July 16th, 2011
Persuasion Speech
Lowering Legal Drinking Age
General Purpose: To persuade
Specific Purpose: Want audience to agree that lowering drinking age to 18 won’t be as bad as some are making it out to be.
Organizational Pattern: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence.
I. Introduction: a. Attention strategy: When was the last time you wanted to crack open a cold Bud Light and chug it? Maybe you are over 21 and it you do it all of the time. b. Does the topic relate to the audience and establish credibility: We all like to relax in different ways, so why can’t there be a little liquor involved? c. What is the specific issue: Why can we let our sons and daughters go shoot AK 47’s, but won’t let them order a drink when we’re at dinner. Letting 18 and over ages drink legally will just make them legal in public. There are so many underage drinkers you will never even know about. d. Lowering the age will just legalize what is already going in college and at some people’s home.
Transition Statement (signpost)
II Needs Step A. State the problem: Lowering the drinking age will make things fairer. 1. What needs changing? The law. 2. What is the specific issue? Making it so that those 20 and under can vote, fight in wars, and drink legally. B. How significant is the problem? Although, this topic is one that can easily be put aside for more serious laws to be passes. How long are we going to wait though? Alcohol became legal in December of 1933, it’s now 2011. 1. Quantitative (how many numbers are involved in this problem?): The law isn’t just for Michigan, it’s for the whole United States, and so we are talking about millions of people. As far as people being under 21, that’s about 27% of the population. 2. Qualitative (what is the quality of life of those involved in this problem): Drinking too frequently and at a young age can have a negative impact on your health! C. Brief History: The 21 and up law has been around since 1984 when it was passed. D. Inherency (what are the present policies doing to perpetuate the problem?) Every country is different. Albania doesn’t even have a drinking limit, neither does 26 other countries. 85 countries have it 18 or 19 for the legal drinking limit.
Transition Statement (signpost)
III SATISFACTION STEP: (refer to Solution chart, making sure you develop this action in complete sentences with forms of support and parenthetical citations): A. Column One Criteria Checklist: (Do not ass anything to III, A, 1. Use as is) 1. This is the list of criteria applied to all solutions: a. Practical
IV Visualization Step. A. Story Step (use a real life or a hypothetical story): B. Use one of the three options? 1. Life without your best solution: Same as it is now in the United States. 2. Life with your best solution 3. ?
Transition Statement (signpost)
V. Actualization step (conclusion) A. Restate central idea: Out of 37, 261 fatalities, 13, 847 was alcohol related. That’s 37% of them. That is a terrible amount, but lowering the amount could possibly teach people how to drink more responsibility. People could mature faster and the world would be a lot different. B. Review ideas: Lowering the drinking age will make alcohol less of a taboo, take away the thrill that many young people get from breaking the law, and make alcohol consumption a more normalized activity done in moderation. (http://drinkingage.procon.org/) C. Call to audience for an action: petitiononline.com. From there you can add your name to the petition to get it to be passed as law.
Danielle Kawa
Speech 1060
July 16th, 2011
Works Cited
"International Guide to Minimum Legal Drinking Ages (MLDAs) in 138 Countries - Drinking Age - ProCon.org." Drinking Age ProCon.org. Web. 16 July 2011.
<http://drinkingage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004294>.
Drinking Age ProCon.org. Web. 16 July 2011. <http://drinkingage.procon.org/>.
"Impaired Driving - Why You Should Never Drink and Drive." Alcoholism - The Alcoholism Home Page. Web. 16 July 2011. <http://alcoholism.about.com/od/dui/a/impaired.htm>.
“MADD - Why 21." MADD –Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Web. 16 July 2011. <http://www.madd.org/underage-drinking/why21/>.
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