Oratory and Speeches

Like the colloquial style, oratory is usually characterized by emotional colouring and connotations, but there is a difference. The emotional colouring of the publicist style is lofty – it may be solemn, or ironic, but it cannot have the “lowered” connotations (jocular, rude, vulgar, or slangy) found in colloquial speech. The vocabulary of speeches is usually elaborately chosen and remains mainly in the sphere of high-flown style:

Certain typical features of the spoken variety of speech present in this style are:

a) direct address to the audience by special formulas (Ladies and Gentlemen!; My Lords! – in the House of Lords; Mr. Chairman!; Honourable Members!; Highly esteemed members of the conference!; or, in less formal situation, Dear Friends!; or, with a more passionate colouring, My Friends!). Expressions of direct address can be repeated in the course of the speech and may be expressed differently (Mark you! Mind!).

b) special formulas at the end of the speech to thank the audience for their attention (Thank you very much; Thank you for your time).

c) the use of the 1st person pronoun we; 2nd person pronoun you: We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…(Th. Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence).

d) the use of contractions I’ll; won’t; haven’t; isn’t and others: We’re talking about healing our nation. We’re not talking about politics. We’re all here to do everything in our power to save lives… I’m here to thank you for hearing that call. Actually, I shouldn’t be thanking you, I should be thanking a Higher Power for giving you the call (George W. Bush).

e) features of colloquial style such as asking the audience questions as the speaker attempts to reach closer contact: Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? (Th. Jefferson), or calling upon the audience: Let us then, with courage and confidence, pursue our own federal and republican principles (ibid).

The Essay

The most characteristic language features of the essay, however, remain

1. brevity of expression;

2. the use of the first person singular, which justifies a personal approach to the problems treated;

3. a rather expended use of connectives, which facilitates the process of grasping the correlation of ideas;

4. the abundant use of emotive words;

5. the use of similes and metaphors as one of the media for the cognitive process.

In comparison with the oratorical style, the essay aims at a more lasting, hence at a slower effect. Epigrams, paradoxes and aphorisms are comparatively rare in oratory, as they require the concentrated attention of the listener. In the essay they are commoner, for the reader has an opportunity to make a careful and detailed study both of the content of the utterance and its form.

Lexical features

Newspaper cliches and set phrases.

Terminological variety: scientific, sports, poUtical, technical, etc. •

Abbreviations and acronyms.

Numerous proper names, toponyms, anthroponyms, names of enter­prises, institutions, international words, dates and figures.

Abstract notion words, elevated and bookish words.

In headlines: frequent use of pun, violated phraseology, vivid stylistic devices.

In oratory speech: words of elevated and bookish character, colloquial words and phrases, frequent use of such stylistic devices as metaphor, alliteration, allusion, irony, etc.

Use of conventional forms of address and trite phases.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1885