Advocacy Speech

This first assignment asks that you to argue one side of an issue of your choice.  You
must present evidence of a significant social problem that can be solved by a change
in American policy.  You must advocate a solution to the problem, and present
evidence that your solution is workable.  Basically, the speech comprises your main
claim and a series of quotations from journals, periodicals, newspapers, and books,
linked by transitions written by you, that support your claim.  Your presentation must
be 6-8 minutes long and contain at least 5 credible sources.  You must verbally cite
the source, the source’s qualification, and the date of publication, but not the page
number.

MECHANICS

The most important aspect of this assignment is selecting the right support for your
position.  The sources that you cite should be respected in their field (i.e., don’t
cite Vogue, Madonna, or anything that resembles Soap Opera Weekly unless your
speech is about those things.)  Internet sites that cannot be evaluated by the listener
(e.g., www.specsite96~/working.html) may not be used.  You must include the
authors name, his or her qualification, the publication in which the quotation
appeared, and the date.  The page number must also be included, although you will
not verbally state it. 

The structure of the speech is as follows: 

1. Presentation of the problem (known as need or harms). 

2. Which action must be taken or which policy must be changed (the plan) to
solve the problem. 
3. The workability of the plan (solvency).

Your manuscript should, or course, be free of grammatical blunders, tpyos, and

speling errors . 

DELIVERY

The speech may be read from your manuscript, a copy of which will be turned in
before your speech.  Eye contact and a certain amount of passion and/or energy is
required to maximize your points.  Therefore, PRACTICE! (with a timer, in order to
determine if you have enough or too much material).
Questions challenging your claim will be asked at the completion of your
presentation.

Abbreviated Sample
This example argues that drugs should be decriminalized, with treatment
replacing incarceration.

Public outrage in the early 90s prompted politicians and crime-weary citizens to
demand that drug offenders be locked away for life.  But the get-tough campaign is
colliding with the reality of a prison system bursting at the seams.  Mandatory prison
terms are not working and should be replaced by rehabilitation for nonviolent drug
offenders (this is your claim).

The present system is a drain on society, as I note in:

1. ENFORCEMENT COSTS HAVE REACHED MASSIVE PROPORTIONS

John Heard (source), Professor of Criminal Justice, Columbia

University (qualification/warrant), The Economist (source), January 7,
2001, (date) p. 27

The Drug War currently costs the United States three billion dollars a year.  Over two
hundred thousand law enforcement officers, DEA agents, lawyers, and judges are
needed just to keep up with the present demand.  And the problem is not going
away.  The legal system has become a revolving door where drug offenders are
arrested, convicted, imprisoned, and released, only to start the cycle over again.  The
annual cost of keeping an inmate is about $35,000, according to the bureau of prisons,
and almost half of all prisoners are there for drug-related offences, many for
mandatory terms.  The United States now spends more on criminal justice than
education.  Observes Jerome Miller, president of the National Center on Institutions,
"we're trading textbooks for prisons."

Some might argue that drug offenders deserve to be locked away for good, but
mandatory sentences are not the answer, as we see in:

2. OUR PRISONS ARE SERIOUSLY OVERCROWDED

Houston Chronicle, February 2, 1999, p. 12

Two-tier metal bunks, in rows less than three feet apart divide the basketball court at
the medium-security prison in Jessup, Md.  Designed to incarcerate 500 inmates when
it opened in 1981, the  prison  now holds 1,140 of the state's convict population...One
of the worst situations confronted Texas, where the prison population has doubled.  In
response to a lawsuit, Texas Judge William Justice declared the state prison system
unconstitutional, describing facilities as "strained beyond their limitations, creating a
malignant effect on all aspects of inmate life."  Some prisons have started releasing
violent felons in order to keep those sentenced to mandatory minimums in jail.

Drug enforcement has not worked.  We will not see an end to the drug problem in our
nation until we stem the demand.  The only way to solve this problem is to replace
incarceration with treatment.  This solution will work, as is shown in: 

3. DRUG REHABILITATION WILL SOLVE THE DRUG CRISIS IN

AMERICA

Newsweek, November 2000, p. 3

Drug treatment for nonviolent drug offenders is the only reasonable solution to the
drug problem that plagues our cities.  A pilot program in New York called Phoenix
House has shown that intensive in-patient rehabilitation works for 82 percent of the
recipients.  This is a better, and less expensive solution than incarceration, where the
vast majority of inmates re-offend within a year after release.

NOTES:

 You should write your own claim, that summarizes the problem and your
solution to it.
 The parts in blue are transitions that are written by the student.
 The parts in red are "tag lines," written by you, that summarize the main point
of the article.  They do not have to be the original title of the article.
Topics for Persuasive Speeches
Arguing Either Side of an Issue

 Doctor-assisted suicide should (or should not) be legal.

 Spammers—people who bombard Internet users with unsolicited e-mail—should (or should
not) be allowed to send their junk mail.
 Every automobile driver should (or should not) be required to take a new driver's test every
three years.
 Electroshock treatment is (or is not) a humane form of therapy.
 Every student should (or should not) be required to learn a foreign language.
 Solar power is (or is not) a viable alternate energy source.
 Drug addicts should (or should not) be put in hospitals for medical treatment instead of in
prisons for punishment.
 American workers should (or should not) be guaranteed a three-day weekend by law.
 All health professionals should (or should not) be tested annually for HIV infection and AIDS.
 Self-proclaimed "militias" should (or should not) be closely monitored by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
 Assault weapons should (or should not) be outlawed.
 All owners of firearms should (or should not) be required to register their weapons with the
police.
 A two-week waiting period should (or should not) be required for anyone attempting to
purchase a firearm.
 The death penalty for murderers should (or should not) be abolished.
 The death penalty should (or should not) be imposed on juveniles.
 Drug dealers convicted of distributing large quantities of drugs should (or should not) receive
the death penalty.
 The U.S. military should (or should not) be used to curb drug smuggling into the U.S.
 The U.S. should (or should not) cut off all foreign aid to dictatorships.
 Smoking should (or should not) be banned in public areas such as restaurants and airport
terminals.
 State and local governments should (or should not) operate lotteries and gambling casinos.
 The U.S. should (or should not) remain in the United Nations.
 Immigration into the U.S. should (or should not) be restricted.
 Churches should (or should not) be required to pay taxes.
 Federal funding for the arts should (or should not) be provided.
 The present-day tax system is (or is not) unfair to middle-class and lower-income Americans.
 College athletes should (or should not) be required to meet the academic requirements of
their schools.
 Sex education should (or should not) be a required course in all schools as early as sixth
grade.
 Everyone should (or should not) be required to pass a competency exam before being allowed
to graduate from high school.
 Chronic mental patients should (or should not) be housed in "halfway houses" or residences in
the community, rather than in remote mental hospitals.
 The President should (or should not) be limited to a single six-year term.
 Billboards should (or should not) be outlawed on interstate highways.
 Businesses should (or should not) be permitted to make unsolicited telephone calls to citizens.
 IQ tests are (or are not) valid measures of human intelligence.
 Psychologists and psychiatrists should (or should not) testify in court on behalf of the not-
guilty-by-reason-of-insanity plea.
 Regardless of income, all Americans should (or should not) be guaranteed basic medical care
under a national health insurance program.
 Heredity is (or is not) a more powerful influence on personality development than
environment.
 ESP (extrasensory perception) is (or is not) a demonstrable scientific fact.
 Scientific experimentation on animals should (or should not) be outlawed.
  Heroin should (or should not) be legal as a pain reliever for terminally ill patients.
 Acupuncture is (or is not) a valid medical technique.
 Beauty pageants do (or do not) debase women.
 The minimum wage should (or should not) be waived for adolescent and young adult workers.
 Despite their legal tax deductions and loopholes, all millionaires should (or should not) be
required to pay federal income tax.
 Police should (or should not) be allowed to set up roadblocks to isolate and arrest impaired
drivers.
 Athletes should (or should not) be allowed to use steroids.

Urging Action

 Students need to be more vigilant and observant to avoid becoming victims of campus crime.
 Citizens should resist efforts being made to shut down zoos and aquariums.
 Steps must be taken to reduce contaminants in the nation's water supplies.
 Children and teenagers need to be educated on the dangers of huffing (sniffing solvents and
aerosols).
 Lawmakers need to pass tougher legislation to discourage the growing number of stalkers.
 Every person should stipulate that in the event of death, he or she is willing to donate organs.
 People of all races and ethnic groups should be aware that overexposure to the sun can cause
skin cancer, regardless of a person's skin color.
 Dog and cat owners should have their pets spayed or neutered.
 Citizens with cellular phones can help thwart crimes and assist in the capture of criminals.
 People wanting cosmetic surgery should investigate the risks before submitting to surgery.
 Riders of bicycles and motorcycles should be required by law to always wear helmets.
 Every person who dines at a restaurant needs to know when and how much to tip.
 Hotels and motels should increase security to counteract the rising number of crimes against
guests.
 Taxpayers should subsidize therapy sessions for victims of violent crimes.
 Sellers of used automobiles should be required by law to tell prospective buyers if a car is a
rebuilt vehicle that had been wrecked.
 Child care authorities should carefully screen prospective foster parents to prevent child
molesters from becoming foster parents.
 Everyone should take classes in CPR and first aid techniques.
 Consumers who routinely run up credit card bills that they can't pay should seek guidance
from credit counselors.

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hrome& (lesson plan session 1)

Scholastic asked some expert political speechwriters to tell YOU the secrets of writing a speech that wins a crowd.
Here are their tips:
Pick Your Main Ideas
Don't try to put too many ideas into your speech. Research shows that people remember very little from speeches, so
just give them one or two ideas to hang onto. Remember, you only have one minute for your speech!

Write Like You Talk

Remember that you're writing a speech, not an essay. People will hear the speech, not read it. The more
conversational you can make it sound, the better. So try these tips:

 Use short sentences. It's better to write two simple sentences than one long, complicated sentence.
 Use contractions. Say "I'm" instead of "I am" "we're" instead of "we are."
 Don't use big words that you wouldn't use when talking to someone.
 You don't have to follow all the rules of written English grammar.
"Like this. See? Got it? Hope so." Your English teacher might be horrified, but people don't always talk in
complete sentences with verbs and nouns. So try to write like people talk.
 Always read your speech aloud while you're writing it. You'll hear right away if you sound like a book or a
real person talking!

Use Concrete Words and Examples

Concrete details keep people interested. For instance, which is more effective? A vague sentence like "Open play
spaces for children's sports are in short supply." Or the more concrete "We need more baseball and soccer fields for
our kids."

Get Your Facts Together

You want people to believe that you know what you're talking about! So you'll need to do some research. For
instance, let's say your big issue is the environment. You promise to pass a law that says all new cars must run on
electricity, not gas. That will cut down on air pollution! But it would help if you had a few facts: How much bad air does
one car create each year? How many new cars are sold in the U.S. every year? So how much will pollution be cut
every year? Use the library or the Internet to do research. Your new policy proposal will sound really strong if you
have the facts to back it up.

There are many issues you can talk about at your inauguration. How do you pick one? A good idea is to look inside
yourself and find out what you feel very deeply about. Maybe it's the environment. Or maybe you care about stopping
war. Or you feel passionate that all schools should have more art and music classes. Or you feel that downloading
music on the Internet should be free! Your issue should reflect who you are and what you care about.

Persuade With a Classic Structure

In a speech where you're trying to persuade someone, the classic structure is called "Problem-Solution." In the first
part of your speech you say, "Here's a problem, here's why things are so terrible." Then, in the second part of your
speech you say, "Here's what we can do to make things better." Sometimes it helps to persuade people if you have
statistics or other facts in your speech. And sometimes you can persuade people by quoting someone else that the
audience likes and respects.

Simplify
After you've written a first draft of your speech, go back and look for words you can cut. Cutting words in the speech
can make your points more clear. One speechwriter for a U.S. Senator has a sign above her desk that says: "Fewer
Words = Clearer Point." It helps her remember to always simplify a speech by cutting out words.