I Have a Dream Excerpt

Obama Dedicates MLK Jr. Memorial

Hot Coffee Trailer

Here's the film I was talking about, it was shown on HBO last year and it has some really frightening examples of how media can shape public opinion on an issue.  

http://youtu.be/93fsFvVqviA

President Kennedy Inaugrual Address

Since we're doing a project where we're writing our own speeches, I thought this resource would be useful for the class.  It's an article talking about what made US President John F. Kennedy's Inaugrual Address so successful, and memorable:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12215248

This speech is on the shortlist of memorable American speeches with The Gettysburg Address and I Have a Dream, and an example of the calm behavior, and mastery of speaking that made JFK the youngest US President ever elected, despite what his father's original plans were. (His older brother was expected to be the leader of the political empire before he died in WWII, and his younger brother Robert was assasinated while running for President, five years after John's assasination.)

And here's the speech itself:

Correction of a person, by that person, for the people

I'm doing this post to apologize for shoving my foot in my mouth, and essentially calling out Tala, when I said the '...government of the people, by the people, for the people ...' quote from the Gettysburg Address, was from the US Decleration of Independence, which I checked and found it isn't.  So sorry, to Tala.

Lincoln wasn't the first to express this sentiment, though he was the first to do it using those words.  In 1830, during an address to the US Senate, Daniel Webster said, 'It is, Sir, the people's government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people.  The people of the United States have decleared that this Constitution shall be the supreme law.'

The phrase was commonly used in the 1850's by abolitionist (of slavery) preacher Theodore Parker, though worded, 'Democracy is direct self-government over all the people, for all the people, by all the people.'  Lincoln apparently marked these words in a copy he had of a sermon by Parker before writing the Gettysburg Address.  Parker also at a different time defiend democracy as, 'a governemnt of all the people, by all the people, for all the people.'

Ironically, a version of the phrase was used by Stephen A. Douglas on July 9, 1958, in a debate AGAINST Lincoln.  He said, 'In my opinion this government of ours is founded on the white basis.  It was made by the white man, for the benefit of the white man, to be administered by white men, in such a manner as they should determine.'  I don't think it's really nessacary to elaborate much on the clear fact that Douglas was was a pro-slavery candidate running against the anti-slavery Lincoln.  Lincoln's opinions on people of African descent however, is a different topic for a different day.

The mistaken idea that the statement is part of American law seems to be held by a somewhat large amount of the American public.  In 1996, then President Bill Clinton said, 'The last time I checked, the Constitution said "of the people, by the people, and for the people." That's what the Decleration of Independence says.' On the bright side, I said this in English class, not on national TV during a Presidential debate like Clinton did.
Source
So that's that.  Que laugh track, and I'll try to keep my mouth shut so I won't make mistakes as often.  Or, is the issue that I wasn't talking as much that class, which is why I did make a mistake?

I Have A Dream

This doesn't really relate to persuasive language, but I thought it was interesting to see how much of an effect Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech had on people. In 2007, the movie Freedom Writers came out. One of the songs that stuck with me the most was one about freedom and included words from the I Have A Dream Speech.

Advertising, or entertainment

Adidas and Nike have a high profile competition for the major shares of the European and American markets in sporting goods, the focal point of which is soccer cleats (or boots, or whatever floats your boat).
Thus, they from time to time will cut at each other, without trying to make it obvious.

Take this video for example. Adidas released it after Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or, (Golden ball award for best player of the year) for the second time in a row.  And of course, the had to rub it in to Nike, whose headlining player, Cristiano Ronaldo, was the last player who isn't Messi to win it, and at times seems to be a super fashion model (no, I'm not going to link to an Armani commercial of Ronaldo walking around in his underwear, if you want to see it, go find it yourself).  The character who shows up around 42 seconds has been said to be a caricture of 'CR7,' and is wearing the colors of his original team, Sporting Clube de Portugal (or Sporting Lisbon) and the Portugese national team, which he captains.

Nike, realeased the below video after taking the sponsorship of the French national side from their longtime jersey makers, Adidas.

The words of the film (its name is literally, 'Le film') are taken from a monologue in the play Cyrano de Bergerac:

French	English Literal	English, poetic
Élégant comme Céladon, Agile comme Scaramouche, Je vous préviens, cher Mirmydon, Qu'à la fin de l'envoi je touche !	Elegant as Celadon (a type of Ancient Chinese ceramic.  If anyone can find something that makes more sense, please do tell me) Agile as Scaramouch (Character in Italian masked opera) I tell you, dear Myrmidon (Achilles’ soldiers in the Illiad) At the end of the poem, I strike	Graceful as Phoebus (Apollo), Round I wheel, Alert as Scaramouch, A word in your ear, Sir Spark, I steal – At the end of l'envoi, I touch
- Tac ! je pare la pointe dont Vous espériez me faire don;— J'ouvre la ligne,—je la bouche. . . Tiens bien ta broche, Laridon ! A la fin de l'envoi, je touche	Tap! I parry (block) the tip (of a sword) that you wished to give me I open  the line – I block … Hold well your spit, Laridon! At the end of the poem, I strike.	Tac! I parry the point of your steel; -The point you hoped to make me feel; I open the line, now clutch Your spit, Sir Scullion – slow your zeal! At the end of the verse, I touch. <>   <> <>   <>
Envoi. Prince, demande à Dieu pardon ! Je quarte du pied, j'escarmouche, Je coupe, je feinte. . . (Se fendant): Hé ! là, donc ! A la fin de l'envoi, je touche !	Prince, as pardon from God. I move a step, I I cut, feint (He thrusts) What! There, then! At the end of the poem, I strike	Envoi. Prince, pray Heaven for your soul’s weal! I move a pace – lo, such! And such! Cut over – feint! (Thrusting) What ho! You reel? At the end of the verse, I touch

Anyways, Nike enlisted the new French Captain, Florent Malouda, and some other people including a top French rapper, to make this.  Missing however, is French playmaker Samir Nasri (other stars Patrice Evra and Franck Ribery were still suspended from World Cup antics).  Wait, I forgot, Nasri's an Adidas guy.

And this is a Volkswagen commercial that ignores almost everything about the car, other than that it has a large gas tank, and can go for more than 13 hours without refuling.  But it is entertaining.