Mittelberg's Argument Against Abortion

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Mittelberg’s speech was effective in its argument against abortion. He was able to achieve this by filling his speech with emotion and coupling these emotions with logical arguments. His hook about common misconceptions society accepts as truths, and relating it to his topic about abortion was fluid and humorous. Additionally, his use of citing outside sources helped build his argument but did not overpower the audience. By breaking his speech into three myths about abortion, Mittelberg was able to state, and then proceed to refute these myths in a very structured way. His most effective argument was the acronym, SLED; Size, Level of development, Environment, and Degree of dependency. This acronym was handy for Mittelberg to continue to refer …show more content…

He could have benefitted to slow down during the speech, he sometimes was speaking quickly enough to stumble over his words. Since this topic is a very emotional one, he would benefit to slow down to maintain his professionalism. Now there were times when this emotion was acceptable, when speaking about his sister is one instance. But there additionally were other moments when Mittelberg could have better enunciated his words as to drive his point in more effectively. With this, less hand movements throughout would have been less distracting, thus allowing the audience to focus more on his arguments instead. Other than these two suggestions, there is a problem with the lack of content as well. Mittelberg failed to address the infamous Roe vs. Wade court case that legalized abortion nor the cases of those seeking abortion due to rape or incest. Mittelberg did not explicitly acknowledge that abortion is legal and there is not much that can change that. While he did acknowledge and refute three very common and fundamental myths about abortion, there were many lingering questions that pro-choicers would have asked. Though it is important to recognize that these speeches are usually capped around ten minutes and with the time allowed, Mittelberg was able to cover the basics of the pro-life

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