(This is clearly an opinion, hence persuasive) To inform my classmates that Universal Studios is a better theme park than Six Flags over Georgia. (This is not persuading the audience of anything, just informing) To persuade my audience about the three types of individual retirement accounts. (This cannot be informative since it is taking a side) To inform my audience why capital punishment is unconstitutional. The third problem happens when the “communication verb” in the specific purpose does not match the content for example, persuasive content is paired with “to inform” or “to explain.” If you resort to the word “why” in the thesis, it is probably persuasive. (organizational chefs in large institutions) To persuade my classmates that JIF Peanut Butter is better than Peter Pan. To inform my classmates about the Yellow 5 ingredient in Mountain Dew (chemists, nutritionists). To inform my classmates of the life cycle of a new species of lima bean (botanists, agriculturalists). The second problem with specific purpose statements is the opposite of being too broad, in that some specific purposes statements are so focused that they might only be appropriate for people who are already extremely interested in the topic or experts in a field: To explain to my classmates the origin of the ballet dancers’ clothing. To explain to my classmates how ballet originated as an art form in the Renaissance. To explain to my classmates the difference between Russian and French ballet. To explain to my classmates how ballet came to be performed and studied in the U.S. These examples are much more specific and much more manageable given the limited amount of time you will have. You will probably find that your first attempt at a specific purpose statement will need refining. To explain to my classmates the history of ballet.Īside from the fact that this subject may be difficult for everyone in your audience to relate to, it is enough for a three-hour lecture, maybe even a whole course. The first problem many students have in writing their specific purpose statement has already been mentioned: specific purpose statements sometimes try to cover far too much and are too broad. Problems to Avoid with Specific Purpose and Central Idea Statements Compose appropriate specific purpose and central idea statements for informative, persuasive, and inspirational/entertaining speeches.Distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable specific purpose and central idea statements.Write a thesis or central idea statement.Differentiate between a speech to inform, persuade, and inspire or entertain.Distinguish between the specific purpose, central idea, and main points of a speech.“The teacher punished us because we were whispering in class.”ĭon’t forget to read the other articles of the serie Parts of Speech.After reading this chapter, the student will be able to:.“He did give her a bouquet of flowers this morning.”.Some verbs can be used as both auxiliary and main verbs, such as “have” and “do” ( “Did you do your homework?” “You have enough toys!” etc.).
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