Massey Graduates Scrutinise President's Address
massey-university
Wed Jan 14 2009 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Massey Graduates Scrutinise President's Address
Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 12:19 pm
Press Release: Massey University
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Massey graduates to cast critical eye over US President’s inaugural address
Massey University graduates will be analysing the power of speech when they reunite to discuss Barack Obama’s presidential address.
Lecturer Dr Heather Kavan will lead an email discussion with about 20 students from her last speech writing course.
Dr Kavan, who has written political speeches, says the hotly-anticipated address on January 21 (NZ time) will cement Obama’s place in history.
“He is under an enormous amount of pressure to deliver one of the greatest speeches ever,” she says.
“A truly great speech is soulful, it lifts us above man-made judgements to a greater dignity.
“Obama has a wonderful ability to tell stories that have impact. He has a black rhythmic speech style that generates an emotional response.”
Dr Kavan says that the group will discuss the speech's impact, as well as its style and language.
"It will be interesting to see the students’ responses because, when asked to evaluate speeches, students don't usually rate presidential ones the highest," she says.
"New Zealand students tend to prefer brave, risky speeches born of adversity, rather than inaugural addresses designed to make listeners feel secure.”
Last year students chose Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech and Earl Spencer's speech at Diana's funeral as the greatest speeches of all time.
"So many people are saying that Obama's speech is likely to be one of the greatest speeches ever,” says Dr Kavan. “Obama's speech writing team are young. Jon Favreau, the lead speech writer is only 27 years old. If anyone can appreciate the pressure the team are under, it's speech writing students.”
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Dr Kavan says to expect the classic inaugural speech themes of hope and unity alongside great optimism in pessimistic times.
“Obama’s words have a musical quality. He inspires confidence. Some people are saying he hasn’t experienced the suffering of Martin Luther King and not lived through the extremes of discrimination but I think this speech could be in the same league as King’s – I wish I could be in the audience.”
Caitlin Cunningham, a graduate of the speech writing course, is excited to be taking part in the discussion group.
“Obama’s speech will be a momentous event in these changing times and I want to experience that,” she says.
ends
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