Civic Artifact Speech Outline

I’ll start off my speech by showing my civic artifact, which I’ve chosen to be a WWII propaganda ad.  I’m just not quite sure which one I will be picking.  But essentially whatever one I will pick I will analyze it, and then apply in to WWII and the time period in which it was created.

For my introduction, I’ll ask the class if they have ever been asked or persuaded to give something up for the “greater good”.  After that quick prelude, I’ll move onto the actual civic artifact where I’ll describe what it actually is and other general background information including when it was made and who it was made by.

Next I’ll analyze its rhetorical value.  I will see how the selected piece goes about trying to persuade its intended audience, which will more often than not be civilians. I’ll go through the images and why certain aspects are significant as well as the word choice and why those specific words were chosen.

What I’ll do next is analyze the civic qualities of the civic artifact.  I’ll analyze why the artifact was initially created and who is it specifically trying to sway.  I’ll also analyze what it exactly is that artifact is trying to accomplish.  I also plan on analyzing what kind of effect that this piece would have on citizens and civics not only in that specific time period, but also in modern times in order to try and determine the overall effectiveness of the piece of propaganda.

I will conclude with a statement concerning the overall effectiveness of the artifact and how pieces of propaganda such as this can be incredibly effective and motivational when concerning topics such as national pride or the nations safety.  Thats my general plan for my Civic Artifact Speech.

 

One thought on “Civic Artifact Speech Outline

  1. To start, I like the idea of starting with audience engagement. It seems as though everyone, at one point in their life, has sacrificed something for the “greater good” of an organization or society. Also, most people know from any history classes that the good of the nation came before the good if an individual during this time of war. Rations were put in place, bonds were bought, and food was sent to hungry soldiers. Personally, I would not spend too much time on the background of the time era because so many people have previous information on the war. But, like you said, definitely spend some valuable time on the history of the artifact itself. Who made it, why they made, and the deeper meaning of the object as a whole. With that information available, it would be best to then progress onto how it acts civically.
    Especially in the time of World War 2, you have so many propaganda posters and advertisments to choose from. From bond ads to recruitment posters, the list of possible artifacts seems endless. I feel that to find one though, it is imperative to search for one with a deeper meaning that just investing in the war. So many posters promote unity and patriotism that I am sure you will find one. Also, by ending with the artifact’s civic qualities you can really bring home the speech by exploring how it impacted society. With WW2 being so distant in the past and almost unfathomable to most students it will be interesting to hear your take on how affected citizens across the nation. Finally, by determing the overall consequence it could have on people today, you can see if the artifact’s “civicness” holds true so many years later. Good luck finding your article and I am looking forward to your speech!

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