2.2. What does make a good orator?

The Greeks believed that to be an orator, an individual had to be morally good. As much as I would like to agree with the Greeks, unfortunately I disagree with such belief. One might not be entirely dishonest in his or her moral principles, and still be considered an orator. A great example would be one of the former presidents of Brazil, Fernando Collor de Melo. Although he impressed many people with his eloquent speeches over the course of his presidential campaign, it turned out that he was extremely dishonest with his country upon being elected.

Melo was so dishonest that his impeachment was inevitable in 1992. Regardless his dishonest character, nobody can say Melo is not an orator. He was able to manipulate the elements “goodness”, “truth”, and public communication to achieve his goal to become the president of Brazil. And due to some people’s ‘short memory’, Melo was elected as Senator in 2006. All he did to return to the political arena was to manipulate goodness, truth and public communication.

In the end, THE best orators – those I truly admire and I use as my mirrors are the ones who indeed employ goodness and truth in their public communication.

Ibirapuera

2.1. Soledad O’Brien

What a challenge not to use Barack Obama as THE speaker I admire! Another challenge is not to use his wife, Michelle Obama - another speaker I admire. Fortunately there are other talented speakers who deserve to be the object of my admiration. Hence, I will focus my attention on the television journalist, María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien. The reason why I chose O’Brien is because she covers racial issues in the United States and she also contextualizes similar racial issues in other countries.

O’Brien’s power to persuade comes from ethos (personal character), pathos (the ability to arouse emotions), and logos (personal character) altogether. In the first case, as an African-American, O’Brien knows what prejudice is. Her parents, for instance, experienced prejudice in America just for being immigrants. This evidence makes her viewers believe that O'Brien knows what she is talking about when she covers racial issues; in the second case, O’Brian talks about issues that African-Americans want to see addressed urgently, but few journalists do so. As an example of O'Brien's works, I could mention her famous documentary ‘Black in America’; finally, in the third case, O’Brian has come a long way covering racial issues, which leads African-Americans to believe that her endeavor to improve African-Americans’ lives through news only can be achieve if she reports the ugly truth African-Americans still deal with on a daily basis.

In my view Aristotle’s classification scheme works perfectly for O’Brien, given that she graciously makes use of ethos, pathos, and logos to convey critical messages through documentaries and news she is in charge of. Shifting gears to my own ability to persuade other people, I would risk saying that the main personal qualities that make me persuasive are my natural ability to arouse emotion on my audience and my self-confidence.

Ibirapuera

1.2. Introducing myself

First of all, welcome to my blog! :-)

You might be curious about my name. Clearly this is not my real name. Instead, it is my favorite park’s name, which is located in my country - Brazil. I was born and raised in the metropolitan São Paulo – the biggest city of Brazil. I have been living abroad for almost four years. While I enjoy living in the United States, the distance from my family still hurts. In addition to that, I am still trying to come to terms with the racial dynamic of the US, which is absolutely different from the Brazilian racial conceptualization.

I would say that my “communication history” started when I was still being developed. My parents always tell me that I used to kick a lot when they talked to me over the course of my mother’s pregnancy. Although my kicking response was a non-verbal communication with my parents, it was indeed some sort of powerful communication.

Life followed its course and I discovered the power of words and how I could use them in a positive or in a negative way. Later on I graduated in Journalism. Finally, this is my 2nd year as a graduate student at SJSU. As far as my progress on the graduate program goes, I have taken COMM 200, 202, 244, 274, being 244 an online class.

Altogether, I will take three classes this semester, in additon to getting started on my thesis . It is a lot going on at the same time, but fortunately my passion for what I am studying will help me along the way. As an international person, I feel I have a deep understanding and respect for cultural differences. However, there is always something else to learn. Hence, I expect to learn through your different viewpoints and ultimately, to continue doing my best in my graduate program this fall.

Thanks for your time! :-)
Ibirapuera

1.1. Hello, everyone!

Hello everyone,

I am Ibirapuera and I am very excited to experience this class with you! :)

Ibirapuera