My chosen speech Hello, Im Severn Suziki speaking for the E.C.O. - The environmental chil rens organization. !

e are a group of "# an "$ %ear ol s from Cana a tr%ing to make a ifference. !e raise all the mone% ourselves to come si& thousan miles to tell %ou a ults '%ou must change %our (a%s.) Coming here to a% I have no hi en agen a. Im fighting for my future. *osing m% future is not like losing an election or a fe( points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on +ehalf of the starving chil ren aroun the (orl (hose cries go unhear . I am here to speak for the countless animals %ing across the planet +ecause the% have no(here left to go. !e cannot affor to +e hear , I am afrai to go out in the sun no( +ecause of the holes in the ozone. I am afrai to +reathe the air +ecause I ont kno( (hat chemicals are in it. I use to go fishing- in .ancouver (ith m% a until /ust a fe( %ears ago (e foun the fish full of cancers. 0o( (e hear a+out animals an plants going e&tinct ever% a% 1 vanishing forever. In m% life, I have reamt of seeing the great her s of (il animals, /ungles an rainforests full of +ir s an +utterflies, +ut no( (on er if the% (ill even e&ist for m% chil ren to see. 2i %ou have to (orr% a+out these little things (hen %ou (ere m% age3 4ou ont kno( ho( to fi& the holes in the ozone la%er. 4ou ont kno( ho( to +ring salmon +ack up a ea stream. 4ou ont kno( ho( to +ring +ack an animal no( e&tinct. If %ou ont kno( ho( to fi& it, please stop +reaking it, Here %ou ma% +e, elegates of %our governments, +usiness people, organisers, reporters or politicians- +ut reall% %ou are mothers an fathers, +rothers an sisters, aunts an uncles- an all of %ou are some+o %s chil . Im onl% a chil %et I kno( (e are all part of a famil%, 5 +illion strong, in fact, $6 million species strong an (e all share the same air, (ater an soil- +or ers an governments (ill never change that. I am onl% a chil %et I kno( (e are all in this together an shoul act as one single (orl to(ar s one single goal. In m% anger, I am not +lin , an in m% fear, I am not afrai to tell the (orl ho( I feel. In m% countr%, (e make so much (aste, (e +u% an thro( a(a%, +u% an thro( a(a%, an %et northern countries (ill not share (ith the nee %. Even (hen (e have more than enough (e are afrai to lose some

of our (ealth, afrai to share. In Cana a, (e live the privilege life, (ith plent% of foo , (ater an shelter- (e have (atches, +ic%cles, computers an T. sets. T(o a%s ago here in 7razil (e (ere shocke (hen (e spent some time (ith some chil ren living on the streets. 8n this is (hat one chil tol us, 'I (ish I (as rich an if I (ere I (oul give all the street chil ren foo , clothes, me icine, shelter, an love an affection.) I cant stop thinking that these chil ren are m% age that it makes a huge ifference (here %ou are +orn that I could be one of those children living in the Favelas of Rio; I could be a child starving in Somalia a victim of war in the Middle East or a beggar in India. I am onl% a chil %et I kno( if all the mone% spent on (ar (as spent on en ing povert% an fin ing environmental ans(ers (hat a (on erful place this (orl (oul +e. 8t school, even in kin ergarten, %ou teach us to +ehave in the (orl . 4ou teach us not to fight (ith others, to (ork things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share- not to +e gree %. Then (h% o %ou go out an o the things %ou tell us not to o3 2o not forget (h% %oure atten ing these conferences, (ho %oure oing this for- (e are %our o(n chil ren. 4ou are eci ing (hat kin of (orl (e (ill gro( up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying everythings going to be alright!" were doing the best we can!" and its not the end of the world#! 7ut I ont think %ou can sa% that to us an%more. $re we even on your list of priorities% 9% father al(a%s sa%s '4ou are (hat %ou o, not (hat %ou sa%.) !ell, what you do ma&es me cry at night# 4ou gro(n-ups sa% %ou love us. I challenge %ou: please make %our actions reflect %our (or s, Thank %ou for listening-

'hy is this te(t effective% Ho( oes a "# %ear ol silence parliament for five minutes3 This essa% (ill e&plain (h% the te&t a+ove effective. I (ill anal%se the speech to e&plore the techni;ues use +% the author to persua e the au ience. I (ill also e&plain (h% I have chosen this particular te&t an ho( it relates

to m%self an current vie(s an opinions. The first techni;ue I thinks makes this te&t po(erful an interesting is the use of repetition. <epetition is an o+vious strong techni;ue as man% amazing speeches have inclu e it such as 9artin *uther =ings speech (ith the famous phrase >I have a ream- +eing repeate constantl%. !ithin this speech there is the highlighte phrase >I am onl% a chil , %et that is use repeate l% as if to remin the elegates that she is a chil an remin s them of her innocence. This constantl% makes the a ults in the au ience feel guilt% for not having one an%thing to help the environment an the chil ren in the au ience +elieve that the% can o something for the environment an help the (orl +e a +etter place. This is a goo use of repetition as it makes the au ience, ever% mem+er, feel engage . The secon techni;ue is (or choice. There is a lot of po(er in (or s if %ou use them correctl% an I +elieve that the (or s chosen +% Severn Suziki are use to their fullest. ?or e&ample the ;uotation >Im fighting for m% future sho(s she +elieves if the% o not change their actions there (ill +e no future (hich ispla%s ho( serious the situation is an ho( +a l% (e nee to o something a+out it. >@arents shoul +e a+le to comfort their chil ren +% sa%ing 'ever%things going to +e alright), '(ere oing the +est (e can), an 'its not the en of the (orl .) 7ut I ont think %ou can sa% that to us an%more this ;uotation I think (as aime at all parents in the au ience an (as also ma e to make the nonparents feel guilt% as the% pro+a+l% have frien s of (hich are parents. This creates a relata+le e&perience +et(een the speaker an the au ience. This gives the (hole situation a hurrie feel to it, almost pressuring the people to act. The last e&ample from the highlighted parts is the ;uotation >8re (e even on %our list of priorities3 This retorical ;uestion makes the au ience ;uer% the current government policies (hich I +elieve is one of the most po(erful things to o as to ;uestion the government is to ou+t them. This one line can push ou+t into the min s of millions of people an ou+t is enough to start a

revoltion. The thir an final techni;ue is the use of emotion. Emotions are easlil% manipulate an certain phrases can spark ifferent emotions. ?or e&ample the phrase A(hat %ou o makes me cr% at nightA fills the au ience (ith guilt +ecause even though it might not +e them that causes her to cr%, the sight of a "# %ear ol girl sa%ing that someones actions makes her cr% at night fills most people, guilt% or not, (ith guilt. the ne&t ;uotation that uses emotion is AI coul +e one of those chil ren living in the ?avelas of <io: I coul +e a chil starving in Somalia a victim of (ar in the 9i le East or a +eggar in In iaA this ;uotation picks the (orst situations that a chil coul +e in an makes people think a+out the glo+al pro+lems that as a (estern societ% the% ignore in their a% to a% lives. The situations are enough to create an emotional connection to the parents an even non-parents, to make them listen. In conclusion the reason (h% this speech is effective is +ecause of a range of techni;ues (hich make it a persuasive piece of (riting. I can relate to the speech as I am of a similar age to the author, an have the same (orries for the future. ?or e&ample I recentl% (ent the BS* *on on zoo (hich raises issues of animal conservation, therefore I also feel connecte to the su+/ect matter she e&plores. I too am fighting for m% future.