ORATION

ETYMOLOGYRecorded in English since around 1374, meaning

"one who pleads or argues for a cause," from Anglo-French oratour, from Old French orateur, from Latin orator "speaker," from orare "speak before a court or assembly, plead," from a Proto-Indo European base "to pronounce a ritual formula." The modern meaning "public speaker" is attested from approximately 1430.

The derived word "oration," originally used for prayer since 1375, now means (recorded since 1502) any formal speech, as on a ceremonial occasion or delivered in similar pompous manner.

BRIEF HISTORY

In ancient Greece and Rome, oratory was studied as  a  component  of  rhetoric  (that  is,  composition  and delivery  of  speeches),  and  was  an  important  skill  in public and private life. 

In  ancient  Rome,  the  art  of  speaking  in public (Ars Oratoria) was  a  professional  competence especially cultivated by politicians and lawyers. 

Strong valorization of form. 

Remarkable  use  of stylistics.

 Constant  appeal  to  the listener emotions. 

Communication  is  deemed as  a  way  to  demonstrate "intellectual superiority" or eloquence.

Strong  valorization  of message content. 

Utilization  of argumentation strategies. 

Appeal  to  the  common sense. 

Communication  is deemed  as  skill  to persuade  and  obtain influence.

LATIN GREEK

Oratory,  with  definitive  rules  and  models,  was emphasized  as  a  part  of  a  "complete education", although this was generally confined to the church.

Middle Ages and Renaissance

saw the development of two leaders of World War II who applied oratorical techniques in vastly different ways with equal effect.

The 20th Century

At PresentOratory  is  a  vital  component  in  the  modern  legal system.

DEFINITION

Oratory is that branch of public speaking which appeals to the emotions and reasoning.

It is formally prepared and relatively elaborate discourse, wherein persuasion is the ultimate object and effect.

It involves:

(a) a speaker; 

(b) an audience; 

(c) a background of time, place, and other conditions;

(d) a message; 

(e) transmission by voice, articulation, and bodily accompaniments; and

(f) may, or may not, have an immediate outcome.

Kinds of Oratory

Judicial Oratory

Deliberative Oratory

Epideictic Oratory

Judicial Oratory

It is sometimes called " forensic", had a somewhat wider signification than appertains merely to courts of law and was oriented around the purposes of defending or accusing.

It is often used to designate an argument, either oral or written.

The judicial orator made arguments about past events, and did so with respect to the two special topics of invention described by Aristotle as appropriate for this branch of oration, the just and the unjust.

Sometimes called "legislative" oration, deliberative oration originally had to do exclusively with that sort of speaking typical of political legislatures.

This sort of oration was oriented towards policy and thus considered the future and whether given laws would benefit or harm society. Thus any speech addressed to hearers with the object of inducing them to accept or reject a given policy for the future may be called a deliberative speech.

It also addresses before conventions, synods, conferences, and public meetings of various sorts.

Deliberative Oratory

Epideictic Oratory

This branch of oration is sometimes called "ceremonial" or "demonstrative“ oration.

Epideictic Oration was oriented to public occasions calling for speech or writing in certain situations.

Funeral orations are a typical example of epideictic oration.

The ends of epideictic include praise or blame, and thus the long history of encomia and invectives, in their various manifestations, can be understood in the tradition of epideictic oration.

LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF ORATION

Syntactic Markers of Oration

Semantic Markers of Oration

Phonological Markers of Oration

(a) The use of personal pronouns.

(b)Pronouns to address the audience.

You are here tonight to witness the finals of the speech contest.

(c) Pronouns to include the audience.

We do not agree to the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the RH Bill.

(d) Pronouns to exclude the audience or to distance the audience.

They want us to agree with them.

Syntactic Markers of Oration

Semantic Markers of Oration

The semantic markers include the emotional words and the feature of repetition (repetition of words or sentence patterns).

The choice of these words which are packed with emotion can influence an audience for or against addressers ideas, to be with or against them.

These words include the following:

(a) Words with positive connotation

(b) Words with negative connotation

(c) Contrast / juxtaposition

Your 'nice' day is now ruined.

Repetition

The orators make their speeches more interesting, vibrant and memorable by using the feature of repetition.

As the audience relies only on memory, the speaker often resorts to repetition to enable his listeners to follow him and retain the main points of the speech. Repetition is also resorted to in order to persuade the audience.

Repetition of Words

The repetition of the same linguistic form is used to hammer home a point and make it memorable.

Trust is an important concept in society. If you can't trust friends not to blab your secrets all over school, if you can't trust teachers not to blast you for something that he or she let someone away with yesterday; if parents can't trust you enough to let you borrow the car-how can you survive in the modern world.

Repetition of sentence structure (parallel structure)

Repetition can be regarded as the most typical stylistic device of the oratorical style. Phrases, groups of words or parallel structures are repeated for the purpose of making an effect on the audience.

I have a dream. I have a dream that the sons and daughters of former slaves and the sons and daughters of former slave owners will sit down at the table of brotherhood.

ListingThe orators tend to use lists in order to

emphasize important points.

Phonological Markers of Oration

The speaker normally tries to make his main ideas, keywords and phrases memorable by using certain sound effects and phonological devices.

Thus, for the sake of a successful oration, a number of these phonological elements can be identified as follows:

(a) Alliteration

It Is a literary device that repeats a speech sound in a sequence of words that are close to each other. Alliteration typically uses consonants at the beginning of a word to give stress to its syllable. .

Ah, what a delicious day!Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered

weak and weary.

(b) AssonanceAssonance is the repeating of vowel sounds for aural effect and memorability

I lie down by the side of my bride.

(c) OnomatopoeiaIt is where the words used sound like the thing or concept being described.

Wind swishing or moaning in the treetops-frost crunching underfoot -cock a doodle doo woof woof.

(d) Rhyming

Words sounding similar that are pleasant to the ear. It also appeal because the listener can almost predict a part of the speech.

Rhetorical Question in Oration

A rhetorical question is a question which is asked for effect, but not necessarily needing to be answered.

A rhetorical question is not intended to elicit an actual response, but to stimulate orator's audience to think about the topic.

The rhetorical question is frequently used in oration. Since the answer is obvious, it makes a deeper impression on the hearer than a direct statement would

Components of Oration• Introduction

The introduction may begin with a story, a joke, or an interesting fact, often called the "Attention Getting Device".

An effective introduction should grab the attention of the audience and reveal the orator's specific purpose. The introduction also states why the topic is important to the audience.

• The Body

The body of oration contains the main points and supporting material or evidence.

In this part, the orator develops his ideas and adds depth to his subject matter. The orator needs to organize his material in a straightforward manner.

In the body of orative speech, the orator develops two main points: the problem and the solution. Problem – solution is an excellent organization to use.

• The Conclusion

The conclusion of an orative speech serves three functions: to signal that the end of the orator's speech is near, to summarize his material, and to leave his audience with something memorable and worthwhile.

Many studies indicate that although the conclusion is the last thing the audience hears, it may be the first thing that they remember.

A good conclusion should have the following characteristics:

1-It should be an echo of the argument or thought of the oration as a whole.

2-It should be as strong and impelling as possible.

3- It should not be too long.

The conclusion can be regarded as the climax of the whole discourse, and should gather into itself all the concentrated thought and feeling that have previously been expressed and aroused.

There are two ways of doing this :

1. by a summary ; and

2. by an appeal.

Either or both of these methods may be employed in a given case, the choice depending upon the subject and the occasion.

Nonverbal Techniques of Oration

The nonverbal techniques of oration always communicate the same message in every language. Nonverbal techniques are those that people can see but not hear, such as eye contact and gestures.

Eye Contact

By eye contact, a speaker can engage audience members by convincing them that the message is just for them.

The orator can achieve his goal by looking directly at the individuals (audience) instead of staring at the wall or the ceiling.

It is important to talk to those people by looking directly into their eyes, not to tune into only the people who are nodding in agreement or those who are diligently taking notes.

GesturesGestures are motions of the limbs or body

that express or help to express thought. They can emphasize or reinforce an idea or opinion.

Gestures add a great deal to a speech. They add interest and expression and help to keep the attention of an audience.

The most important aspect about using gestures is that they need to be natural and sincere.

FAMOUS ORATORS

Pericles (495 – 429 BC)

His famous Funeral Oration is significant because the speech departs from the typical formula of Athenian funeral speeches.

The speech is a glorification of Athens' achievements, designed to stir the spirits of a state still at war.

Marcus Tullius Cicero  (106 BC –43 BC)

A Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul and constitutionalist.

He was famous of his oration entitled De Oratore ( The Orator) where he attempted to discuss the perfect orator.

Winston Churchill (1874 –1965)

His speeches in 1940 at the outset of World War II cemented his reputation as one of the greatest orators in history.  Referring to Hitler and the looming Nazi threat, Churchill laid out the facts in the clearest of manners.

“If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free . . . But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States . . . will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

Adolf Hitler (1889- 1945)

In order to sway the German masses to follow him, Hitler had to be a master communicator.  He also knew what the people wanted to hear and he exploited that.  

He was ruthless with words and would exert so much emotion in his speeches that people thought he would back up anything he said.  

 

Mohandas Gandhi (1869 –1948)The Quit India

speech made by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942 called for a determined but passive resistance against England’s continued occupation of the country.

The speech is considered a masterful work for both its ability to motivate and its effective message of nonviolence.  

“Let me tell you that I do not regard England or for that matter America as free countries. They are free after their own fashion, free to hold in bondage coloured races of the earth. Are England and America fighting for the liberty of these races today? If not, do not ask me to wait until after the war. You shall not limit my concept of freedom x x x x If they will know the real freedom they should come to India. They have to come not with pride or arrogances but in the spite of real earnest seekers of truth. It is a fundamental truth which India has been experimenting with for 22 years.”

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 –1968)

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Barack Obama (1961 to Present)

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy – tonight is your answer.”

FINISh