How to choose a topic...

Cyber Burn · August 28, 2012, 07:30:01 PM

For a speech class. I have to give an informative speech in a few weeks and have no clue on what I should give it on. Any suggestions on how to choose a topic?

BWPS · August 28, 2012, 10:32:07 PM

Canned soup.

Cyber Burn · August 28, 2012, 10:39:34 PM

Dr. Pepper was a thought though.

laughing paradox · August 28, 2012, 11:00:29 PM

I think it's a no-brainer: Talk about comics!

You can start the speech saying, "Hello, True Believers!" and end it with "Excelsior!"

BWPS · August 28, 2012, 11:02:52 PM

That'd be good. As the third party candidate of the soda world, I think Dr. Pepper is shrouded in a lot of mystery. While I've been to a horrible museum detailing all the facts about coke I never wanted to know, I know absolutely nothing about my favorite thing to mix into Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. I could go to wikipedia right now that you've piqued my interest, but I'll just wait for the video of your speech.

Mr. Hamrick · August 29, 2012, 01:09:09 AM

a few topic ideas

Mixed Martial Arts

Stan Lee (or if you need to be broader, silver age comics created by Stan Lee)

Vampires are not suppose to be sparkly

women in combat sports

thalaw2 · August 29, 2012, 02:45:48 AM

Use the influence of silence. Just stand in front and be silent for the duration of the speech. Let the audiene infer what the meaning of your silence was. Powerful stuff!

Cyber Burn · August 29, 2012, 03:03:50 AM

Quote from: thalaw2 on August 29, 2012, 02:45:48 AM
Use the influence of silence. Just stand in front and be silent for the duration of the speech. Let the audiene infer what the meaning of your silence was. Powerful stuff!

I have stage fright, so that may be an option.

Reepicheep · August 29, 2012, 01:00:07 PM

Also, point accusingly at one of them for the whole time.

BlueBard · August 29, 2012, 01:00:28 PM

Start by recognizing that the object of a speech is less about information and more about influence.

What influence would you like to have with your audience?

You might be trying to influence your audience to take action, or to be interested in something you care about like a hobby or a cause.

You might be trying to provoke a strong reaction, in which case you could pick something controversial, take a side, and make your argument. Bonus if you pick a side other than the one you're normally on.

Your objective could be to entertain, instead. You could pick something excessively goofy and see how many laughs you can get. (Although depending on the instructor, that might not score points for a good grade...)

One thing you can't afford to do is to seem wishy-washy. Pick a topic and go Pro or Con all the way. Don't mix your message.

Other thoughts:

The Benefits of Social Media
The Dangers/Downside of Social Media
The Importance of Publicly Funded Art
Social Engineering in the Media
Why Computer Gaming is Good for Kids
Why Computer Gaming is Bad for Kids
A History of DC's "New 52" (Pro or Con)

Amazo Version 2.2 · August 29, 2012, 02:04:57 PM

what about doing it on

,

, or freedom rborn?

BentonGrey · August 29, 2012, 06:29:29 PM

Ha...man, it kills me that BB's is one of only two or three posts that are actually helpful...ha.....anyway, yeah, good points and ideas there BB. That is an extremely important concept to grasp, that a speech doesn't necessarily serve the same purpose as a paper. Speech is more limited than text, generally speaking, so having a clear stance is quite good.

Personally, I like the idea of talking about comics. It's something you're obviously fond of CB. Some fifty years ago Tolkien gave a talk at Oxford entitled 'A Secret Shame,' in which he talked about his secret hobby, 'fairey sotries,' more accurately termed fantasy stories or fantastic literature. He spoke about how these types of tales were looked down upon as being too fantastic and unrealistic to be literature, so that he had read and studied them in secret, but then he went on to defend their worth as objects of art. I'm planning on giving a similarly titled/themed paper/talk on comics as literature next year. Something like that might be fun.

Whatever you do, you'll have a much easier time if you pick something that you really do care about. What always ask my students as they search for paper topics is, 'what do you care about enough that you're willing to argue with someone about it?"

Also, thalaw, Reep, you two had me laughing out loud in my office...ha, awesome.

Cyber Burn · August 29, 2012, 08:59:03 PM

Good advice Benton, whatever I do my speech on, it has to be a narrowed down topic. It can't be a generalized topic. It also has to be something that can be researched. If I did my speech on comics, how do you suggest I break it down. I thought about doing the speech on Green Lantern, but which version, what aspects? Thanks for all the input guys, it's really helping me out.

Amazo Version 2.2 · August 29, 2012, 09:38:35 PM

green lantern -
- first appearance/creater
- origin
- powers

and somewhere in there throw in the oath

BentonGrey · August 29, 2012, 09:41:26 PM

My pleasure CB!

So, specificity is good on this one, hmm? Well, if you're really fond of GL, you might do a talk about comics as worthwhile reading, and focus in on one or two GL stories or arcs to prove your point. There are also several books/articles that deal with the topic. Not being super familiar with the best GL stories, I don't have much to suggest in that direction, though Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier seems like it would be a fantastic way to accomplish this end. In terms of research, Northrop Frye's work on archetypalism, Anatomy of Criticism could be quite worthwhile as a base, and there's a paper I'm rather fond of, "Beowulf to Batman" which could prove useful to you, though it's out of date (1970). Also, This Book Contains Graphic Language is supposed to be pretty good as a discussion of the literary worth of comics, though I haven't read it (it's on my list). I think that the language and basic argument of the article I mentioned might provide you with a good framework for establishing why this or that comic is an example of how sequential storytelling can certainly be literary. If you want that article, let me know and I'll send it your way.

Also, I just came across this informal, brief, but interesting article.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/news/?a=46171

BWPS · August 29, 2012, 10:22:01 PM

Quote from: BlueBard on August 29, 2012, 01:00:28 PMYour objective could be to entertain, instead. You could pick something excessively goofy and see how many laughs you can get. (Although depending on the instructor, that might not score points for a good grade...)

This is the greatest feeling in the world. But the instructors definitely don't always feel the same.

Cyber Burn · August 29, 2012, 10:41:53 PM

Quote from: BWPS on August 29, 2012, 10:22:01 PM
Quote from: BlueBard on August 29, 2012, 01:00:28 PMYour objective could be to entertain, instead. You could pick something excessively goofy and see how many laughs you can get. (Although depending on the instructor, that might not score points for a good grade...)

This is the greatest feeling in the world. But the instructors definitely don't always feel the same.

Yeah, unfortunately, I don't think mine would appreciate the humor.

Cyber Burn · August 29, 2012, 11:28:23 PM

Quote from: BentonGrey on August 29, 2012, 09:41:26 PM
My pleasure CB!

So, specificity is good on this one, hmm? Well, if you're really fond of GL, you might do a talk about comics as worthwhile reading, and focus in on one or two GL stories or arcs to prove your point. There are also several books/articles that deal with the topic. Not being super familiar with the best GL stories, I don't have much to suggest in that direction, though Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier seems like it would be a fantastic way to accomplish this end. In terms of research, Northrop Frye's work on archetypalism, Anatomy of Criticism could be quite worthwhile as a base, and there's a paper I'm rather fond of, "Beowulf to Batman" which could prove useful to you, though it's out of date (1970). Also, This Book Contains Graphic Language is supposed to be pretty good as a discussion of the literary worth of comics, though I haven't read it (it's on my list). I think that the language and basic argument of the article I mentioned might provide you with a good framework for establishing why this or that comic is an example of how sequential storytelling can certainly be literary. If you want that article, let me know and I'll send it your way.

Also, I just came across this informal, brief, but interesting article.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/news/?a=46171

Please Benton, I'd love to check the article out. Thank you.

Cyber Burn · September 11, 2012, 03:59:54 AM

Does anyone have a link to a site that will show me how to properly cite my sources? APA format?

I had one but lost it in my last PC crash, and can't seem to find the one I had.

Cyber Burn · September 12, 2012, 11:21:55 PM

Found out that I can't use any sort of Wiki as a source, so I'm down two sources.

BentonGrey · September 13, 2012, 01:19:30 AM

Whoops, sorry CB, I meant to track that down for you and got sidetracked. What did you decide on for a topic?

Cyber Burn · September 13, 2012, 03:34:02 AM

I guess it will be on "Comics in media" focusing on the Green Lantern.

I'll be using both articles that you gave me as sources now. Now I just need a third. I thought I had another week to prepare, but I found out that have to have the speech written by Monday.

BentonGrey · September 13, 2012, 01:04:22 PM

Hmm, can you tell me a bit more about what you're looking for? If so, perhaps I can find something else for you.

Cyber Burn · September 13, 2012, 10:02:54 PM

Taking my instructor's advice, I'll be discussing Comic Books, breaking it down into three parts, escapism, comics as literature, and finally a specific character, the Green Lantern.

Cyber Burn · September 15, 2012, 12:24:49 AM

Hey Benton, I'm going tomorrow to Barnes and Noble to check out the other books you suggested, but for what I have so far, would this be the right way to cite my sources in APA format?

Works Cited

Rollin, R. (1970). Beowulf to Batman: The Epic Hero and Pop Culture. College English, V.31(No. 5), 431 - 449. http://www.jstor.org/stable/374059

Barklay, T. (2011). The Literary Worth of Comics . Retrieved September 11, 2012, from http://www.comicbookmovie.com/news/?a=46171

Johns, G. (205). Green Lantern: Rebirth. Canada: DC Comics.

Thanks for all the advice, I've really been struggling with my classes lately, so any help is really appreciated.

EDIT: This is the formatting source that I'm using: http://apacitationformat.com/

BentonGrey · September 15, 2012, 02:52:31 AM

CB, I'm sorry to hear that man! Please feel free to ask me for advice whenever you need it.

As to your citations, it looks like they are mostly correct. The book one is correct, the Beowulf article, though, should read like this:
Rollin, R. (1970). Beowulf to Batman: The epic hero and pop culture. College English, 31, 431-449.

I'm not sure about the internet article, though I think it is correct. You'll find good guidelines for APA here:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Let me know if you can find those books, and if you do, what you think about them.

Cyber Burn · September 15, 2012, 03:08:24 AM

Thanks for the fix Benton, definietly much appreciated.

Tawodi Osdi · September 18, 2012, 03:57:50 AM

How about dadaism?

Cyber Burn · September 21, 2012, 03:14:04 PM

Quote from: BentonGrey on September 15, 2012, 02:52:31 AM
CB, I'm sorry to hear that man! Please feel free to ask me for advice whenever you need it.

As to your citations, it looks like they are mostly correct. The book one is correct, the Beowulf article, though, should read like this:
Rollin, R. (1970). Beowulf to Batman: The epic hero and pop culture. College English, 31, 431-449.

I'm not sure about the internet article, though I think it is correct. You'll find good guidelines for APA here:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Let me know if you can find those books, and if you do, what you think about them.

Unfortunately, I never found those books, Barnes and Noble didn't have them, and the library wasn't open when I had free time.

For my speech, I can't read it verbatum, I can only use cue cards. This actually has me worried since my cue cards can't have full sentences, and I have a terrible memory.

BentonGrey · September 21, 2012, 04:15:53 PM

Relax CB, the key to giving a good speech isn't memorizing a good speech, it's being familiar enough with your topic to be able to discuss it convincingly. Have your cue cards cover your main points, and the specific evidence you want to bring up, and just get up there and talk about why comics matter. You'll do fine. I was terrified when I first started doing that type of thing in college, and I was never a good public speaker. I tended to trip over my own tongue, and I still do that more often than I'd like...yet, I get up every day and lecture in front of classes full of people. My job, my livelihood depends on speaking in front of folks. I used to just worry myself to death over every detail of what I should say when I lectured, but eventually I realized that truth, a prepared speech is usually less effective than having a general idea of what you're going to say, and talking about something that matters to you.

You're in my prayers, my friend, but I am confident that you'll do fine.

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How to choose a topic...