Argumentation through Presentation

From watching six different presentations at Friday's English Student Symposium I recognized that quite possibly the most important part of any presentation is the passion that you have behind your argument or subject. I first attended a section entitled "Rhetoric of World Leaders." The main focus of the section was the rhetoric specific world leaders used and how it impacted their audiences and followings. The first speaker, Samantha Aramburu stole the show for the rest of session as she argued that, "Without rhetoric and ethics you cannot truly become a leader." Using the example of William Wilberforce, she argued that his influence upon British culture regarding the abolition of slavery came from his strong ethics combined with authoritative rhetoric. Her tremendous use of sources that defended her position from the life of Wilberforce as well as other contemporaries that followed his lead were convincing for us as an audience that her interpretation of leadership was correct. You could see her voice strongly throughout the whole of the presentation in a way that was foreign to the following speakers. As I attended the second session, “Calvinism in 17th-century British Literature” I noticed a similar theme where the presenters that had strong reactions about their arguments, when questioned, provided a more convincing argument than those that did not. My personal favorite was Olivia Moskot’s “Spiritual Evolution: Embracing Elements of Predestination Theology in George Herbert.”  She argued against Herbert's critics and defended his position as a Calvinist writer.

Overall, the student symposium seemed a success to me in demonstrating the rhetoric and presentation skills of several seniors in their argumentation of "Rhetoric of World Leaders" and "Calvinism in 17th-century British Literature."