Homework, 23rd February, 2017

Read the speech below and then, next to each literary technique in the table, write down an example of it from the speech.

There’s a catch though: one of the techniques has not been included in the speech. See if you can work out which one, then write an example of your own. 

This is due on Monday, 27th February. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start today by putting an image in your mind: an image of a child who can’t yet walk, trying to run. This is what it is like trying to understand the world without knowing about religion. Some people will tell you that religion should be removed from the curriculum in British schools as it is a private matter and should only be taught at home, but, since it is impossible to understand the world without understanding religion, is it really fair to shelter children from it? So I say to you, teach children about religion, and you teach them about the world.

Christianity, Islam, Judaism. Most of the world’s population falls into one of these categories, and there are many other religions besides, so refusing to teach children about them whilst expecting them to have an understanding of the world is, in my view, simply unacceptable. In fact, around 70% of the people in the world claim that they have an affiliation with a religious organisation of some kind, so I say to you, teach children about religion, and you teach them about the world.

From London to Lahore, from New York to Nairobi, from Timor to Timbuktu, people are religious and this affects how they behave. Wars have been waged over religion, people have given their lives and had their lives taken from them in the name of it, and yet, unbelievably, there are still those among us who would have it removed from the British school curriculum altogether. Imagine that, and you are imagining a Britain where people live in ignorance. It is an absolutely insane idea! So I say to you, teach children about religion, and you teach them about the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to leave you today with the image of the child trying to run before it can walk and say to you one last time: teach children about religion, and you teach them about the world. 

Direct address
Imagery
Metaphor
Rhetorical question
List
Opinion
Fact/Statistic
Alliteration
Hyperbole
Repeated catchphrase