech the thesis was your’re not just qutting on yourself you are also quitting on your country. HIs speech was to inspire students to work hard in school because you never know where the hard work will get you. his allusions were stories about himself and his wife and Micael Jordan and how their failures lead them to great sucess. He told stories about kids struggling more than most others and how they worked hard and got themselves a good education. He wants his listeners (the students) to work hard and dont quit in school. I thought this was a very effective speech somehow it keep my attention the whole time
September 10th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Bill Moyer’s thesis is that America excludes no one. This speech is a persuasive speech because his goal is to convince his audience that they have the power to change how America is run and that they should take advantage of it. He starts his speech by describing the setbacks that America has faced and is still facing, giving off a negative vibe. However, the conclusion of his speech is full of hope because he preaches that all of our stories can change the way government is run. He uses story throughout his speech to help inspire his audience. He tells of an injured homeless woman being rejected by a hospital. By telling this story he reveals that ordinary people are being excluded by America and that politicians need to pay attention to the struggles of ordinary people. Moyer is implying that if everyone told their stories of struggle, change would occur. He also tells a story about Theodore Parker, the inspiration for democracy, to prove that our voice can create change. He uses repition of the phrase “tell it” and short sentences in his closing to get across an important point. He also does this to give his audience a sense of hope and inspiration. In his speech, Moyer alludes to Shakespeare, JFK, Theodore Parker, and many other authors and publi figures. I believe that his speech was effective because he persuaded and inspired his audience to use their words to effect change by revealing aspects of America that they could change and by giving an example of a major change inspired by an ordinary man.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Bill Moyers thesis in his speech For Americas Sake was “America leaves no one out”. But America does leave people out that’s why hes giving us this speech. He wants everyone to stand together to help our democracy. A story he uses was Carol Reyes, She was denied medical care because she didn’t have health insurance. He uses allusions from different presidents like JFK and Abraham Lincoln.
September 11th, 2009 at 5:47 am
In my understanding of this piece, Bill Moyers purpose is to point out a lot of flaws in the government and the democratic system. In his story he talks a lot about change and how our system needs changing. He uses very long sentence structure. This is most likely so he can relate to every audience member and to keep all his audience interested. He is very clear that he wants America to leave no one out. His allusions from the bible were very affect on me. It kept me interested in his point of including this small story.
September 11th, 2009 at 6:15 am
I think in his speech, he talks about the right of everyone. How everyone isn’t treated right or they can’t do this or that. He talks about what can be accomplished in the world and what can be changed. His sentence structure is kind of long, but maybe one or two short. His speech is really clear and makes me understand a bit. He does use reference from the bible which is good because it gives the listener an allusion of what he’s talking about. I think his speech is a good because it makes me think about the world and people’s equality.
September 11th, 2009 at 9:25 am
In Bill Mayer’s speech, his thesis is, “America leaves no one out.” In this speech Mayer informs the people how in America nobody is treated equally. The wealthier that you are the more help you receive from the government. He does use story in his speech. One of his stories was about Carol Ryes. In his story he tells his listeners how Carol was denied medical treatment because she did not have medical ensurance. This story reinforces his theme that America does leave people out. He uses allusions to the Gettysburg Address and old presidents such as JFK and Abraham Lincoln to show how we used to be and to reinforced how now Americans are left behind, if you are not as wealthy as others.
*** Mrs. Eb remember you let me type this today..
September 11th, 2009 at 9:31 am
In Bill Mayer’s speech, his theses statement is “America leaves nooone out”. He uses thises to reinforce the fact that America does leave people out. may erdoes use stories in his speech. One of his stories was about Carol Reyes when she denied treatmant because she did not have health insurance or a home. He is a very intelligent man and people listin to him because he grabs there attention with the truth.
You lett me type this today because my computer wasnt workingg.
September 30th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
I really like President Obamas speech. He is explaining the importance of school and how we all must work to do well in school. He definitly knows how to use the power of story. He uses it a lot, like talking about Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell. He has definitely made the speech appeal to his audience especially word choice and sentence length, which really helps the audience focus on the speech and keep interested. He wants to help his audience that simple changes in their life can help change their whole education. He also wants to encourage his audience to keep going and keep trying. In my opinion this is very very affective.
October 1st, 2009 at 7:19 am
I like the way Obama talks in his speech. I think he’s one of the people who I really listen to when they give a speech because it’s so interesting. I like the way he uses examples and stories, like what we are talking about in class, in his speech. It really gives the audience a picture or feeling instead of just feeling like someone who is listening to a boring speech. Usually when people talk about school and education, many kids would just wonder off and not listen, but his speech made it interesting and I actually want to listen to it. His choice of words and stories really helps out not only to himself but to the audience as well and it keeps the audience interested and focused. Obama’s speech was a very effective speech about students and their education.
October 11th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Obama’s thesis is that students have a personal responsibility to themselves and their country to educate themselves and contribute to society. He says there is no excuse for not fulfilling this responsibility. Teachers and himself can only provide us with the resources to learn, we must take advantage of them. He uses repetition when explaining how we must try different things to discover what we’re good at. Obama uses stories of himself, his wife, J.K. Rowlings, Michael Jordan, and kids who have succeeded despite the difficult circumstances that they had to face. He wants students to be inspired to work hard and make their own destiny through education. Obama’s speech was effective because his stories showed students that no situation should ever keep them from succeeding.
November 6th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I couldnt watch the video because my computer is way to slow for that so i had to read the speech. Obama talked about education and how teachers need to persuade kids more often to have them succeed. He also said kids have to take their own responsibilty in getting good grades in school. The teachers can only lead us into learning. It is the students job to listen and take it in. He also talked about people including himself that had difficulty in succeding and they had to push themselves. I think the speech was somewhat good, but i dont beleive anything presidents say anymore because you can never trust if they are serious or are just reading a script that someone provided them.