Self-Defense on Campus (Speech and Commentary)

Although there are many ways of dealing with crime, I recommend that you and every college student enroll in a self-defense course.. Central Idea: Enrolling in a self-defense class is an

Self-Defense on Campus

1 You’re tired; you’re hungry You’ve just spent a long day at College Library and you

can’t wait to get back to your room Glancing outside, you remember how quickly it becomes dark You don’t think much of it, though, as you bundle up and head out into the gusty wind Not until you spy the shadows on the sidewalk or hear the leaves rustling beside you do you wish you weren’t alone You walk quickly, trying to stop your imagination from thinking of murderers and rapists Only when you are safely inside your room do you relax and try to stop your heart from pounding out of your chest

2 Can you remember a time when you felt this way? I would be surprised if you never

have The FBI reported last year that there were three murders, approximately 430

aggravat-ed assaults, 1,400 burglaries, and 80 rapes here in Madison alone And while these statis-tics are quite alarming, they don’t even compare to the numbers of larger metropolitan areas

3 No matter where we live, crime affects us all—men and women, students and

instruc-tors, young and old We need to stop being the victims One way we can do this is by enrolling

in a self-defense course There are many times I can remember when my heart seemed to pound out of my chest, but because I took an introductory course in self-defense, I feel more confident and more prepared to deal with potentially dangerous situations Today I would like

to encourage all of you to enroll in a self-defense course Let’s start by looking at the dangers

of crime we face as college students

4 College students face many crime issues, both as members of society and as

stu-dents on campus These crimes endanger our money, our property, our self-confidence, our psychological well-being, and even our lives According to the Foundation for Crime Preven-tion EducaPreven-tion, violence and crime have dramatically increased An American is six times more likely to be assaulted with a weapon today than in 1960 The FBI reports that someone either is murdered, raped, assaulted, or robbed every 16 seconds This means today, at the end of our 50-minute class period, approximately 187 people will have been victims of a violent crime

5 College students, many of whom are away from home for the first time, are especially

easy targets for crime Students often look at campus housing as a secure place But

accord-ing to the book Street Wisdom for Women, precautions must be taken in a dorm or Greek

house, just as in any house or apartment How many of these bad habits do you have? How often do you leave your room without locking your door, forgetting how easily accessible your room is to anyone? How often do you fall asleep without locking your door? Or how often do you open your door without first checking to see who is there? As the Wake Forest University Police Crime Prevention Web site states, “Each of us must become aware of the precautions

necessary to reduce the likelihood that we will become victims of crime.” Those who forget to take these precautions invite trouble

6 Although students must watch themselves in campus housing, they must also take

care elsewhere Prevalent use of drugs and alcohol, especially on college campuses, in-creases the chance of crime Using drugs or alcohol makes you an easier target because, as

we all know, it affects your judgment, influencing your decisions on safety According to the Pacific Center for Violence Prevention, in 42 percent of all violent crimes, either the assail-ant, the victim, or both had been drinking Specifically on campus, 90 percent of all violent crimes involve drugs and/or alcohol This problem is so serious that testimony by law en-forcement officials reprinted on the Security on Campus Web site indicates that many college campuses are the highest crime areas in their communities

7 So now that we see the dangers we face as students, what can we do to protect

our-selves? Although there are many ways of dealing with crime, I recommend that you and every college student enroll in a self-defense course You can choose from a variety of self-defense courses offered right here in Madison You can find one to fit your schedule and your pocket-book On campus, the university has a club sport called Shorin Ryu Karate, which

emphasiz-es practical self-defense They hold their meetings in the evening, after classemphasiz-es, right on campus, and they’re open to all university students, faculty, and staff

8 Another option is Villari’s Self-Defense and Tai Chi Center, which not only offers

cours-es in self-defense, but in tai chi, karate, and kung-fu Villari’s location on State Street is con-venient for all university students To find a class that fits your needs, you can also search over the Internet or through the Yellow Pages I also brought along some brochures today, so if you are interested, please see me after class

9 After enrolling in a self-defense course, you will find yourself much better prepared to

deal with an emergency situation Patrick Lee, an instructor for a course called “Self-Defense for Women: Victim or Survivor,” claims the biggest thing he teaches in his courses is that you must decide from the beginning whether you want to be the victim or the survivor Repeating over and over again that “I am a survivor” not only increases your self-confidence but helps you think more clearly in a difficult situation

10 I didn’t realize the importance of this myself until I took an introductory course in

self-defense in my high school physical education class After a few days of practice, each of us faced the notorious padded attacker Expecting to enjoy fighting the attacker, I prepared to yell “No; stop; back off” as forcefully as possible But before I knew it, this man, twice my size, had put me in a hold I could not get out of My mind was so overcome with fear that I could barely muster out a “No.” Immediately, I pictured this as a real situation, one which I probably would not have survived

11 But after a few more days of practice, we were able to go against the padded

attack-er one more time This time, I no longattack-er felt fear I felt angattack-er I was angry that this man felt he

could take advantage of me This time, using what I learned, I yelled “No; back off” and suc-cessfully escaped his move And this time I survived

12 I’m not the only example showing the benefits of taking self-defense If you’re

inter-ested, check out “Stories From Self-Defense Classes” posted to the Internet by the Assault Prevention Information Network Although I don’t have the time to share with you the dozens

of success stories, I can sum them up with a quote by Cindy, a 23-year-old woman who used her self-defense knowledge to scare off an assailant Cindy says, “I know deep inside, where

it matters most, that I have what it takes to defend myself if need be, and this feeling is one

of pure joy.” As you can see, self-defense is time and money well invested

13 So I encourage you to enroll in a self-defense course, whether it be through a

physi-cal education class or through a private organization and whether you do it here or back in your hometown Even if you do not enroll right away, I encourage you to do so in the near future Taking such a course could mean keeping your money, protecting your property, de-fending yourself, your boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife It could even mean the differ-ence between life and death

14 Don’t ever think, “It could never happen to me.” Why not be prepared? As Patrick Lee

said, “Ask yourself, do you want to be the victim or the survivor?”

Self-Defense on Campus

Commentary

“Self-Defense on Campus” is an excellent speech that illustrates how students can utilize all the methods of persuasion discussed in the textbook Here is a synopsis that focuses on how the speaker employs the meth-ods of persuasion

Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience to enroll in a self-defense class

Central Idea: Enrolling in a self-defense class is an effective way for students to help protect themselves against the dangers of crime they face on campus and in society at large

Method of Organization: Monroe’s motivated sequence

Credibility: In keeping with the functions of a speech introduction discussed in Chapter 10 of the textbook, the speaker establishes her credibility in paragraph 3 by noting that because she has taken a self-defense class, she feels more prepared to deal with potentially dangerous situations The audience is more

like-ly to listen carefullike-ly to the rest of the speech knowing that the speaker has firsthand experience on the topic

The speaker turns to her experience again in paragraphs 10–11 when she presents an

extend-ed example showing how she learnextend-ed to protect herself in her self-defense class Although this ex-ample is used to demonstrate the practicality of the speaker’s policy, it also reinforces her credibility and strengthens the persuasiveness of the entire speech So, too, do the speaker’s sincerity, com-mand of the topic, and goodwill toward the audience—all of which are evident throughout her presentation

Evidence: The speaker uses two extended examples to excellent effect The hypothetical example that opens the speech gains attention and relates the topic to the audience Its impact is reinforced by the statistics in paragraph 2 that connect the example directly to the college community in which the speech was delivered In paragraphs 10–11, the speaker uses an extended example based on her own experience to demonstrate how taking a class in self-defense can increase one’s confidence and ability to respond properly in a dangerous situation These two examples are among the most memo-rable parts of the speech and are central to its persuasive appeal

The speaker is equally adept in her use of statistics Those in paragraph 2 show that the hypothet-ical example presented in paragraph 1 is not far-fetched, while those in paragraph 4 reinforce the point that crime is a serious problem in American society It should also be noted how, in paragraph 4, the speaker translates her numbers into terms that relate directly to her classmates by noting that, during the 50 minutes of their speech class, 187 people will have been the victims of a violent crime In para-graph 6, the speaker presents figures that show the correlation between violent crimes and the use of alcohol and/or illegal drugs Here, as elsewhere, the speaker’s statistics come from reputable sources, and she identifies those sources for the audience

As with examples and statistics, testimony plays an important role in this speech The speaker uses testimony twice in paragraph 5 to underscore the importance of taking precautions against

crime—first, when she paraphrases the book Street Wisdom for Women, and second, when she

quotes the Wake Forest University Crime Prevention Web site In paragraph 7, she cites the Security

on Campus Web site to support her point that many college campuses are the highest crime areas in their communities In paragraph 9, she presents expert testimony from Patrick Lee, a self-defense instructor, and in paragraph 12 she employs peer testimony from a woman named Cindy who used her self-defense knowledge to scare off an assailant Finally, in paragraph 14, the speaker con-cludes with a quotation from Patrick Lee asking, “Do you want to be the victim or the survivor?”

Reasoning: The primary method of reasoning in this speech is causal The speaker does not claim that lack

of training in self-defense causes crime or that taking a self-defense class will produce a reduction in crime Rather, she argues that lack of training in self-defense makes a person more vulnerable to crime and that taking a self-defense course will make a person more confident and more prepared

to deal with potentially dangerous situations

What makes the reasoning of this speech persuasive, however, is less the structure of the speaker’s argument than the strength of her evidence All of her main points are backed up with ex-cellent supporting materials, and she does an especially good job in paragraphs 9–12 of demon-strating that taking a self-defense course will in fact produce the benefits she claims for it Given the speaker’s evidence, most listeners are prepared to accept her reasoning

Emotional Appeal: Although “Self-Defense on Campus” does not employ a great deal of overtly emotional language, it still generates fairly strong emotional appeal One of the emotions it taps is the fear of becoming a crime victim This is especially evident in the vivid hypothetical example that opens the speech, but it is reinforced by the speaker’s statistics and testimony throughout the problem section (paragraphs 4–6) The speaker’s use of fear appeals can also be seen in paragraph 10, in which she narrates her experience of being unable to fight off the padded attacker at the beginning of her self-defense class

In addition to presenting fear appeals, the speaker provides a specific course of action through which her listeners can combat the source of fear Research has demonstrated that this is the most effective way to use fear appeals in a persuasive speech Having aroused the audience’s concern about being able to protect themselves in a dangerous situation, the speaker then discusses the sense of security, confidence, and even happiness that come from receiving training in self-defense

In paragraph 11, she explains how she learned to thwart the padded attacker by the end of her self-defense class, and in paragraph 12 she quotes the feeling of “pure joy” described by one woman who used her self-defense training to scare off an assailant

In all these cases, the emotional appeal grows naturally out of the speech content and is strengthened by the speaker’s sincerity and conviction It is also worth noting that there is a strongly gendered dimension to the emotional appeal in this speech Although the speaker makes a

concert-ed effort in several places to relate her subject to the men in her audience, there is no doubt that the fear of crime—and especially of personal assault—is greater among women than among men It

is also true that the speaker’s extended examples—both the hypothetical example in paragraph 1

and the personal example in paragraphs 10–11—tend to resonate most powerfully with women This

is not a weakness in the speech, but it does provide an interesting point for discussion about the na-ture of emotional appeal and the manner in which it can vary from audience to audience