isaacjohnryan
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- 2018
Speeches Essay: Pearson and Lessing
So I'v got this essay..
I'm doing 2 big ideas in integrated form
Big Idea 1 is how the audience learns about injustices through the language of the speechmaker. I've completed big idea 1 for both speeches
I was wondering what i should do for the second big idea.. "How language and learning bring about social change"
Feel free to email me - isaacjohnryan@gmail.com
Question: How do speech writers highlight the significance of language and learning as a means of bringing about social change? In your response make detailed reference to "On not winning the Nobel Prize".
Words whether they be spoken or written, delivered in a speech or a novel, are powerful conduits for learning. It is through the powerful use of language that individuals can learn about the marginalised, the oppressed and the disadvantaged. Thus language and learning together can become a powerful conduit for social change as individuals and groups can envisage a more just and equitable society and hope to see their vision realised.
It is through Noel Pearson's use of language that the audience is able to learn about the injustices suffered by those who are marginalised and oppressed. Pearson utilises the discourse of logical discussion with a formal register, in which he cites reputable historians in order to convey the immorality of the colonial invasion of Australia, and how the history books "ignored the true facts of the colonial frontier" for generations. He quotes Professor Bill Stanner's Boyer Lecture in which Stanner claims that "inattention on such a scale cannot possibly be explained by absent-mindedness. It is a structural manner, a view from a window which has been carefully placed to exclude a whole quadrant of a landscape. It is through the quoting of Stanner's metaphor, that Pearson portrays the partial and narrow-mindedness of the history books of the past which has now become "embedded into popular belief". Pearson further delineates some of the heartless attitudes of ill-informed white Australians through quotes such as: "victims should get over it, it's all in the past... help yourselves..." . He utilises the emotive metaphor "brain-damaged dialogue", describing the ignorance of mainstream Australia. Pearson employs a comparison which resonates on a deeply emotional level universally, when he compares the injustices suffered by indigenous Australians to those suffered by the Jews in World War 2. He argues that it would be "inappropriate" to tell Jewish people that "the treatment of your people has been terrible, but perhaps we should not be consumed by it". Through this very emotive comparison, Pearson conveys his belief that injustices of great magnitude committed in the past cannot simply be dismissed. In doing so, he hopes to instil a greater comparison for Aboriginals in the present. Pearson utilises various language techniques to both capture and persuade his audience in a way forward, by creating an understanding of the injustices suffered by the Indigenous-Australians of both the past and present.
In the same way, Doris Lessing also utilises language in ways that are able to bring the audience to better understandings of the injustices suffered by those in positions of lesser privileges. Her introductory image depicts a once "wonderful forest", now only "charred remains". The two short sentences which follow the image powerfully evoke how human poverty is often the cause of environmental devastation: "People have to eat. They have to get fuel for the fires". Lessing evokes how the lives of those who live in this environment are actually symbolised in the "clouds of blowing dust", which encapsulates the lack of fertility and life in the bleakness of the deserted landscape. Attempting to further convey the injustices suffered by the Zimbabweans, who are "only dreaming of books", Lessing juxtaposes them with the prestigious public school in North London, with its "beautiful buildings and gardens". The wealthy students are so indulged, that when they are confronted with the disturbing images of those living in Africa, they respond with nothing but "blank faces", conveying their complete apathy and ability to empathise with those without. She argues that the internet is responsible for such narrow world views as it has, "seduced a whole generation with its inanities so that... once they are hooked, it is hard to cut free". The words "inanities" and "hooked" have negative connotations, evincing Lessing's feeling that the internet is of addictive nature, which she finds is hard to metaphorically "cut free from". The injustice is clearly shown, when the rich pampered students of the prestigious school in London have so much at their disposal, particularly the access to books, which is required, in Lessing's opinion, to become a fully developed human being, capable of feeling compassion and empathy for others, and instead of utilising the amazing privileges, "A lot of the boys have never read at all, and the library is only half used".
So I'v got this essay..
I'm doing 2 big ideas in integrated form
Big Idea 1 is how the audience learns about injustices through the language of the speechmaker. I've completed big idea 1 for both speeches
I was wondering what i should do for the second big idea.. "How language and learning bring about social change"
Feel free to email me - isaacjohnryan@gmail.com
Question: How do speech writers highlight the significance of language and learning as a means of bringing about social change? In your response make detailed reference to "On not winning the Nobel Prize".
Words whether they be spoken or written, delivered in a speech or a novel, are powerful conduits for learning. It is through the powerful use of language that individuals can learn about the marginalised, the oppressed and the disadvantaged. Thus language and learning together can become a powerful conduit for social change as individuals and groups can envisage a more just and equitable society and hope to see their vision realised.
It is through Noel Pearson's use of language that the audience is able to learn about the injustices suffered by those who are marginalised and oppressed. Pearson utilises the discourse of logical discussion with a formal register, in which he cites reputable historians in order to convey the immorality of the colonial invasion of Australia, and how the history books "ignored the true facts of the colonial frontier" for generations. He quotes Professor Bill Stanner's Boyer Lecture in which Stanner claims that "inattention on such a scale cannot possibly be explained by absent-mindedness. It is a structural manner, a view from a window which has been carefully placed to exclude a whole quadrant of a landscape. It is through the quoting of Stanner's metaphor, that Pearson portrays the partial and narrow-mindedness of the history books of the past which has now become "embedded into popular belief". Pearson further delineates some of the heartless attitudes of ill-informed white Australians through quotes such as: "victims should get over it, it's all in the past... help yourselves..." . He utilises the emotive metaphor "brain-damaged dialogue", describing the ignorance of mainstream Australia. Pearson employs a comparison which resonates on a deeply emotional level universally, when he compares the injustices suffered by indigenous Australians to those suffered by the Jews in World War 2. He argues that it would be "inappropriate" to tell Jewish people that "the treatment of your people has been terrible, but perhaps we should not be consumed by it". Through this very emotive comparison, Pearson conveys his belief that injustices of great magnitude committed in the past cannot simply be dismissed. In doing so, he hopes to instil a greater comparison for Aboriginals in the present. Pearson utilises various language techniques to both capture and persuade his audience in a way forward, by creating an understanding of the injustices suffered by the Indigenous-Australians of both the past and present.
In the same way, Doris Lessing also utilises language in ways that are able to bring the audience to better understandings of the injustices suffered by those in positions of lesser privileges. Her introductory image depicts a once "wonderful forest", now only "charred remains". The two short sentences which follow the image powerfully evoke how human poverty is often the cause of environmental devastation: "People have to eat. They have to get fuel for the fires". Lessing evokes how the lives of those who live in this environment are actually symbolised in the "clouds of blowing dust", which encapsulates the lack of fertility and life in the bleakness of the deserted landscape. Attempting to further convey the injustices suffered by the Zimbabweans, who are "only dreaming of books", Lessing juxtaposes them with the prestigious public school in North London, with its "beautiful buildings and gardens". The wealthy students are so indulged, that when they are confronted with the disturbing images of those living in Africa, they respond with nothing but "blank faces", conveying their complete apathy and ability to empathise with those without. She argues that the internet is responsible for such narrow world views as it has, "seduced a whole generation with its inanities so that... once they are hooked, it is hard to cut free". The words "inanities" and "hooked" have negative connotations, evincing Lessing's feeling that the internet is of addictive nature, which she finds is hard to metaphorically "cut free from". The injustice is clearly shown, when the rich pampered students of the prestigious school in London have so much at their disposal, particularly the access to books, which is required, in Lessing's opinion, to become a fully developed human being, capable of feeling compassion and empathy for others, and instead of utilising the amazing privileges, "A lot of the boys have never read at all, and the library is only half used".