You Don't Know Me, Don't Pretend That You Know Me

Assigned Section:
Helaman 13 -> 3 Nephi 4

Sections of Spoken Word:
Helaman chapters 13, 14, 15 (sermon)
Helaman 16:16 (dialogue amongst themselves)
Helaman 16:18-21 (dialogue amongst themselves)
3 Nephi 1:13-14 (dialogue from the Lord to Nephi)
3 Nephi 3:20-21 (dialogue between Gidgiddoni and the people)
3 Nephi 4:29-32 (the people crying out)

Selected Section:
Helaman 13:24-29

I chose this section specifically, as I noticed Samuel using a certain rhetorical technique that I've seen used before but thought would be interesting to analyze.

Throughout this short section, Samuel uses various "quotes" that suggest what the people may or may not say in certain situations. For example: "When ye talk, ye say, 'If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets.'" In essence, "if someone says this, you will say this." He uses these hypothetical phrases to--in my estimation--appeal to the pathos, logos, and ethos of his audience, the wicked Nephites.

Sharing these little hypotheticals appeals to their ethos by showing the people that he has a greater knowledge of them than they might think. By directly pointing out things they've said or could have said he proves that he knows his audience and is ready to address them. I can only imagine some of the Nephites thinking, "oh boy I heard Craig saying that just the other day..." or "oh no he must've heard me saying that just the other day."

More obviously, these hypotheticals appeal to their pathos as the words strike the people right in their hearts. "You will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil." He's essentially telling them that even if they did hear the word of God that they would deny it on account of their hypocrisy and evil.

Lastly, I feel that this technique might appeal to the logos of the audience, by providing them with some vague "examples" of things that have been said by them, assuming they're accurate statements.

By this account, Samuel the Lamanite was an expert speaker, which seems appropriate considering he had to talk on top of a wall to a large population of wicked, prideful people.

In All Sincerity

In our previous discussion of Mormon rhetoric, the idea of being "simple" and "sharing pure testimony" came up as the most powerful form of teaching. It was argued that perhaps any other way might not be able to conjure up those same emotions and feelings. At the time I felt that this was simplifying the topic a little too much--there's more to a sermon than being easy to understand.

The passages given from Paul, George A. Smith, and Neal A. Maxwell go a long way to help us understand what that really means. The advice Elder Smith receives to be "short" probably doesn't mean to literally be speaking for a very short time. Rather, it likely means to "cut the fat" as they say, and to share only what is necessary for the sermon to be effective.

Elder Maxwell then tells us how to properly be influenced by the Spirit, especially when preparing and teaching, lest we waste everyone's time. In his Do's and Dont's list, he mentions several things that suggest one thing: let the doctrine speak for itself, so the Spirit can do the teaching. This means presenting it clearly, with reverence, context, and power. There's nothing about fancy words in there.

Another important point mentioned by Elder Maxwell was to truly feel your discourse before you give it. To really believe it.

In Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's address at a BYU devotional in 1989, he begins by almost trying to prove to his audience--BYU students--that he cares about them and the message he's about to give. He tells them with a heavy heart that, "your hopes and dreams become evermore important to me the longer I am at BYU," and that, "your growth and happiness and development [...] are the central and most compelling motivation in my daily professional life."

Much like Jacob did before sharing a topic that grieveth him so, President Holland then went on to discuss sexual purity and the importance of staying chaste before and after marriage. Not once did the sermon have a feeling of a "guilt trip," where someone simply wants to make you feel bad about something. Instead, his sincerity and genuine concern for his audience and topic resulted in a sincerely heartfelt plea to follow Christ and His teachings.

important to me the longer I am at BYU

Dare to be Bold?

In Elder Holland's talk "Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacrament", he is extremely bold, but remains respectful. He does this by breaking down why it is important to remain sexually pure. Many reasons are given to why we need to remain sexually pure. Some of them include: the significance, sanctity, the doctrine of the church, sacrament, damage of the soul when you do commit that sin, etc.

This talk is a fantastic talk for most college students to read. The reason why this talk is so fantastic is because he knows his audience well. He knows that most people who are listening to his talk are BYU college students. Elder Holland also knows that he is talking to people from the ages of approximately 18 to 26. This makes his talk much more personal for people that are in college and in that age range. I was able to connect to this talk more than I was able to connect to other speeches that we read because I knew that it was for my age group.

Elder Holland opens up his talk by saying that he needs Heavenly Father's guidance throughout this talk because it is a very sacred topic. I can just imagine sitting in the Marriot Center and listening to this opening. I bet the room went completely quiet at the intensity of Elder Holland's talk. He then begins his talk very bold and does not 'beat around the bush' at all. He dives straight into the material and speaks simply to ensure that EVERYONE will understand what he is saying.

To me, this is the best way to give talks at church and speeches in school. I personally hate it when people get up at the pulpit and try to impress everyone with their vocabulary and knowledge of the scriptures. I love when general authorities are bold and get straight to the point. One of my favorite talks is the talk "Be Chaste" by Elder Bednar because he is so bold and speaks plainly. So do you dare to be bold as the General Authorities are?