Quote:
Originally posted by J.J.:
Do you have a list of speech topics that have been done so often, they do not get accepted anymore? we had a dozen topics that had circulated thru the greek houses and dorms so much, they were topica non grata when it came time to do it. do your students do an informative/demo, prob/solution, and expository formats? Or do you cover more the mechanics of speaking and the types of organizational format?
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I teach high school Sophomores (age 15-16).
And yes, there are quite a few topics I consider annoying or unacceptable -- legalization of marjhuana, lower the drinking age, AIDS, teen suicide, eating disorders, . . .
We've decided as a department that we will focus on Demonstration, Informative, and Persuasive formats. We also do some impromptu speeches and have the students write a Eulogy.
We are not so concerned with students learning the finer arts of rhetoric (although I'd love to teach that, they get bored when I get philosophical), but rather hope that the students have a positive first experience and learn proper delivery techniques.
Speech is probably the second most valued class I've taught. Most of the time it is former Debaters who come back and thank me for all that I've taught them in Debate, but occasionally a Speech student will do the same. For some reason, my Freshmen didn't come back and thank me for making them memorize the parts of speech -- imagine that (
puzzled shrug )
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- Father Bronze