Persuasive Speech Essay

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Thoughts of drowning run rampant in every man’s mind on that boat. At dawn, the men decided that their only chance is to row toward the distant shore again and swim when the boat finally capsizes.

Our “man in the water”, put his life at stake. Every time the rescue team lowered a lifeline and floatation ring to the man, he gave it to the other strangers. “ For at some moment in the water he must have realized that he would not live if he continued to hand over the rope and the ring to others.” When our “man in the water” realized that he had to choose between life and helping the strangers, he picked the more honorable decision, thus responsible for helping save four lives for the price of his own.

a. The American Temperament Test is a test that measures a dog strong avoidance, unprovoked aggression, and panic without recovery. “American Pit Bull Terriers passed the test at a rate of 85.3%,” according to Pitbulls.org. They have the highest test scores, and they out beat the golden retriever “family dog” by 7.7%.

TRANSITION: Now that we know some key difference between brand name drugs and generic drugs, we can take a look at their prices.

A. People commit murders largely in the heat of passion, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or because they are mentally ill, giving little or no thought to the possible consequences of their acts.

Specific Purpose: To persuade the audience to support the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Did you know that only 19 states and the District of Columbia have laws in place that

1. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed that 515,000 people were injured in various car crashes in the United States due to texting. Around 28 percent of all crashes in 2008 were caused by drivers in the age group of 18 and 29, who admitted to texting while driving. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/texting-while-driving-statistics.html)

The World Wide Fund for Nature or WWF for short has worked at reducing our carbon footprint for over 45 years. Even since 1985, the World Wildlife Fund Network has invested over $1.165 billion in more than 11,000 projects. According to the WWF website, their mission is to conserve nature which they are actively doing in 100 countries with 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. There are several ways that everyone can do their part in supporting WWF. Supporters can donate money, adopt a species, or take action and directly help conserve our environment. I am going to discuss WWF’s cause and importance, how they are working to conserve nature, and how all of you can help support the cause.

In the consuming darkness her body began to float upwards. Her mouth was open, letting in small discreet amounts of air, trying to buy as much time as she could before she ran out. Her fragile body was suspended in an awkward posture with her torso jutted forward and her limbs moving like a clockwork doll. Amongst the relentless whipping of the undulating waves she could hear her sister’s scream. She felt herself rise upwards as she continued to flail. She had to survive. She had to somehow reach the surface of the water and survive. She didn’t want to die. Not now. She was running out of air, no longer able to fight the urge to breathe. She looked up to see the sunlight, but she saw none. Then it dawned on her. She wouldn’t make it. She let

a. The following poem by Robert Test entitled, "To Remember Me," shows the importance of organ donation.

For some reason, you can’t seem to swim back up to the surface, let alone take a breath. It’s almost as if you have a chain tied to your heart that’s weighing you down. As time goes on, the walls don’t get lower. They become higher; filling with more and more water, which means more and more pressure. Every once and awhile, you get tired of trying to struggle to the surface.

I headed out to the water after setting up my towel. The shock of the frigid water took my breath away and I was momentarily stunned. However, I quickly recovered; finding my body adjusts rapidly to the cold water. I waded a few feet into it before leaning forward and swimming out. I didn't dare to go too far though, instead turning to swim parallel to the shore. I was comforted by the sounds of the ocean; the rhythmic pounding of the waves represses all of my worries. I looked into the cloudless cerulean blue sky and see the perfection of life. Just when I was starting to get tired and wanted to go back to the shore, I saw something.

An American literary theorist and novelist, Kenneth Burke, once said, “Wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric, and wherever there is rhetoric, there is meaning.” (Burke) Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and Fannie Lou Hamer all delivered powerful persuasive speeches that will go down in history. The use of these motivational individuals’ language and persuasion played a pivotal role within the civil rights movement, the movement that achieved the most important breakthrough in the equal rights legislation. We can observe this in the speakers’ rhetoric devices like ethos, logos and pathos.