I am teaching Rhetoric for the first time this year, to one whole student, my oldest son. So take what follows with a grain of salt from an admitted noob. That being said, I have been something of a fan of the rhetorical arts for a good while as a long time Logic teacher. Rhetoric is the logical extension of logic, placing arguments into action and using them to persuade. There is not much use in being right if you cannot convince anyone that you’re right.
In the near(ish) future I hope to do a series of posts on Rhetoric as a discipline and the various purposes it can serve, means of persuasion at our disposal, the need for ethics in rhetoric, and so on. Below is a fun exercise of rhetoric, taking a fictional setting and situation as the occasion for a persuasive speech. Such exercises are enjoyable and often serve as an easier place to start with students who might be more immediately interested in interacting with a story than with a matter of political policy, theology, philosophy, law, etc. Personally, I just like to argue no matter what the subject…
I have left the structure in a fairly wooden fashion so you can see the arrangement of the speech in its parts and the type of introduction and conclusion I chose to utilize out of several options. I am currently working through the Fitting Words text for my Rhetoric class which is put together by James Nance; the same person who wrote the Logic curriculum I have used most. It’s good stuff. Obviously you would also find much benefit in reading Aristotle’s Rhetoric as a primary source. You might also note that I used my sample Medieval Disputation as the preparation for writing this persuasive speech. Disputations are a phenomenal way of preparing for speech writing.
Enjoy!
Setting: The council of Elrond in Rivendell is the place of the meeting. There are representatives of all the free peoples of Middle Earth including dwarves, elves, hobbits, men, and one wizard. There is significant tension and distrust between the various parties present.
Introduction: (Refer to the Occasion, Refer to a Previous Speech, Ask Questions, State Something Surprising, Tell a Story or Anecdote, Elaborate on a Quote, Skip the Introduction)
Just over sixty years ago there was a most unlikely adventure involving impossible odds of success. A small band of dwarves joined forces with the most unlikely of “burglars” to steal back a great treasure from a great enemy. The legend of this story is well known to many of you sitting here today because the adventure involved not only dwarves but also elves, men, a wizard (in fact this same wizard who sits here before us now), and a hobbit. This tale, though not without its heartaches, is nonetheless a witness to us all of the power of a common purpose to unite our people in bravery, in friendship, and to bring about victory where otherwise there seemed no hope. Yes, you know the tale of which I allude to, the tale of taking back the Lonely Mountain from the terrible dragon, Smaug. No one would have said it was possible and less would they have thought so if they saw that humble band departing from the shire, but even so they overcame, even so the dragon fell to its doom, even so there are those sitting here right now who lived to travel there and back again and to tell the tale to their friends and their children. Some of you who sit here now are direct heirs of this story. But it is no mere story, it is a truth. The truth is that when the free peoples of Middle Earth unite in a common purpose and against a common enemy, uncommon victory is in their grasp.
Narration: Statement of Facts
It is in light of this truth that I remind you why we are all here today. As you all know many years ago Middle Earth came within a hair's breadth from falling to the dark lord Sauron. It was only by the forging of a courageous alliance between Men and Elves that Sauron was opposed. Even then it was only by what can be rightly called providence that Sauron was defeated with a desperate swing of a sword which severed the One Ring from the dark prince of Mordor, banishing him to a weakened and incorporeal state. While the whole of this story should have ended that day, because the ring could have been destroyed by Isildor, it was not done. So Sauron was left to linger in Middle Earth in his undefined form and power causing what havoc he may. But now he has regained much of the strength which he had in his former days and he lacks only the One Ring in order to be made whole. Now here, before your very eyes, you see that the One Ring has come into our possession, perhaps by the same providence which caused it to depart from the dark lord in the first place. It is for us to decide this day what is to be done with the One Ring.
Division: 1. Clarification of agreement and disagreement. 2. Enumeration of proofs.
What all of us undoubtedly agree upon is this, that Sauron must not be allowed to go on unopposed. For if he is to have his way it will mean the torture, enslavement, and demise of the peoples of Middle Earth. There is nowhere which will stay beyond his reach if we do not act immediately to counter his dark will.
This much we all know, however, it may be that we are not of one mind as to the way in which we should work against the dark will of the dark lord. Some here have already suggested varying courses of action such as hiding the One Ring, or even attempting to wield it against Sauron. But we must do neither of these things! We must destroy the ring once and for all! We must work together in a fellowship toward this end using all the various strengths of our peoples. I believe that our best hope is to entrust the ring to that same unlikely stock which successfully undermined the dragon of The Lonely Mountain all those years ago. Let the ring bearer be a hobbit!
Proof: Presentation of Arguments
Too long has Sauron been a plague on Middle Earth. For generations he has been the cause of all sorts of maladies among our peoples. His evil will has reared its ugly head in various manifestations for centuries. Whether his power manifests as it did in the days of the Necromancer, or whether it spurs on goblins and orcs to do wicked things in the dark, Sauron is always working evil in our world. If the ring is never destroyed then there will never be an end to Sauron’s wickedness. Even now he has grown so strong in Mordor without the ring it is not at all certain we will be able to defeat his forces in battle. But even if we could successfully defeat the armies of Mordor this day, it would not be a true victory. To defeat Sauron in our generation is only to delay him, it does not destroy him. Like a malignant tumor he will grow back again and again. With seemingly endless opportunities to attempt domination it is only a matter of time before Sauron succeeds in his designs. It is only a matter of time until Middle Earth, as we know it, will be no more. If we do not act decisively it is only a matter of time until our freedom, our land, our children, our very way of life, will all be in the clutches of Sauron. It is not a question of if he will succeed, it is only a question of when. Therefore, we must choose this day to do that which our fathers did not. We must destroy the ring! We must do this not only for our own good but for the good of our children and our children’s children after them. The voice of wisdom and the voice of courage are speaking the same word today, the One Ring must be destroyed!
Sauron will never stop, brothers. As long as the ring continues to exist Sauron will endure, for he and the ring are bound one to the other. I called you brothers just now for that is what we are. Do you not know that we are all sons of the free lands of Middle Earth? And if we are all sons of the same mother then are we not brothers? As brothers let us work together against our common enemy. In every family every child has its individual strengths and talents, or is it not so? Is not that family, as a whole, made stronger when each of its children work together with the different abilities they have been given? So it is with the free children of Middle Earth. To my brother the dwarf has been given the gift of clever craftsmanship and the stout strength of a warrior. To my brother the elf has been penetrating sight and wisdom, not to mention skill with a bow. To my brother man it has been given steadfastness of strength, and iron will. To my brother the wizard it has been given understanding of the deep things of old and the ways of magic. To my brother the hobbit has been given an abiding love of what is good, true, and beautiful in this world and also the helpful ability to go unnoticed by those who would rather do well to notice. As brothers, functioning as one family, we can accomplish our purposes together. Together we can, and indeed we must, destroy the One Ring. What can the sons of freedom not accomplish when they act together as one?
As to who should carry the ring itself into Mordor, I say let it be a hobbit. It was a hobbit who successfully came before the dragon and lived to tell the tale. It was a hobbit who found the one ring in the cave of Gollum all those years ago. It was a hobbit who has shown such resilience to the ring’s evil will that no other creature could bost. Indeed it was a hobbit who brought the ring faithfully to this council and set it down before you, quite willingly, for you to decide what to do with it. Had you found the ring, would you have brought it and set it down here and subjected its fate to others? It is just this sort of ability, this lack of greed for wealth, the lack of hunger for power or fame, that makes our brother the hobbit the one best suited to bear the ring to Mordor. It is a hobbit, I daresay, that will be the one who is most likely to let go of the ring when it dangles over the mouth of the volcano. The invisible hand of providence has chosen wisely for more than 60 years now to put the ring in the charge of hobbits and it is folly to disagree with such providence now. Let a hobbit be the ring bearer.
Refutation: The Destruction of Counter Arguments
As to the other ideas which have been proposed as to what we ought to do with the ring, I have not forgotten them. For thousands of years the ring of power has been missing and was, indeed, almost lost to memory for most in Middle Earth. It is clear that Sauron himself was not able to find it all this time. The ring, having not been in his possession, has evidently kept Sauron from being able to take physical form and has not allowed him to muster his full strength for all these years. Thus being so, it would seem wise to some that the best course of action is to attempt to hide the ring once again so as to keep it out of Sauron’s possession. Nevertheless, despite what might seem like wisdom, attempting to hide the ring would be great folly for several reasons.
For one, there is no guarantee that the ring can be adequately hidden this time. Providence granted that the ring was hidden from Sauron for as long as it was but, as you can see for yourself, it has come back to the light. Who can say how long we could manage to hide the ring? Who can say how quickly it might be revealed once again? Sauron’s strength, although not full (as he lacks the ring), has become great and he has mustered a large and evil force to serve his will. It is far less likely that the ring will be able to be adequately hidden given the present circumstance. Remember that when it was lost before it was lost by chance, indeed by providence, and no one knew its location and Sauron was recently defeated and the forces of evil were weak. These are not conditions we can recreate.
However, even if we could adequately hide the ring, this would still be folly. Sauron has become very great even without the ring. It is not at all certain that, even if we can keep it out of his grasp, we will be able to repel his onslaught. The dark lord may very well conquer Middle Earth even without his full strength. Our only path to true victory dictates that the ring must be destroyed so that the power of Sauron is broken forever.
I know what some of you are thinking. Such a mission, carrying the ring to Mordor, to the fires of Mount Doom, is surely a fool's errand. You are thinking that surely whoever would set out on such a journey is signing away his life. You are thinking that this would serve nothing but to bring the ring closer to Sauron and place the ring within his grasp sooner rather than later. You are thinking that we ought rather to use the ring to destroy him rather than attempting to destroy the ring itself. But this too, brothers, is folly.
It is not possible to use evil to bring about good. History has already shown us that the ring has an evil will of its own so powerful that it corrupts the hearts of those who possess and use its power. Is not the creature, Gollum, evidence enough of this? Is not the foolish actions of Isildur evidence enough of this? Search your own hearts, for you know your own heart better than any other, is not there already some wicked desire for power, for pleasure, for fame, for glory, that you struggle to keep at bay in your pursuit of virtue? Most assuredly, I know myself well enough, I could not be the ring bearer. I could not wield its power against Sauron. I would bring about nothing but my own destruction and, I fear, the destruction of those I love. The ring is evil and it lends only to evil. Further, even if one were able to resist the ring's power to corrupt, the ring’s will is connected to Sauron himself and it can never be truly mastered by another. The ring would betray any other bearer but the dark lord. In light of all this, again I say, the ring must be destroyed!
Conclusion: (Summary, Call to Action, Famous Saying, Contrast, Prediction, Bookend)
My brothers, my fellow children of freedom, what more can be said? What more needs to be said? The time for words is at an end. What is required now is decisive action. We are of one mind as to the necessity of opposing Sauron, let us now also be of one mind about the means to victory and the perpetual freedom for our people. Give the ring to our brother the hobbit, let us lend him our strength and aid him in whatever way we may, but let us, by any means necessary, destroy the ring! Who among you will write their names on the pages of history and join this fellowship of the ring?