4. The oratorical style

It is the spoken variant of the Publicistic style. Its purpose is persuasion. “…setting off a mood that may lead to action”(Potebnya).

Typical features of the spoken variety of speech present in this style are: direct address to the audience (ladies and gentlemen, honourable member(s), the use of the 2nd person pronoun you, etc.), sometimes contractions (I'll, won't, haven't, isn't and others) and the use of colloquial words.

In the oratorical style (O.S.), 2 more functions are added in comparison with the newspaper style as such - emphatic (= establishing contact) & aesthetic

O.S. is centered round 1 function, which is its main purpose – the “brainwashing” one. Purpose = to bring the listeners round to the speaker’s viewpoint, to persuade them to behave in a desired way; the speaker has to establish contact => this style uses direct forms of address to the audience, often by special formulas (“Ladies and Gentlemen!”; Mr. Chairman!; Honourable Members!; Highly esteemed members of the conference!; or, in less formal situation, Dear Friends!; or, with a more passionate colouring, My Friends!). Expressions of direct address can be repeated in the course of the speech and may be expressed differently (Mark you! Mind!).

Also, special formulas are then used at the end of the speech to thank the audience for their attention: “Thank you very much”; “Thank you for your time”.

Being oral by nature, this style uses contracted forms of words (can’t, don’t) & redundancy, ‘coz it’s a longish speech => the listeners may forget what came before => certain key phrases may be repeated for emphatic effect

The persuasion is done not only by logical argumentation, but by referring to some dates, figures (= precision info). But in some samples of oratory these facts may be approximated.

To influence the readers, speakers resort to diff. stylistic devices:

1) FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:

- metaphors: “the whole sorry incident left a sour taste for every one concerned.”

“Politicians should darn (заштопать) the holes in the ragged economy before we

all start to feel the cold."

- similes: “as fast as a leopard”; “as good as gold”; “like a rat up a drainpipe”; “like bees around a honeypot”

- personifications: “The New Zealand Dollar had a quiet week.”

“Life dealt him a heavy blow”

2) RHETORICAL DEVICES:

- rhetorical questions: “Are we going to put up with curfews and being hassled (докучать) by the police up town?”

“How do you stay healthy on a diet of chips and chocolate?”

- exaggerations: “Millions of students all over the world go home and rush eagerly into their homework in order to secure their future.”

- understatements: “A few students will wander home and perhaps turn on television.”

- contrast/juxtaposition: “Let us break the chains, shackles and nightmare of slavery and embrace each other in the dream of freedom.”

- quotations from well-known sources, such as the Bible, television, movies, proverbs and clichés: “Turn the other cheek”; “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”; “I'll be back!”; “A stitch in time saves nine”; “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”

3) CONSCIOUS USE OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS:

- pronouns to address the audience: “You are here tonight to witness the finals of the speech contest, where your sons and daughters face up to a great challenge.”

- pronouns to include the audience: “We came here tonight to choose our town symbol. We don't want a clock - Alexandra has a clock… Let us choose our White Horse - it's ours and always will be.

- pronouns to exclude the audience or to distance the audience: “So our elders want a curfew in Waimate. They think it is a good idea to have a curfew of 8 o'clock on a school night for people of our age. Let them have a curfew of 8 o'clock so that they can be out of the pubs and clubs and home with their families as well. They cause more harm in society than teenagers do.”

4) SOUND DEVICES:

- alliteration: “We've all heard of Richie Rich, Fred Flintstone, Sylvester Stallone,… but the latest and nastiest alliterative villain to slam our screens … is Vicious Vinnie.”

- assonance: “That Sam-I-am, That Sam-I-am, I do not like, That Sam-I-am”

- onomatopoeia: “wind swishing or moaning in the treetops”, “frost crunching underfoot”

- rhyming: “chocolate chips, greasy dips and dairy whips these are the foods that little teenagers are made of.”

5) OTHER ORATORICAL DEVICES:

- repetition + parallel constructions : “Trust is an important concept in society. If you can't trust friends not to blab your secrets all over school; if you can't trust teachers not to blast you for something that he or she let someone away with yesterday; if parents can't trust you enough to let you borrow the car - how can you survive in the modern world. “

- parallel constructions: “I have a dream. I have a dream that the sons and daughters of former slaves and the sons and daughters of former slaveowners will sit down at the table of brotherhood.”

In political speeches, the need for applause is paramount, and much of the distinctive rhetoric of a political speech is structured in such a way as to give the audience the maximum chance to applaud. One widely used technique is an adaptation of an ancient rhetorical structure – the three-part list: X, Y, and Z. These lists are not of course restricted to politics only: signed, sealed and delivered; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Tom, Dick, and Harry; the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; this, that, and the other.

History and literature provide numerous examples:

Abraham Lincoln: Government of the people, by the people, for the people.

Mark Anthony: Friends, Romans, Countrymen…

all things considered it is all to the good ample opportunity сast-iron will apple of discord tied to someone's apron strings armed to the teeth to be in the same boat with to bear the brunt (of the battle) to beat swords into ploughshares the beaten track behind the scenes between two fires

учитывая все вышесказанное все к лучшему неограниченные возможности железная воля яблоко раздора быть под каблуком у кого-л. вооруженный до зубов быть в одной упряжке нести основную тяжесть (битвы) перековать мечи на орала проторенная дорожка за кулисами меж двух огней

Winston Churchill: This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning.

Such lists, supported by a strong rhythm and a clear rising + falling intonation sequence, convey a sense of rhetorical power, structural control, and semantic completeness. They are widely used in formal writing. And they are especially common in political speeches, where the third item provides a climax of expression which can act as a cue for applause.

In such a specific kind of oratory as a church sermon, there are a lot of biblical quotations &, thus, ARCHAISMS are used:

1) obsolescent words: occur in some types of discourse, but are not used by most people: (“thou makest, thou wilt”). Here also belong many French borrowings which have been kept in the literary language as a means of preserving the spirit of earlier periods, e.g. ‘a pallet’ (=a straw mattress); ‘a palfrey’ (=a small horse); ‘garniture’ (=furniture)

2) obsolete words: they have fallen out of use completely, but are still understood by speakers: e.g. methinks (= it seems to me); nay (= no).

3) words archaic proper: may not be understood by many lang-ge users: troth (= faith); a losel [‘ləuz(ə)l] (= a worthless, lazy fellow)

EXAMPLES OF CLICHES: - We proceed from assumption that ... , One can observe that.., As a matter of fact, As is generally accepted.

- vital issue = pressing problem = актуальная проблема, назревшая задача; informed sources = информированные источники, overwhelming ma­jority = подавляющее большинство, amid stormy applause = во время бурных аплодисментов; hard-liner = консерватор