Idea for Essay on Keating's "Redfern Speech" (1 Viewer)

[worldlearner]

Hi everyone, I'm currently preparing for an in-class exam on Paul Keating's "Redfern Speech" that's coming up Very soon . Are there any tips, advice or general idea on the speech? I'm also looking for suggestion for Essay prompt (I don't know what the question will be but I would like some idea for a generic question) Thanks!

 

[swagmeister]

Hi everyone, I'm currently preparing for an in-class exam on Paul Keating's "Redfern Speech" that's coming up Very soon . Are there any tips, advice or general idea on the speech? I'm also looking for suggestion for Essay prompt (I don't know what the question will be but I would like some idea for a generic question) Thanks!

Approaching a question through Aristotle's three modes of persuasion in rhetoric (pathos [emotion], logos [logic] and ethos [orator serving as an example]) can work really well and give you a great foundation. Plus, you're covered if you get asked but structure but can nonetheless adapt it to how a theme is portrayed.

Also, some great words to use are exordium (opening) and peroration (conclusion).

And, one great thing that you can do (especially because the Redfern Speech was filmed) is comment on not only the language features but also how he stands, facial expressions (solemn countenance), heightened emotionalism in particular parts of the speech and so on

One last thing - it can be good sometimes to be partly critical of something as it shows that you have developed a unique perspective, I did this with Keating through speaking about how most of the audience was indigenous but he has a larger focus on the Anglo-Saxon segment of it as well and cajoles them ("guilt is not a very constructive emotion") and how this limits the textual integrity and risk he took in making the speech.

 

[strawberrye]

Hope this extract from my study guide will help you a bit:

Paul Keating – Redfern Speech (1992)
This speech was significant as it was made in the context of a recent pronouncement of one of the greatest Australian cases of recent decades, that of the Mabo decision in 1992. Essentially, the Mabo decision determined that the phrase 'terra nullius' (the land belonging to no one), a phrase which was used as a key justification by European settlers in the colonisation of Australia as well as the many terrible wrongdoings that were subsequently perpetrated to the Indigenous population, most notably in the Stolen Generation, was wrongfully applied to Australia and that Indigenous people could have the opportunity to claim native title to lost lands if strict conditions were met, (one of them being they needed to show a continual connection with the land, but this was often impractical since if Indigenous people were driven off from their land by white settlers who subsequently often used the land for commercial or residential purposes, how do they show a continual connection to the land?). Nevertheless, the Redfern Speech uses direct speech and accumulative language of increasing modality as well as multi sensory imagery to compel the Australian public to imagine themselves in the shoes of the dispossessed Indigenous people and through developing a more informed and empathetic understanding of the lasting legacy of such dispossession, in term contribute to the reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. A short speech, but a powerful one nonetheless.

For the full guide, feel free to visit: http://community.boredofstudies.org...-speeches-2015-2020-99-atar-hsc-graduate.html