Recalling the discussion of Specific Speech Purposes, note that this sentence clearly locates the specific response according to which the audience member can be judged to have correctly followed the instructions.
Since location is the key, the location is specifically located. But since chronology is the method, a series of steps is followed--as contrasted to the Spatial approach that will follow.
The relation of ideas to sub-points bears mentioning. Sometimes, sub-points will be specific steps withina category of steps. See the discussion of reduction for more information on this. In this case, the sub-points serve the additional purpose of informing the step. They give the audience member a way to gauge how well he or she is performing the step--
--and they help the audience member avoid distractions that might confuse him or her--
The step is specific and concretely stated. And again the sub-points inform it.
In this idea, we see the step broken into smaller steps--
The reason is simply that trying to put the whole body of information getting the individual from the Queens Boulevard Station to the 53rd Street Station in one sentence (a requirement of proper Main Ideas) would make an extremely unwieldy thought. If you don't believe me, try it:
Note also that sub-point C.
seems like a vital enough piece of information that it deserves to be a separate main idea. However, in the context of the outline structure, it is still part of the proper performance of main Idea III. However important it is (and it is, so it should be stressed in delivery), it is still a sub-point.
If you want to argue that, according to the efficiency criterion the addition of the word "South" to the idea is an unecessary indulgence, you would probably be justified. But think about how much additional information that one word adds to the thought, and you will probably conclude as I did that the indulgence--in this case--is equally justified.
If you choose to eliminate the word South from the Main Idea, you had better put it here, or the audience member has a 50-50 chance of winding up in a river.
All of these sub-points, again, clearly inform the main idea, which is to get from the Lexington Avenue Station to the Chrysler Building. Since you can see the Chrysler Building from the street at this point, the number of blocks and the reference to Grand Central Station may be superfluous. But consider your audience. Since we picked them up at the airport, we can assume they are not from New York City. Since they are not from New York City, and we are dumping them into the middle of Midtown, how can a little extra information hurt?
If you are thinking "If it is right across the street from Grand Central Station, why not skip everything else and just say that?" then good for you! You are thinking Spatially, and the following outline sample will resonate better with you!
This Specific Speech Purpose is essentially the same as that of the Chronological Pattern. There is no need for it to be different, because the intent of the speeches are identical. Only the means changes.
The difference in means is expressed here. By focusing on locations from which the Chrysler Building can be seen and identifying specific traits of its appearance (landmark details) we are establishing a spatial orientation--where it is in relation to other stable objects.
This might appear to be topical organization (and in fact the internal organization of the main idea is topical), but it is really the first step in locating the building. You can't find something unless you know what to look for, so that is established first.
Main Idea Two presents the first set of points from which the Chrysler Building can be seen. Lexington Avenue is a long street and easy to find, so the individual should have no trouble getting to it. Once there, the individual has many obvious and clearly identified vantage points from which to conduct the search.
Main Idea Three serves the sam purpose as Main Idea Two. It simply provides additional vantage points from which to look. Again, 42nd Street is one of the most popular locations in Manhattan. It should not be difficult for even the least acquainted visitor to the city to find.
This is a speech to Entertain.
Yet the verb in the Specific Speech Purpose is Learn. The
discussion of Specific Speech Purposes clearly stated that the
verb in the SSP should match the GP. So what gives?
Nothing gives. While matching the General Purpose is a good
quality for a Specific Speech Purpose to have, the Prime Directive of the
Specific Speech Purpose is to describe as concretely as possible
the response of the audience. In this case, I want the audience
to learn something, and to be entertained in the process. If they
are entertained, but do not learn, I have failed. If they learn,
but are not entertained, I have also failed. Therefore both ends
are necessary and represented. But Good Eye!
Again, the dual purposes of information and entertainment are present here. The reference to "Sleight-of-hand" connotes the entertainment value, while the reference to 40 Wall Street defines the original content--the Chrysler Building becoming the largest building in the world--as an issue of competition, not technology.
Note the verb choices. Not a "killer be" among them. They are all active, visual verbs.
The words recognize and influence are carefully chosen to denote the level of response expected of the audience. As stated in the discussion of specific speech purposes, the more concrete and specific the goal, the more able the speaker is to gauge his or her attempts to achieve it.
While essentially accurate, the thought is dangerously figurative. Whether it works depends on how clear a sense of its meaning the speaker has, because the Central Idea is for the speaker, not the audience!
This is not specifically part of the topical reduction, because it situates rather than defines the subject matter. It is however necessary to situate this material to make the coming reduction of traits as clear as it needs to be.
Just note for the sake of discussion how each of these ideas cries out for good visual aids. I have been staring at the Chrysler Building for years, and I would never have guessed the bottom of the spire was supposed to evoke a sunburst, but once you see it from that perspective it becomes obvious. So, let them see it!
Specifically with regard to this idea, remember that the point is to show how the cultures were graphically represented. Do not indulge in time-wasting conversation about the Egyptians, the Incas, or the Mayans themselves except to the extent that doing so is necessary to:
Another interesting point about this outline is that its General Purpose is
In the discussion, I pointed out that Problem-Solution speeches are always persuasive in that they argue a preference. That is, in fact, the case here. If you live in a four story apartment building across the street from which was build a twenty-five story high-rise, you might not consider the introduction of technologies that facilitated the construction of taller buildings an improvement. The question of the appropriateness of this general purpose, then, falls as it always does to the question of who the target audience is.
