Assignment: Rhetorical Analysis of David A. Bednar's "To Sweep the Earth as with a Flood"

The purpose of this assignment is to practice rhetorical analysis using terminology learned to date, and to consider this contemporary public speech in light of classical Greek rhetoric and philosophy.

Steps:

1. Watch and read the address delivered on August 19, 2014 by David A. Bednar, "To Sweep the Earth as with a Flood." 
2. Review the rhetorical concepts studied to date and use these (selectively) to analyze the speech and/or its contexts (which can include the live event, the video recording, or the written transcript). 
3. In a post of close to 300 words, present your analysis within a short argument that relates the ideas or the methods in Elder Bednar's speech to the ideas or methods used by Socrates in Plato's Gorgias. Consider that communication is both a means and a topic (for both Plato/Socrates and for Elder Bednar).
4. Use an illustration or picture if possible. This could even be a photo of your marked-up version of either text.

Due: Friday, September 12, 2014 by 10:00pm (initial posts). Comments can follow.Cautions:

• Don't just identify the use of rhetoric. Interpret the function or the significance of what you identify. You have not done an analysis of, say, a topic of invention by merely pointing to its use. What does using that rhetorical element accomplish?
• Don't attempt too much. Your pre-writing should probably include more rhetorical terms than the post that you finally put up, which cannot go very long. Try to make a single, clear observation backed up by rhetorical analysis.
• You may consider how either man would be in agreement with or opposed to the other man's method or message.