A Malleable Audience

To see what an impactful orator was Winston Churchill, one need only look at the fact there is an award-winning film, The Darkest Hour, that centers around his ability as a speaker. Phrases from his iconic speeches remain in the minds of even the least historically attuned. One speech that stands out is the "Sinews of Peace" speech he gave at the start of the Cold War. For better or worse, it was powerful, and its message spread worldwide.

Winston Churchill delivering his "Sinews of Peace,"
aka "Iron Curtain," speech at Westminster College
in front of an attentive audience.

An essential part of Churchill's speech is kairos. The former prime minister delivered it at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, to as large an audience as would fit in the gymnasium, with President Harry Truman beside him. He knew he had an intelligent, attentive audience that included US officials with power to influence change.

Almost the first half of the speech is written to connect the orator to his audience. He starts off with some rather effective humor, and by linking himself to the president, he cements his authority as a speaker to an American congregation. In the first half of the speech, Churchill makes increasingly bold claims followed by statements recognizing that he and the audience are in agreement (also made apparent by the audience's applause). By the halfway point, there is an evident connection between Churchill and his listeners.

Once Churchill builds a rapport with his audience, he gradually uses that trust to ask them to consider an idea of his: unifying the United States and the British Commonwealth. He leans heavily on both logos and pathos for this. He calls the people to action against fears that most were all too familiar with ("the two great dangers which menace the home of the people, War and Tyranny"), and lists specific ways in which unifying would be logical and beneficial ("This would perhaps double the mobility of the American Navy and Air Force."). I can imagine those calls would be particularly powerful to citizens of a country that had just been through a heart-wrenching war and continued to live in fear of looming catastrophic bombs.

Churchill frequently uses repetition, congeries, and alliteration to drive home his points, and his delivery makes them even more stirring ("For them is all distorted, all is broken, all is even ground to pulp."). It's difficult not to connect with language that is crafted in such a way as Churchill sculpted his.

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History Repeats Itself

History repeats itself. What a spooky phrase. When I hear that phrase I picture an old crotchety man who has enough wrinkles to rival my clean laundry pile that's taken up a permanent residence in the corner of my room. His skin is leathery and his hair is sparse and white. It all feels a bit cinematic. But I think there is an element of truth to it. History, in some aspects, tends to repeat itself. For example, let's take fashion. 80s high waisted mom jeans, 90s chokers, ripped jeans, tie dye, bell bottom pants, crop tops, overalls, platform shoes and etc. Have been in style and then out of style and then back in again. It seems like a cycle, or as Pocahontas says, "a circle, in a hoop that never ends." And honestly, I'm totally into those hoops.

When I hear the word renaissance, i think of the word "rebirth" I think of artists getting more artsy and philosophers getting more philosophical. But there was so much more to the renaissance than that. I think my favorite part of the renisannace, and the part that sounded the most familiar to me was the focus on humanism. People began to focus on the individual and started to value one in it's fullness. The perspective changed from viewing people to be like cogs in some machine, to the perspective that each person has great meaning and each life is valuable. The renaissance also started a trend of transitioning away from organized religion and into more secular topics. Poetry, history, rhetoric and other topics became of great importance and religion slipped from priority, to somewhere behind. If you aren't seeing the connection yet I'll bring it into focus. History at times repeats itself. Today there is a big focus on humanism, all you have to do is scroll through pinterest to see it. I also think people are leaning further and further away from religion. I believe we are on the cusp of another renaissance of sorts...what do you think?