Speech Analysis: "Look For Me In The Whirlwind or A Storm" by late Marcus Mosiah Garvey, in Harlem, New York in the year of 1924
08:33
THE 5 CANONS OF RHETORIC
In order to discuss the five canons
of rhetoric, we must first define what it is mean by rhetoric. Generally,
rhetoric can be defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking or
writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other
compositional techniques. This includes the five canons of rhetoric. As stated
by the Roman philosopher Cicero and the unknown author of Rhetorica ad
Herennium, the canons of rhetoric are the five overlapping divisions
of the rhetorical process which are invention, arrangement, style, delivery as
well as memory. These five canons of rhetoric constitute a system and
guide on crafting powerful speeches and writing. More than that, it is also a
template by which can be used by the others to judge how effective rhetoric it
is for one speech.
INVENTION
By knowing the
definition of rhetoric, it is time for us to discuss the five canons of
rhetoric in a more precise elaboration by analysing it using the chosen speech.
As for the first canon of rhetoric which is invention, it concerns with the
finding something to say in the speech. Similarly, it also means discovering of
valid or seemingly valid arguments in the speech. As concerns with the chosen
speech, Invention can be traced by saying that, the speaker was intended to
raise up the issue of black people who were being enslaved for years. Not only
that, he was also deliberately promoted the idea of black people is actually
also a great creature on earth who deserves a better life conditions. This can
be proven by looking at the following lines.
I unequivocally rejected the racist assumption of much white American Christianity. Namely, that God had created the Black man inferior, and that he'd intended Negroes to be a servant class, heavers of wood and drawers of water. Well, I predicated my view of man on the Doctrine of Imago Dei, "All men, regardless of color, are created in the image of God".
I unequivocally rejected the racist assumption of much white American Christianity. Namely, that God had created the Black man inferior, and that he'd intended Negroes to be a servant class, heavers of wood and drawers of water. Well, I predicated my view of man on the Doctrine of Imago Dei, "All men, regardless of color, are created in the image of God".
Now, from this premise comes the
equality of all men and brotherhood of all men. The Biblical injunction of Acts
17:26 reminds us that he created, of one blood, all nations of men to dwell on
the face of the earth, and is most interested in brotherhood within his own
race. Because if Negroes are created in God's image, and Negroes are Black,
then God must, in some sense, be Black!
Apart from raising certain issues
to be the central point of the speech, Invention also can looked in the
perspective of selecting who is going to be our audience. This can be
understood by looking at the relationships between the central point of the
speech and the targeted audience. This is because, by selecting the right
audience is actually can give a huge impact in the outcomes of the
effectiveness of one speech. Regarding the selected speech, we can assume that,
the speech was intended to be delivered to a targeted group which was Black
people as the issues being raised up were relating to the Black people’s life.
Therefore, this had gradually contributed to a better outcomes of the speech
which was creating the awareness of Black people’s rights among them.
ARRANGEMENT
Moving on to the next canon of
rhetoric which is arrangement, it is mainly about how we organise the ideas
within the speech’s structure so that it will have a maximum effect on the
audience. Usually, most of the speeches are using the same rhetorical orders
and appeals which are introduction to the speech, body of the speech along with
the conclusion of the speech. Based on the Garvey’s speech, he arranged his
speech in a well manner rhetorical appeals. He started his speech by drawing
his audience’s attention towards the history of Black people which included
racist assumptions towards them as well as Black people slavery. This somehow
managed to attract the audience’s attentions as i`t close enough for them to
feel the graveness and severity of what White people had done to their life. Intended
for this point, Garvey did a great job at getting his audience’s attentions by
using several rhetorical appeals such as giving historic background along with
some of quotes from the bible. This can be proven by looking throughout the
speech. For instance, the following except really informs us regarding the
historic background of Black people.
For two hundred and fifty years we
have struggled under the burden and rigors of slavery. We were maimed, we were
brutalized, we were ravaged in every way. We are men. We have hopes, we have
passions, we have feelings, we have desires, just like any other race.
The cry is raised all over the
world of Canada for the Canadians, of America for the Americans, of England for
the English, of France for the French, of Germany for the Germans. Do you think
it unreasonable that we, the Blacks of the world, should raise a cry of Africa
for the Africans?
Apart from stating the historic
background, we also can identified several quotations from the bible that
Garvey cited in order to proof his statements. For your information, by quoting
several bible’s verses, Garvey gradually influenced his audiences to believe
whatever he was saying as most of Black people at that time greatly had faith
in their God as it gave them endless strengths for a brighter future. One of
the examples of bible’s quotations is as below.
The Biblical injunction of Acts
17:26 reminds us that he created, of one blood, all nations of men to dwell on
the face of the earth, and is most interested in brotherhood within his own
race.
From this premise, he was
consciously convincing his audiences that being a black person was not a wrong
doing and instead of blaming God for creating them in black colour, they should
be proud of who they are. He then proceeded his speech’s arrangement by
provoking his audiences to stand up and fight for their freedom and their
rights. In order to provoke his audience, he most of time used the rhetoric logical
statements to let and encourage his audience to think about whatever he was
saying. For instance, the following sentences really caught his audience’s
attention and somehow enhanced their understanding on Garvey’s speech.
We are not going to be a race
without a country. God never intended it, and we are not going to abuse God's
confidence in us as men. We are men, human beings, capable of the same acts as
any other race, possessing under fair circumstances, the same INTELLIGENCE as
any other race.
Now, Africa's been sleeping, not
dead, only sleeping. Today, Africa's walking around not only on her feet, but
on her brains.
You can enslave, as was done for
300 years, the bodies of men. You can shackle the hands of men. You can shackle
the feet of men. You can imprison the bodies of men. BUT YOU CANNOT SHACKLE OR
IMPRISON THE MINDS OF MEN!
Apart from using this type of
logical statements, he also most of the time asked his audiences by using the
rhetorical questions as he wanted to spark the right emotion among them. The
reason why he used rhetorical questions in his speech was mainly because he
wanted his audiences be cognitively motivated as well as spiritually motivated for
striving a better future. One of the rhetorical questions that had been asked
by Garvey in his speech is as stated below.
“The cry is raised all over the
world of Canada for the Canadians, of America for the Americans, of England for
the English, of France for the French, of Germany for the Germans. Do you think
it unreasonable that we, the Blacks of the world, should raise a cry of Africa
for the Africans?”
“Because Africa's created millions
and countless millions of Black men and women, in war and peace, whose luster
and bravery outshine that of any other people, so why not see good and
perfection in ourselves?”
Referring to this example, we can
assume that it is undoubtedly had affected the audience’s understanding and
feeling towards Garvey’s speech, as it significantly stimulated and persuaded
the audience to think about the rational of Garvey’s speech and further
accepting it. While Garvey was trying to conquer the audience’s attentions,
acceptance and trust, he then deliberately progressed his speech’s arrangement
by stating his real intentions throughout the speech. These intentions were
actually the body of the speech. As mentioned earlier in the speech summary
section in this paper, one of the main ideas of this speech was promoting
“Black Nationalism” among black
people not only in America but all around the world. This can be proven when he
repeatedly mentioned about the supremacy and hegemony of Negro regarding their
right for their own land namely Africa as well as the needs for black people to
unite. The following excerpt is one of the best example of evidences of Garvey’s
intention in encouraging Black people nationalism.
We
love the white race, not for social fellowship, but for the common brotherhood
that God intended we should live. What satisfaction can anyone get in being
happy and see his brother wallowing in filth, dirt and disease? How can you be
happy living in luxury and your brother's living in disease, and then when you
try to help the one out of the disease, the subtle culprit talks about
disloyalty?
Black men at Carthage, Black men
of Ethiopia, of Timbuktu, of Alexandria, gave the likes of civilization to this
world. Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God, and Princes shall come
out of Egypt.
Those classes, nations, races,
have been quite quiet for over four centuries... who have merely born abuse,
insult, humiliation,... whose forbearance can only be compared to the Prophet
Job as likewise lifted his bowed head and raised it up to God's skies, and
likewise cried out, "I am a man and demand a man's chance, and a man's
treatment in this world!"
Similarly, this speech was also
intended to provoke all Black people to support Africa redemption from the
invader. As we go through the biography section earlier in this paper, we
already got a glimpse of idea about who Garvey was during his glory years.
Therefore, alike his political movements in the real life, he purposely
included the idea of Africa redemption in his speech. This can be proven by
looking at the following excerpts.
“Well, the Belgians have control
over the Belgian Congo which they cannot use. They have not the resources to
develop, nor the intelligence. The French have more territory than they can
develop. There's certain parts of Africa in which you cannot live at all, so it
is for YOU to come together and give us a United States of Africa.
“Our critics say that the race
problem will be solved through higher education, through better education, then
Black and white will come together. That day will never happen until Africa is
redeemed. Because if those who, like W.E.B. du Bois, believe that the race
problem will be solved in America through higher education, they will walk
between now and eternity and never see the problem solved.”
Last but not least, this speech
was also intended to encourage Black people to embrace the world of knowledge
to be part of their culture in order to strive for a better future. Garvey
believed that Black people would be honoured and credited if only if their true
embracement towards knowledge was depicted and illustrated by achieving various
achievements. Being described and illustrated as this far, we must bear in our
mind that intention and invention is slightly different. As mentioned earlier,
invention is about discovering the “idea” of what we want to say
throughout the speech while intention is concerning to something regarding the
idea but in a “well-defined” and “achievable” just like the Garvey’s
intentions in the body part of the speech.
As any other speeches, Garvey’s
speech also has its own conclusion. At the end of his speech, he once again was
restating his three main ideas from the body part of the speech which were
promoting Black Nationalism, stimulating Black people to support for the Africa
redemption as well encouraging Black people to put knowledge at the first place
in their life. This can be proven by looking at the following excerpts.
“Let no voice but your own speak to you from the depths.
Let no influence but your own rouse you in time of peace and time of war. Hear
all, but attend only to that which concerns you. Your allegiance shall be to
your God, your race, your country.”
“Remember that the Jew in his political and economic urge is always first a Jew. The white man is first a white man under ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. So you can do no less, BE BLACK, BUY BLACK, THINK BLACK, AND ALL ELSE WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF!”
“Remember that the Jew in his political and economic urge is always first a Jew. The white man is first a white man under ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. So you can do no less, BE BLACK, BUY BLACK, THINK BLACK, AND ALL ELSE WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF!”
“There is no height to which you
cannot climb without the active intelligence of your own mind. Mind creates,
and as much as we desire in nature, we can have through the creation of our own
minds. And today being scientifically the weaker race, you shall treat others
only as they treat you.”
As overall, Garvey had brilliantly
arranged his speech to a maximum level in ensuring his speech had a value and
was persuasive enough to persuade his audiences. The speech maintained its
ability to gain the attention from the audience by feeding continuous amount of
information that was sought from the audience.
STYLE
Apart from invention and
arrangement, style is also one of the five canons of the rhetoric. For this
term, it can be explained as the art of idea’s expression. In other words,
style addresses how ideas will be said throughout the speech by using language.
Usually, a speaker will have to deal with various rhetorical appeals in this
perspective which includes ethos, logos, and pathos. The reason why it is said
so is mainly because, in order to appear as a good speaker, he has to confirm
that his words in the entire speech are well addressed. Pathos is often aligned
with style is because figurative words are often employed to persuade others
through emotional appeals. Apart from that, style also can be related to the
usage of ethos as one’s style often establishes one’s authority and
credibility. Not to forget, Logos also is usually being used in style as it is
used to give a perfect reasoning towards whatever statements in the speech.
Regarding the Garvey’s speech, it
can be assumed that he managed to use all the modes of persuasion (ethos,
logos, pathos). This is because, from the beginning of the speech till the end
of it, he most of the time managed to capture the audience’s attentions as he
really brilliant in coming up with great and persuasive sentences throughout
the speech. This will be explained deeply in the later section of this paper.
DELIVERY
Once
the speech is ready to be said out loud, a speaker must focus on how to deliver
it in a very effective way. This somehow bring us to the fourth canon of
rhetoric which is delivery. Delivery means the way we deliver the speech
orally. For your information, the way a speech is delivered is considered as a
crucial factor of its meaning or effect. Delivery also can be understood as the
usage of voice and gesture in the presentation of the speech.
Therefore, based on the Garvey’s
speech audio, we can hear that he was actually using various intonation of
voices especially when he want to emphasize something. For example, most of the
time, he projected his voice out loud in various tones and accentuations. On
the hand, when he was praying in the middle of giving his speech, we can
clearly notice the changes in the intonation of his voice. More than that, we
also can say that, his voice was projected clearly, loud and in confident
manner. Hence, we can assume that these changes of voice or delivery pattern is
important for a speaker to be mastered as it also contributes a major factor in
giving a better impact towards his audiences.
MEMORY
Memory is the last canon of
rhetoric. As it name, it suggests the need for a speaker to memorize a complete
speech for delivery. This is because, memory back in times was a sign of
intelligence in oral cultures. However, it is no longer to be perceived as it
was. Concerning the Garvey’s speech, it is sadly to inform that we are unable
to affirm whether he memorized or not his speech as it requires us to watch the
video format. Unfortunately, there is no video of him delivering this speech.
There is only the audio format of this speech. Therefore, we can only assume
that, he managed to deliver his speech in a smooth arrangement without leaving
any part of the speech. On the other hand, we can also assume that he already
had the memory of whatever information that he put in his speech. It is said so
as memory is not only focusing how one memorise his speech, but also how he put
the information into the speech. This is because, we can assure that he clearly
knew what he was going to say throughout his speech as a great of information
like historic backgrounds and bible’s quotations were cited in his speech.
*Sorry if there is any wrong with my explanations*
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