Short Essay
The girl jerks awake as her head does a sudden nose dive
toward the floor. She rubs the back of her neck and looks up at the speaker. “Nodding
off in church again?” her father inquires. “You know bishop will give you a
hard time about this” he says with a small chuckle.
This young girl was me. I just couldn’t seem to stay awake
during church. I am not the only person who has this, “sleeping disorder” when
it comes to church talks. Most people have been this girl, most people have
struggled to find the real meaning in the words being spoken, most have struggled
to stay entertained while listening to a sermon.
Augustine one of the greatest Christian exemplars was too
one of these people. At first he didn’t believe that Christian speakers were
very good, and maybe in some cases he was correct. Often in the LDS and Christian
culture we say “let the spirit guide what you say” without saying “use some
rhetoric to make your talk interesting”. In doing this some of these rhetorical skills
are put on the back burner instead of being used to change lives.
Augustine’s life was changed when he finally saw the
rhetoric in Christian speaking.
Augustine would then go on to write about the amazing rhetorical tools
used in the Bible.
In Christianity, there is an argument about the ethicality
of using rhetoric to persuade people to believe in Christ. To this it could be said,
is it ethical to use comet to clean your tube while others have to use elbow grease?
While this argument is diverse and valid, Why not use rhetoric skills when they
are available? Perhaps then the little girl wouldn’t be asleep on the front row
of the chapel.
As one Book Of Mormon prophets explains, he did remember the
words of his father concerning Jesus the Christ and I did cry unto the father
for forgiveness. This remembering perhaps came because of his father’s
rhetoric. Augustine too had a similar experience.
In opposition, the ancient Greeks looked at rhetoric as something
that controlled someone, this thought pattern is exemplified in ‘The Encomium
of Helen’. Modern belief is that
rhetoric is a tool used to persuade. Why not use this tool to help persuade “men
to do good” (Ether 4:11). Quintilian agreed
when he defined and orator as, “a good man speaking well”. You too can be this orator
by persuade others to do good.
Short Rhetorical
Analysis
Seemingly scared to death Jacob goes to the temple to speak
boldly to his people about their sins (Jacob 2). Think of when you had to
correct someone’s behavior. Like talking to your roommate about leaving the
milk out. This can be a daunting task. With this task at hand Jacob speaks
boldly and with rhetoric.
This sermon takes place not long after Nephi dies. At this
time Jacob probably feels the pressure to lead the people in righteousness.
This speech also has Kairos because
people are looking for leadership and guidance as their leader has just passed
away. Death is also generally a time for life reflection, so the audience being the Nephite people, are
probably more open to change.
To accomplish Gods purpose Jacob (speaker) uses a very structured arrangement. Firstly he discusses why he is talking to the people.
In this introduction he establishes ethos
by saying that he is there to declare “the word of God” and that God commanded him
to say these things (Jacob 2:2). This claim caused the people to listen. He
also increases this ethos as he later quotes the lord (Jacob 2: 28- 32). He even
states, “here me, and harken unto the word of the Lord” meaning that he is
speaking the words of the lord (Jacob 2:27).
After the introduction, in Jacob 2:12, Jacob clearly states
what he will be discussing then later in Jacob 2:22 he states that he is going
to change subjects and talk about another topic. This can be related to when a
speaker numbers what they are going to talk about and is used as a great memory
tool. This talk had a clear and concise arrangement to help the audience understand
and remember what is being said.
Jacob also uses many figures of speech to emphasize Gods
message. As in common in scripture, he uses parallelism but he also uses personification
(Jacob 2:13), alliterations, and an ellipsis (Jacob 3:2). His alliteration
plays two roles, first it is a memory tool and second, it is used to add pathos. He states “it grieveth my soul
and causeth me to shrink with shame” this alliteration adds an emotional appeal to his plea (Jacob
2:6).
The additional figurative language helps the audience
remember his words but also makes his speech flow and gets his point across. For
example when he uses personification it
helps the audience relate to his words and visualize. This gives his speech more
ethos and adds imagery.
He also uses the topics
of invention compare/contrast, supernatural and cause/effect. He uses compare/contrast to compare his people
to the Lamanites. This helps them understand what they will become if they don’t
change (cause/effect). This analogy
really hits home because of the strong hatred the Nephites have for the Lamanites.
With the use of figurative
language, consistent topics of
invention and exceptional Kairos,
Jacobs sermon is bold, beautiful and persuasive.
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