pearson audience

Question 1

quotes?

Answer 1

• “that god gave the Earth to man” (biblical reference/allusion)
• “by right of prior possession and by right of a gift from God”
• “guilt need not be an ingredient in our national reconsideration of our history” (metaphor)
• “present, future and past”
• “opening our hearts a little but”
• “How do we explain this past to our children?”
• “What more redemptive prospect can be painted about the country’s colonial past?”
  (rhetorical qs)

Question 2

effect of quote/technique?

Answer 2

• biblical references/allusions to provoke the audience to realise their wrongdoings and appeal to their own religious beliefs
• Such religious allusions also suggest that his opinions are sanctioned by God
• metaphor promotes the idea that Australians should collectively take responsibility for the “present, future and past”.
• Pearson’s advocacy of feeling responsible and “opening our hearts a little but” rather than guilt is symbolic of his mature approach to reconciliation, appealing to the ethos, logos and pathos of the audience.
• rhetorical questions he stimulates the thoughts of his academic audience, in order to prompt them to think about the concept of a flawed Australian historiography

Question 3

effect of religious allusion?

Answer 3

Similar to Sadat and Deane, Pearson uses biblical references/allusions to provoke the audience to realise their wrongdoings and appeal to their own religious beliefs.

Christian hypocrisy is openly condemned, with the bible’s injunction “that god gave the Earth to man” interfered with in the Aboriginal’s case by being denied what was theirs “by right of prior possession and by right of a gift from God”.

Such religious allusions also suggest that his opinions are sanctioned by God.

Question 4

topic sentence

Answer 4

The timeless nature of a speaker’s values and message is marked by their use of rhetoric to not only address their audience and immediate occasion but also persuade and influence their will.

Question 5

conclusion sentence

Answer 5

Although the speech had polarised reception, his voice brought the needed academic authority and maturity to the discussion of post-colonial historiography and its purpose became universal as audiences of any context can resonate with the rhetoric and perennial values Pearson presented.

Question 6

critical?

Answer 6

“Pearson is, by a considerable distance, the best orator in Australia”

• Jack Waterford