Ted talk：How trees talk to each other
You will be writing a rhetorical analysis of one of the TED talks you have selected from a short list of options your TA will give you.
Throughout this course you are learning about many factors which contribute to a good speech in a variety of ways. Structure, organization, language, delivery, and other factors make up a comprehensive inventory of the means by which a speaker may achieve his or her purpose. The goal of this critical analysis paper is to thoroughly and specifically examine whether and how the speaker made the best possible choices from this inventory in order to achieve his/her speaking purpose.
You will be required to choose a TED/TEDx talk from the list provided by your TA. These speeches must be a minimum of 10 minutes in length.
Use a topical pattern of organization for this paper and critique the speaker’s ethos, pathos & logos. In the section on ethos you must cover elements that both contributed to and/or detracted from the speaker’s good sense, good moral character, and goodwill. In the section on logos you will need to cover the content (focus of topic, choice of material, etc), structure, and verbal/nonverbal style of the speech. In the section on pathos you will cover speakers’ appeals to the audience’s interests, values, and feelings/emotions. For each section be sure to provide: 1) clear descriptions of what the speaker did, 2) detailed analysis of why this was significant, and 3) your own assessment of the relative effectiveness or ineffectiveness of that aspect of the speech.
Papers will be graded on content, clarity, organization/structure, logic, and depth (see rubric). Strong papers will be comprehensive, covering all aspects of the speech and show depth and insight into the finer aspects of public speaking.
Papers must be 5 pages typed, double spaced, written in MLA format, and turned in on or before the stated due date. Once uploaded, this assignment will receive an automatic review through Turnitin. Papers that receive above a 15% similarity score should be revised immediately as they will not be eligible for grading and may be reported to the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs (OSSJA).
After completion of this assignment you will be given the opportunity to revise your analysis and resubmit it for a better grade, with the higher of the two scores counting for the final course grade only. If you chose not to rewrite your paper the original grade will count towards the final course grade only.
Ted Talk link：
https://www(dot)ted(dot)com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other?language=en
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Rhetorical Analysis: How Trees Talk To Each Other
Public speaking is effective when the speaker or presenter uses applies the rhetorical elements effectively. The goal of utilizing these elements is ensuring that the audience understands the message and are able to grasp the various issues as presented. A good speaker understands the various elements of persuasion, and uses logical arrangement of facts to drive the message home. Whenever forming argument, there are three main aspects that must be considered: your audience, your subject, and style of presentation. These are basic foundations leading to good and effective speeches. In this analysis, we will consider all the elements of the presentation, which includes the audience, medium, purpose, and context. Achieving these requires a description of the presentation, analysis of the rhetorical appeals, analysis of audience’s reaction, and evaluation of effectiveness of the presentations.
How Trees Talk To Each Other is a TEDSummit presentation by Suzanne Simard, an ecology researcher. Simard shares results from her research about forest, and the communication occurring between trees. While many people consider forest as areas covered with trees, there is more than people can see. There is an intimate network system that connects the trees to each other. This allows them to communicate. This is proved as Simard shares results from a study she conducted. She used objects such as paper birch, douglas fir and cedar tree. Through the investigation, she established that douglas fir and paper birch had a two-way communication. On the other hand, cedars had their own world and had no links to each other. She argues that there is a tow-way communication that allows trees to collaborate as partners as their share essential elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and chemical compounds. She also managed to establish a relationship between clearing forests, the network of trees, and climate change (Simard).
The speech is effective because of the approach used in communication. First, there is a purposeful use of language in order to communicate the goals of the research. Simard starts her presentation by creating a sense of suspense, which appeals to pathos or emotions of the audience. When she says “imagine you're walking through a forest,” she intends to create an emotional appeal and make the audience remember or picture how being in a forest feels like. Further, she uses the introduction to appeal to ethos or establish her credibility as a research and someone who is informed in the subject she is addressing. This is seen when Simard says “we foresters.” This statement affirms that she belongs to a group peer reviewed scientist, which cements her credibility and makes the information she is sharing provable. After establishing her credibility, she goes ahead to explain what forests are composed of. While trees are the foundation for forests, there is “much more than what you see.” Another important element is the language and style used in communicating the speech. Simard does not use scientific jargon. She uses an easy-to-follow language, and includes scientific terms in areas where it is necessary. Simard also states the purpose of her presentation, “to cha...