I must say that as I was impressed with Dominique's Rhetorical Interpretation speech, I was absolutely floored with his debate. He was prepared far more than the others, remaining cool and calm. Granted he did make a very vital mistake that would have, in any other classic debate, gotten him berated several times: he kept making personal statements about the oposing team, calling their side ridiculous and implying that it was simply a right-wing agenda. Both are viable points, however they must be presented different. Dominique did enough of a good job that he we knew the other side was ridiculous, despite his having to say so and if he wanted to bring up the 'right-wing agenda,' he simply would have had to expand upon it and substantiate it. I feel as though there was very little reliance on facts (ommitting Dominique) and rather everyone just explained how they feel. And despite what else was said, I feel as though Rachel's inclusion of 'I have a family member' was not a viable inclusion simply because she did not give enough information. She only mentioned and said her family member still had 'scars.' There was no expansion whatsoever. And quite simply, the entire, 'effects of teenage sex upon the teen' was completely besides the point. Neither way was going to stop it. Sex is inevitable, it is which side will get more kids to wait. I think the biggest mistake that the negative side made was to change the debate resolution. They would have had a lot more information available saying that sex education should be taught in the home. I suppose, however, considering both sides only had a week to prepare for this debate, it was a pretty good job.

With all due respect, I was actually somewhat disapointed with the speeches that were given on Wednesday, but moreso the feedback given. I understand the idea of positive reinforcement, but frankly, I think that it is not necessarily the best way to strengthen a public speaker. The speeches, as a whole, on Wednesday seemed very unrehearsed and unprepared, not to mention very superficial in their discussion of the effectiveness of the speech. I will say that I thought Hillary's speech was pretty good, especially considering she was having difficulty speaking. In addition, the interpretations weren't necessarily that bad, but the analysis as a whole tended to seem winged. I will not joke for a second and claim necessarily that my speech tomorrow will be any better. I am very under-rehearsed as of right now and it will very much be a, shall we say, unique performance. But if my speech turns out horrible, I have no qualms about being told that and I understand it, simply because I have not made the necessary time that I have needed to. I believe that was the case with any and all problems on Wednesday. People just didn't put in the necessary time. As a teacher trying to stress the importance of preparation, when it is apparent that preparation was lacking, I think it's okay to voice it and expose it. It's okay to be a bad guy occasionally. We need it. It's the only way I think we will get any better.

Today, it seemed as though the biggest problem was simply that people did not practice their speeches enough. Almost everyone mentioned that in one way or another as having had contributed to whatever faults they believed their speeches to have. The speech topics were very unique today, it kind of makes me wish I did something a little more interesting. The problem was, however, that the lack of preparation and confidence took away from the captivation that would have been expected from some of the more interesting topics such as woodstock and the race riots. I do not mean to single these two out, they were good and creative, they just didn't seem too confident when their topic basically guarenteed them at least some kind of attention.

Speech day. That was very exciting. Not really. I think my speech went okay, but it definitely wasn't the best thing I've ever done. A combination of my sniffling and headache kept taken me away from my topic, which made it pretty difficult to stay on task and remember that stupid last quote. I hate that quote. I never should have picked that stupid quote. In any case, though, I think the thing I really let go on was my physical movements, using my walking (which I've always seen as a strength) to excentuate my point rather than just doing it for the sake of movement. It was kind of another flaw of my sickness dealing. Too bad I lost the battle. That's about all I have.

After yet another day of speeches, I believe that I have learned a few things. For one, our class is very willing to share personal stories. I truly admire those that have and will do so. There is one thing that I would offer, for those people, however. It may just be my opinion but there needs to be more fine line walking in the way of practice for maximum effectiveness. Some of the speeches today seem almost too practiced, hence losing some validity. At the same time, there was the other extreme, in which there wasn't enough practice done and the personal story suffered only because the speaker relied too much on a natural telling. I think only of real-world speeches when I think about this context because it is important to maintain a very good balance of practice but comfort. Comfort is probably the key problem in our class. In the narrative, being uncomfortable and allowing some of our speaking vices to come out may work because a heavy topic will excuse and even welcome those actions. The danger is, however, that when there are more serious speeches, these vices must be addressed.

Well, after the first day of speeches, I must say that I am feeling a lot more comfortable about giving mine on Wednesday. It seemed like so much more of a big deal, but the laid back atmosphere made it feel like nothing (although I'm not so sure it wasn't too laid back). The thing that, in general, I think could be improved upon the speeches lies in delivery. Specifically, the speakers could use more confidence. Tiffany and Jana did a good job of conveying it, but on a whole, I think the nervous movement and fillers, as well as nervous eye contact (the kind where you look at your audience but you kind of shake and dart around) is evidence of a need for more confidence. There were definitely some good aspects of the speeches today, though. The thing every speaker did well was effectively introduce their topic. All the attention getters were very strong, and very creative. My biggest concern about the speeches would have to be the atmosphere in which we are giving them. I understand that it is the first speech and we are trying to work into it, but I feel as though the laid back environment is taking away from effective learning. In real life, there will often be a lot of pressure put on big speeches. Here, there is no recreation of that. We are giving speeches to give speeches, not practicing giving real speeches in which we try to accomplish our means. We're just practicing, and I think that is somewhat ineffective.

I would prefer not too give too much away about my speech, so I will attempt not to. We are supposed to be talking about rhetorical problems that we expect to happen in our speech, so I will start from the beginning. My speech is a very personal story about a childhood incident that is very emotional, but has the danger of becoming very cliche. For that reason, the biggest problem that I will be facing is in not maintaining a sullen and overly sympathetic tone. IE: I need to ensure that I am not whining and that my point is coming across clearly without overstepping the emotional boundaries. I am attempting to battle this by utilizing a more informal tone when I introduce dialogue. The gym teacher, who is one of the antagonists of the narrative, will be well painted and a very relatable character. At the same time, I play to start out very casual, and slowly work my way into a heavier body. It is very important for the effectiveness of this narrative that I am believable and very personal. I am going to need to open myself up and kind of show myself honestly. As a freshman, knowing very few people and being tossed very quickly into some this new situation, I am a little disconcerted at having chosen such a personal topic so quickly. That is the way the cookie crumbles, I suppose.

In summary, I'm simply going to tell the story as though it were to someone I was getting to know as opposed to a speech in front of the class. It will give the speech it's authentic necessity. A formal introduction and conclusion, I believe, will off set a more informal tale.