Improvements

I made some small improvements between my first informative speech and last persuasive speech. My eye contact improved a ton. During the first speech, I looked at my powerpoint the whole time and didn't really make eye contact with anyone in particular. On the last speech, I think it helped that I only had notecards and not a powerpoint. I tried not to refer back to my notecards as much and to look at everyone in the room. I used a couple hand gestures in the third speech, which was more than my first. However, I was still not enthusiastic. I did a better job of citing my sources in the speech. I also had a hook for this speech which I have not had in the best. It definitely helped my grade to have a hook instead of starting out with a boring fact.

Demonstrative Speech

I think my speeches have improved greatly from the beginning of the quarter. My eye contact has gotten a lot better. From the pieces of paper I got back from the class, none of them said zero. I wasn't nervous at all for this speech which made it a lot easier because I felt comfortable in front of the class. I don't think i said "um" at all and I tried to speak loud and not mumble.
I still have a lot I could improve on. I can talk louder and use more enthusiasm in my voice. My normal voice is sort of boring and monotone, so I need to work on that when giving my speeches. A couple of times I laughed during my speech because I looked at people in the class. I need to improve on not laughing or letting these people affect my speeches. For this speech, I didn't use a notecard so I wasn't tempted to look down the whole time. In future speeches, if I have to use a notecard, I need to write less information on it to force me to make eye contact with the audience.

Informative Speech

My informative speech was alright. I think it was better than my first speech because I was not as nervous and I liked having a visual aide in front of me. I had more eye contact in this speech than in my last one, but I could still do a lot more. When I do look up, I didn't really make eye contact with people in the room, my eyes just sort of wandered around the room. I need to work on looking at my classmates more. I looked at the powerpoint more than I should have. My enthusiam was definitely lacking in this speech. I sound bored and like I really don't want to be there. I could use more hand gestures and talk a little louder to make the speech more interesting. Also, I didn't have a hook at the beginning of my speech. Next time, I need to use something to get the attention of my classmates and make them want to hear more of what I am going to say.

Brown Bag Speech

My first speech was not very good. I was nervous for it even though I practiced. I looked down and read off of my notecards a lot of the time. I could have spoken louder and I mumble at certain points. When I did look up, I didn't really make eye contact with any of the audience and I played with the items I was holding. I looked like I was having a terrible time.

Casting for Taming of the Shrew

Katherine- Jane Lynch

Tranio- Ashton Kutcher

Baptista- Donald Trump

Bianca-Angelina Jolie

Petrucio- Johnny Depp

Luncentio- Brad Pitt

Gremio- Bradley Cooper

Hortensio- Josh Duhamel

Anecdote

An anecdote is a humorous story. An example from modern day television is the show Two and a Half Men. It is a sitcom that follows a man named Charlie, his brother Alan, and Alan's son, Jake. Charlie's free life becomes complicated when Alan gets divorced, so he and Jake move in with Charlie. The sitcom has a simple, humorous plot that is made into hundreds of episodes of the entire series.

Satire

Satire is frequently used in the novel Animal Farm. Satire is a literary genre trying to create change through humor. In Animal Farm, Napolean seeks to destroy humans. In the end, he becomes exactly what he tried to destroy the entire novel.

Farce

In Scary Movie, it follows the plot of the movie, Scream. The point of the several Scary Movies is to make fun of scary movies in a very dramatic way. They point out the improbable situations using physical and exaggerated humor. In the first Scary Movie, most of the film follows and makes fun of the plot of Scream.

Parody

Parody is imitation. In a Sprite commercial, they ran a series of ads for other fake drinks, which had actual or fictional celebrities endorsing the product. It implied that these other drinks have endorsements that don't really quench one's thirst. Sprite decided to imitate other commercials to make the point that whoever represents the drink, it does not get rid of your thirst.

My name is Lauren Shafer. I am 16 years old, and I go to Anderson High School. I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and have lived here my whole life. I have one sister who is 20, and she is a sophomore at Miami University. I also want to go to Miami once i graduate. At Anderson, I am a part of the gymnastics team. I have been doing gymnastics since I was eight years old, so it's a big part of my life. I love to spend time with my friends and Hawaii is my favorite place in the world.