Repetition is a well-known rhetorical
technique for General Conference speakers, especially in terms of fundamental
doctrines and practices. Elder Lawrence
of the Seventy integrated that pattern on a micro-level. Uniquely, a large portion of his talk was
simply the repetition of a single idea. When
a person restates an expression we call it repetition. When he restates an idea, it becomes
parallelism. Elder Lawrence employed a
variety of nuances to shape each iteration of his primary theme, the act of
asking God what is inhibiting our progress, to give his message the feel of a rhythmic,
ideological beat rather than a single note that is pounded out over and over
again to the irritation of those paying attention.
He accomplished this subtle shifting
of ideas by first repeating the scriptural story that clearly explained the
principle, sharing many short examples to quickly underline the continuity of
his principle across a multitude of similar, everyday contexts, briefly expounding
on the central theme to add contrast and depth, and concluding with personal
examples and testimony. The topic of
invention of cause and effect was especially critical in the short example
section because it helped us to see the real-world impact of asking God what we
lack, and the consistency of the positive consequences that ensue. However, even though parallelism was an
effective tool, it was also important to the purpose of his message that not
all of his talk followed that pattern. Like
an opera singer belting out an aria at a constant forte, sticking too strictly
to unending repetition would have been too much to bear. The ebb and flow of the non-parallel pieces
of the talk ensured that we would not be distracted from the fundamental
message by the overuse of a single method of delivery. This allowed the parallelism to assume a
supporting role, peripheral to the core truth that seeking correction from God unbars
the stumbling blocks of our progression and facilitates our reentry into His Presence.
"parallelism," no changes made, by Barbara Krawcowicz. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legalcode
Nice analysis, and well written blog post. I think that's what makes these general authorities such brilliant public speakers - they know how to subtly keep hammering their point home, but they don't do it in a way where the audience would get tired of hearing it and shut down. Elder Lawrence, through those nuances you spoke of, did a good job of getting a point into our minds, but doing it to where we just felt the importance of the point, and didn't feel tired of hearing it.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine trying to decide what method to take can be a daunting task, but as you have mentioned Chloe, they know how to hammer a point home. I would suggest though that although we respect and revere these men and women of leadership, I believe we are all fully capable of these types of methods especially repetition as Gavin has written about.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you explained repetition! I think of the way my mother or some teachers I had growing up would repeat things over and over again but it would go in one ear and out the other. To me, their wonderful examples from their personal lives as well as from the scriptures add together toward the credibility of the gospel as a whole and give me more reason to believe that the church is true.
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