Howard Zinn Speech Analysis

The first chapter of both A​People’s History of the United States (​Zinn, 1980) and​A Patriot’s History of the United States​(Schweikart and Allen, 2004) tells the story of the discovery of the New World. Beginning with the landing of Columbus in the Bahamas, these accounts are told from two separate perspectives. Zinn often refers to the telling of history as a tale between victims and executioners, saying that in the “inevitable taking of sides which comes from selection and emphasis in History” he prefers to stand on the side of the victim, whereas Schweikart and Allen tend to stand behind the executioner. Much of A​Patriot’s History​is spent arguing the accuracy of the number of natives murdered by invading European entities, attempting to minimize the blame reflected on these executioners. However, Schweikart and Allen have access to more modern technology and theory seeing as A​Patriot’s History​was

“Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress”, chapter one of “A People’s History of the United States”, written by professor and historian Howard Zinn, concentrates on a different perspective of major events in American history. It begins with the native Bahamian tribe of Arawaks welcoming the Spanish to their shores with gifts and kindness, only then for the reader to be disturbed by a log from Columbus himself – “They willingly traded everything they owned… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” (Zinn pg.1) In the work, Zinn continues explaining the unnecessary evils Columbus and his men committed unto the unsuspecting natives. The argument that seems to be made (how Columbus

1. Zinn had stated that many historians have so far heavily relied on biased views that are influenced by ideological choices on what to present and emphasize in portraying history. However Zinn is not to ‘accuse, judge, condemn Columbus’, but to question against the ‘easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress.’ In other words, Zinn is challenging the prevalent, stereotypical story telling of the American history by demoting the exaggerated heroism, and telling it from the victims and the lessor’s perspective.

John Brown 's last speech was said in November 2, 1859. In his speech he talks to the court and states how he want it to free the slaves. John talks about how he went to Missouri he saw how slaves were treated and how they were taken away.”When I went to Missouri, and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved the through the country, and finally left them in Canada.”(187) Brown wanted to do something when he saw how they were treating the slaves, he thought to himself that he would never disrespect a human being like how they did. John Brown also talked about how he got a penalty because “he admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of the whiteness who have testified in his case”(187) During the

In the book Zinn, The author gives a point of view of Christopher Columbus that is usually not given. Most of the time the story of Christopher Columbus is told from a historian point of view. They usually tell you of his mission, and of the three ships that he takes in order to find gold and other new riches. Zinn informs us that he is not the hero that, that we all think that he is. It shows us that he tortured, abused, and overwhelmingly embarrasses the Arwark Indians. The book also shows us that he was dishonest. It shows us this by him making all of these promises to the people if they support his journey. According to the article, Honoring Christopher Columbus, they believe even though he tortured Indians, that he should still be celebrated

Two Days in October is a documentary that covers the multidimensional story of the battle of Ong Thanh in Vietnam and the student protests at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This film shows examples of different techniques used that assist journalists when telling the story of October, 1967. The way they tell the story of the of the student protest at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the front line of the Vietnam War exposes some of the nuances and demonstrates that the topic was not as simplistic as people viewed it at the time. While using similar techniques to what was used in the documentary “Two Days in October”, Journalists of today can also demonstrate the complexity of multidimensional stories. These are stories that are not black and white, but that look at everyone’s perspective and ideals. The goal of these stories

Howard Zinn’s point on how we regard on how we teach and learn about Columbus is that the historians only focus on one criteria on how Columbus had found this land but didn’t focus on the crueler facts that the Arawaks faced, like how they were enslaved to work for the Spaniards. Howard Zinn thinks that we should rethink the Columbus Legacy and it’s implications for the present and future because of the factors that the historians didn’t put in their teachings and books.

In 1970, the FBI were targeting the leaders of Native Americans Movement to weaken the power they established as the FBI were scared of the unity and togetherness of the Native Americans. Racesim and discrimination at this time were still an issue for the non-white people including Native Americans. On june 1, 1977, one of the great member of the American Indian movement, Leonard Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecetive term of life imprisonment for first-degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) agents during conflict on the pine Ridge Indian Reservation Pine on 1975. Mr. Peltier was born on September 12, 1944 in Dakota. He is one of the greatest Native American Activist. As of right

In the reading of A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, Zinn takes a different approach than most traditional historians. He chooses to concentrate on the personal experiences and struggles of the everyday people, rather than the view of the leaders or “State”

Christopher Columbus was malicious and had more evil intent than we were taught as young children.

C.S. Lewis is known for the world-wide phenomenon, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe but Lewis is also a phenomenal orator. One of Lewis’ most famous excerpts Beyond Personality uses superb precedents of said techniques. C.S. Lewis’ Beyond Personality speech uses effective techniques to motivate his listeners and to get people to believe what he believes. C.S. Lewis uses figurative language, anecdotes, and repetition and parallel structure to help his audience withhold a better understanding of his point.

Ralph Ellison was a man with a love of individuality. He was a man of vision and a radical thinker. His novel, Invisible Man, rattled the confining prison bars of racism and prejudice. Through his narrator, the Invisible Man, Ellison guides the reader on a path of tribulations. His labyrinthine story shows readers the untold truths of racism, and the blindness caused by the corrupt power structure of society. The cryptic journey of the invisible man leads the readers, to a ubiquitous message, in which personal identity is everything. “Let man keep his many parts and you’ll have no tyrant states. America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain” (Ellison 577). In this homiletic epilogue, Ellison’s

Zinn’s purpose for writing history the way that he did was to give the viewpoints of the people that were affected- not just the people who were in charge like in most history textbooks. He sought to get the most truthful accounts of America since most sources for history lie about the past with bias by omitting facts, stating facts and burying them in a mass of other facts, or just lying outright.

On November 13th, 1969, Spiro Agnew, who was the Vice President at the time, gave the speech, Television News Coverage, about how news producers are becoming too powerful (Bibliography.com.) To successfully inform his audience, he uses many rhetorical strategies to keep everyone engaged and attentive. Agnew delivered an exceptional speech by using multiple techniques such as analogies, anaphoras, parallelism, and rhetorical questions to justify this problem to his audience.

For hundreds of years, stories have been passed on from one person to another through the oral tradition and the visual arts. In our society today, film is the dominant form of storytelling. Films shape and inform our opinions of the world. Many people’s only source of information is from films. This can be harmful when the information is false or misguided. Like the representation of Native American’s in film. In early western films, Native American characters were not played by Natives but rather white actors. This gave a false image of what Native Americans looked like. Additionally, they were portrayed as unintelligent savages. Since then, Native Americans have reclaimed their identity because of increased accessibility to filmmaking and the creation of programs like the Native American Initiative by Sundance Film Institute.