ORAL HELP! Euthanasia or Muslim portrayal in media?

[acm9]

I'm tossing up between two oral topics! Yep, I've left it VERY late but what can ya do.

'Legalize voluntary Euthanasia'
Is this topic overdone? I feel like it's much easier than the other, but I'm not all that passionate about it, and I anticipate that I will become bored with my own oral when I have to rehearse it.

Muslim Portrayal-
I am very passionate about this topic, but I'm struggling. Is 'Islamophobia is the product of Media coverage' ok? I feel as if it's too broad and lacks a real contention, and plus, It's challenging to think of main arguments (in my head, this topic is just a very long rant haha).

Or, I was thinking of doing 'Muslim portrayal in the Media must change' but I am having the same problem of not being able to think of solid main arguments. And for these topics, what would the opposing stances be? That the media manipulates everything no matter what and I'm just being a pissbaby?


ALSO-
Where is the line between having an eloquently written speech and a speech that is too concise and to the point? I think that last year I focused too much on the quality of my writing rather than the actual presentation of my speech.

[thaaanyan]

I think there's a lot of potential in the issue of the portrayal of muslims in the media, particularly if you're more passionate about it. The more you care about an issue the easier it'll be to persuade your audience - because you already believe what you're saying.
It we start with "Muslim portrayal in the media must change"
Your three arguments need to be why it needs to change. Think about the impact of the media, and the power it holds over people. Think about the way people in society treat muslims - there's a lot of conservative rhetoric expounded in the media regarding the treatment of foreign culture and while we allow ourselves freedom of expression these ideologies often result in physical acts of violence against what we perceive to be the "foreign violent Other." Work these ideas into your intro/contention.
So essentially the question is: What is wrong with the current portrayal of muslims in the media, and why does this need to change?

BODY ONE: physical/emotional backlash on what is essentially a minority group. it's gotten to the stage where, if you are visibly muslim and you walk down the street, mothers will take their children and cross the road. They will cross back when you've left. They do this because they don't want their sons and daughters walking past terrorists.
emotionally this is really awful and isolating and the media propels this through the connotations of the language they associate with muslim culture. "islam" and "terrorism" are often used interchangeably, and this contributes to the growing demonisation of the religion over all.

BODY TWO: stereotyping. essentially within the media they shove muslims in three categories:
- oppressed (e.g. unveiling as equal to liberation, uneducated, infantile, in need of saving)
- violent and foreign (e.g muslim men, their violence as a byproduct of their culture, race and religion)
- sexual virulent animals (e.g. i've seen this in literature more often, but it revolves around exoticising foreign culture as something 'uncivilised' and therefore overtly sexual etc)
think about the impact this has not only in the people whose beliefs are warped to suit these models, but on the majority of the public who absorb and then go out and expound this rhetoric. in an international forum this carries a lot of weight, as it results in things like the white saviour phenomenon.

BODY THREE:what impacts does this have on a global scale? if the media talks about islam/muslims as if they are violent/sexually deviant/oppressed crazy people, how does this further exacerbate existing geopolitical concerns. it allows for the prevalent myth of "western enlightenment" against "foreign ignorance" to historically play itself out once more. people talk about islam as if it's culturally incompatible with western lifestyles (but from some of Australia's flourishing organic communities we know that isn't strictly true) and this allows for continued support in people voicing ideas like the Clash of Civilisations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_Civilizations)

This is roughly how i'd structure it, but obvs just take ideas you like and run with what you think is good. throughout the speech - if you go with this idea - you'd need to make sure you stick to the concept of "things media is doing -- how these things impact the public -- therefore why this must change" i'd also stick in a couple of sentences here and there about how this can be done. So like, having direct conversations with younger muslims, etc.

ALSOOOOO one final point. if you do this one you need to be technically efficient with your language and make sure there is a certain level of precision in what you're saying, be careful not to make it too explanatory and less argumentative/vice versa. speeches work well in their capacity to allow for the speakers passion and emotion, but you need to ensure that there is logicality and flow in your argument.

i just wanna add one more thing, about nuance: You can’t just say Islam is a culture or an ethnicity without imposing a monotype on hundreds upon hundreds of sub (or subsub) diverse cultures, ethnicities and traditions.
You can’t just say Islam is not intrinsically intertwined with the issue of race without ignoring the way race has and continues to shape the muslim world world (from the spread of it's religious values to imperialism in the context of modern afghanistan.) Islam has become a geopolitical label with a lot of problems and nuances. the media doesn't acknowledge this, it often portrays islam (and the multitude of sub sects it encompasses) as one great big monolithic ideology. this is basically the crux of the central problem with the media and islam.

soooo yea. good luck. SORRY for awful spelling i typed it last night and had a ginormous headache. wanted to post it then but my internet was being dodgy so i couldn't send it now i hope you go with this goodluck!

[vox nihili]

ALSO-
Where is the line between having an eloquently written speech and a speech that is too concise and to the point? I think that last year I focused too much on the quality of my writing rather than the actual presentation of my speech.

You should be aiming to convince. It's all well and good to write eloquently, but no one sees that. It's the speech itself that's important, so you should rely heavily on oral devices to make your point. Don't write an essay, write a speech and aim to convince with that speech.


As far as topics are concerned, I think the Muslim one is a little less clichéd. Personally, I think it's really important to come up with a new idea, to find an angle that hasn't been done to death. Perhaps you could look at explaining why Muslims are stereotyped, giving an answer. Don't just go up there and give some moralistic rant about why it's terrible—everyone already knows that—actually try to come up with some ideas as to why it happens and propose a solution that fits.

[acm9]

I think there's a lot of potential in the issue of the portrayal of muslims in the media, particularly if you're more passionate about it. The more you care about an issue the easier it'll be to persuade your audience - because you already believe what you're saying.
It we start with "Muslim portrayal in the media must change"
Your three arguments need to be why it needs to change. Think about the impact of the media, and the power it holds over people. Think about the way people in society treat muslims - there's a lot of conservative rhetoric expounded in the media regarding the treatment of foreign culture and while we allow ourselves freedom of expression these ideologies often result in physical acts of violence against what we perceive to be the "foreign violent Other." Work these ideas into your intro/contention.
So essentially the question is: What is wrong with the current portrayal of muslims in the media, and why does this need to change?

BODY ONE: physical/emotional backlash on what is essentially a minority group. it's gotten to the stage where, if you are visibly muslim and you walk down the street, mothers will take their children and cross the road. They will cross back when you've left. They do this because they don't want their sons and daughters walking past terrorists.
emotionally this is really awful and isolating and the media propels this through the connotations of the language they associate with muslim culture. "islam" and "terrorism" are often used interchangeably, and this contributes to the growing demonisation of the religion over all.

BODY TWO: stereotyping. essentially within the media they shove muslims in three categories:
- oppressed (e.g. unveiling as equal to liberation, uneducated, infantile, in need of saving)
- violent and foreign (e.g muslim men, their violence as a byproduct of their culture, race and religion)
- sexual virulent animals (e.g. i've seen this in literature more often, but it revolves around exoticising foreign culture as something 'uncivilised' and therefore overtly sexual etc)
think about the impact this has not only in the people whose beliefs are warped to suit these models, but on the majority of the public who absorb and then go out and expound this rhetoric. in an international forum this carries a lot of weight, as it results in things like the white saviour phenomenon.

BODY THREE:what impacts does this have on a global scale? if the media talks about islam/muslims as if they are violent/sexually deviant/oppressed crazy people, how does this further exacerbate existing geopolitical concerns. it allows for the prevalent myth of "western enlightenment" against "foreign ignorance" to historically play itself out once more. people talk about islam as if it's culturally incompatible with western lifestyles (but from some of Australia's flourishing organic communities we know that isn't strictly true) and this allows for continued support in people voicing ideas like the Clash of Civilisations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_Civilizations)

This is roughly how i'd structure it, but obvs just take ideas you like and run with what you think is good. throughout the speech - if you go with this idea - you'd need to make sure you stick to the concept of "things media is doing -- how these things impact the public -- therefore why this must change" i'd also stick in a couple of sentences here and there about how this can be done. So like, having direct conversations with younger muslims, etc.

ALSOOOOO one final point. if you do this one you need to be technically efficient with your language and make sure there is a certain level of precision in what you're saying, be careful not to make it too explanatory and less argumentative/vice versa. speeches work well in their capacity to allow for the speakers passion and emotion, but you need to ensure that there is logicality and flow in your argument.

i just wanna add one more thing, about nuance: You can’t just say Islam is a culture or an ethnicity without imposing a monotype on hundreds upon hundreds of sub (or subsub) diverse cultures, ethnicities and traditions.
You can’t just say Islam is not intrinsically intertwined with the issue of race without ignoring the way race has and continues to shape the muslim world world (from the spread of it's religious values to imperialism in the context of modern afghanistan.) Islam has become a geopolitical label with a lot of problems and nuances. the media doesn't acknowledge this, it often portrays islam (and the multitude of sub sects it encompasses) as one great big monolithic ideology. this is basically the crux of the central problem with the media and islam.

soooo yea. good luck. SORRY for awful spelling i typed it last night and had a ginormous headache. wanted to post it then but my internet was being dodgy so i couldn't send it now i hope you go with this goodluck!

Wow, thanks so much for such an insightful answer- it was very helpful in giving me the push to finally start!
I think I will focus on the fact that media coverage on Muslims and Islam is damaging, harmful, and plain misinformation. And as you said, I will also focus on WHY this must change and how to change it.

Thanks also for reminding me of the use of 'Islam', I will be sure to use it properly.

[pinklemonade]

Hey! I'm doing a similar contention for my oral (Muslims are portrayed unfairly in the media) so I thought I could help!
At first, I struggled as well trying to relate all my arguments to my contention, but I got there in the end haha

Body 1 - How the Islamic community has been stereotyped and labelled as terrorists through events such as 9/11.
Body 2 - How the media have also portrayed the Islamic religion negatively, simply due to the crimes of a minority of extremists. In this paragraph I also compare ISIS with KKK, which I'm sure you're aware was a Christian extremist group.
Body 3 - The constant debate in the media as to whether the burqa should be banned

Hope that helps!

[warya]

I'm doing this as well but I can't find a witty way to start. I was thinking of commenting on the irony of how Muslims are labelled as terrorists (http://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-Muslims-are-terrorists). I'm trying to find non Muslim crimes that would illustrate this, there are plenty of American ones but I can't find any in the context of Australia.

On a side note, how far are we able to stray away from the Australian context without being penalized does anyone know

[vox nihili]

Hey! I'm doing a similar contention for my oral (Muslims are portrayed unfairly in the media) so I thought I could help!
At first, I struggled as well trying to relate all my arguments to my contention, but I got there in the end haha

Body 1 - How the Islamic community has been stereotyped and labelled as terrorists through events such as 9/11.
Body 2 - How the media have also portrayed the Islamic religion negatively, simply due to the crimes of a minority of extremists. In this paragraph I also compare ISIS with KKK, which I'm sure you're aware was a Christian extremist group.
Body 3 - The constant debate in the media as to whether the burqa should be banned

Hope that helps!

Don't separate your speech into body 1, body 2, body 3. That's an essay and writing a speech that way is a surefire way to ruin it. In a speech, you need to choose one topic and one point and then weave your evidence around that point, making a gradual movement through topics, instead of the  blunt and unimaginative sign-posting you get in essays or debating

On a side note, how far are we able to stray away from the Australian context without being penalized does anyone know

"This is a global problem affecting Australia"
"We have adopted the racist attitudes of our trans-pacific friends"

Any of those things bring it back into context. So it's not bad to start off with a foreign example, as long as you can use it to shed light on the Australian context.