DLSC ENGLISH 2 - "USING LANGUAGE WELL" REACTION + POLITICAL SPEECH QUALITY

A. Topic Reaction

Using the English language properly is a major concern for the De La Salle Canlubang students since most of them were not raised in an English-speaking environment. The short introductory lesson on using the English language well was but a step into the hard-to-master but incredibly benefiting world of English.

B. Taken from: Privilege speech of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Sept. 22, 2009

Competent Usage:

1. "The next day, the Hon. Senate President Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, stood and took the Floor, and properly so, to defend the name and honor of his father."

-Describes the actions of Jinggoy defending his father's crimes as the right thing to do
-Targets the morals of his audience by using the words "properly" and "honor"
-Hint of persuasion

2. "I am not certain why and how things have come to this. And I am not alone with that uncertainty. "

-Focuses not only on himself but also on his audience
-Tries to make a connection with the audience
-Uses the similar sounding antonyms "certain" and "uncertainty" to keep the audience on track of his sentence's point

3. "He was generous with his friends, but his generosity was exploited by those who were never really his friends in the first place."

-Hint of persuasion
-Attempts to transfer the blame of Estrada's crime
-Tries to relate with his audience by using the words "...exploited by those who were never really his friends in the first place.", which stimulates the emotion of being betrayed--which everyone has probably experienced

4. "I cannot claim to know everything about President Erap or to know him as keenly and intimately as perhaps, Senator Lacson does."

-Implies that he is just human
-(Implied) Admits that his claims do not have a solid backing and he does not take responsibility for any mistakes
-Name-drops to remind his audience of the gravity of his topic and that his speech covers his angle and others may have a different--or better--angle

5. "President Erap and I have had our own differences in the past."

-Pause followed by this short statement to get his point across.
-Implies that he is not in strong favor of any side but necessity calls for it.
-Followed by a pause to let his audience form their own opinions and add impact.
-Switches to Tagalog after this sentence to make his speech personal to his Filipino listeners.

Poor use:

"Perhaps, our friendship has remained unshaken because of our mutual openness and candor."

-"Candor" can be removed because it is a synonym for "openness"
-"Candor" is not a commonly used word; common people will not understand him

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Link to full speech: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/research/09/22/09/privilege-speech-senate-president-juan-ponce-enrile-sept-22-2009

*Uneven letter sizes due to blogspot.com error.

*The speech used was randomly selected. I answered this homework free of any political opinion.