Kinectic and Expressive Speech: Questionaire

What is your chosen speech?
Keynote Address For The Democratic Convention

Who is speaking?
New York Governor Mario Cuomo

Why was the speech important to society?
It showed individuals livng in 1984 that the president was not taking necessary action for the povery struck population in New York. The speech points out how utterly blind President Reagan was being to the part of the country not living in luxury, because he thought everyone was doing just fine. Instead of thinking about all of the population, the president only thought of who was right infront of him most of the time - the wealthy white males. Governor Cuomo wanted his people of New York to know that he understood the struggles, wanted to support the struggling, and would attempt to improve those lifes as soon as he was able.

What is the emotion, mood, tone, personality, feeling of the speech?
Mario is seeming to try and get the community to wake up, and cause an upset for the way that the government has pushed aside minorities such as the poor and the Hispanic. Cuomo's personality screams out that he truly cares for his peoples' well beings and if they end up in the street. He is stern with wanting action but caring at the same time for what is right. The speech has a feeling of power and hope for something better than the present.

What is the intonation, emphasis? What is loud, stressed, or soft? Where are pauses?
The clear emphasis is that the government is not doing anything about the inequality of the country. Mario emphasises that race, gender, and social classes are no where near equal. He becomes loud when addressing the president directly. He also raises his tone when the crowd begins to cheer and applaud. He is softer at the beginning of the speech. He is softer when talking about the touchy subject of living on the cold streets, homeless. He pauses after asking what if and why type of questions and after each main point he makes.

What do you feel should be loud or soft, long paused or rushed?
I feel like he does a great job of picking the areas to stress or to pull back on. I think it is smart to pause after saying a statement such as "The president does not understand" or something similiar to that. When addressing the audience directly or especially Reagan, he should be louder to get them to really listen up. He could have slowed down when giving stats that would most likely shock the people in the audience.

Is there a call to action? When listening to it what are key words?
There is an absolute clear call to action. The call is for the government, and more specifically President Reagan. Mario Cuomo is calling out for people to fight for the rights that they deserve, no matter man or woman, Mexican or white, poor or rich. He is asking also for the president to wake up and serve all of the country, not just a portion.

How does it make you feel?
The speech made me feel that the governor actually cared for the well being of everyone and that he wanted to do right instead of by corrupt that most politicians. It made me think of power, and saying what you feel, no matter if it is against the most power man on Earth - the president. It made me realize that even if some people in the 80's were against equally and rights of all, others really desired a better country with the right kind of government.

How do you imagine the audience felt?
It was clear, not only by the clapping, but that everyone in that room felt lifted by hope. Every word Mario spoken the people hung onto and waited patienly for the next powerful statement. Now, the president probably felt attacked. He may of thought the governor was stepping over his boundaries. The room however must have had a sense that their state's governor wanted better for them in their time of true struggle and inequality.

Could there be another interpretation of the speech?
The wealthy, and possibly even white population could have had a completely different outlook on the speech. They possibly interpreted it as a pity party for a group of people asking for the impossible, considering there would always be homeless people somewhere. They could have viewed Mario's speech as false hopes. The wealthy could have believed that there is no need for anymore equality since they already had what they wanted as the rich and white population.