Socks and Herons
Grouping items merely for neatness rather than a specific communication goal.
The maximum recommended sentence count for a speech’s formal thesis statement.
What is one sentence?
The three traditional main structural divisions of a speech.
What are the introduction, body, and conclusion?
The quality of main points where each point covers a distinct idea without overlapping others.
What is discreteness?
The reason a Great Blue Heron's anatomy is considered a "composition" rather than mere organization.
What is having parts coordinated to serve a specific purpose (catching fish)?
The metaphor Lessl uses to describe how an entire speech grows out of a thesis statement.
What is an acorn and an oak tree?
The part of the speech instructors recommend you sketch and compose first.
What is the body (or thesis and main points)?
Using similar wording and sentence structures across main points to increase clarity.
What is parallelism?
The key characteristic that distinguishes genuine composition from lower levels of organization.
What is producing an artistic effect or meaning goal?
The reason Abraham Lincoln omitted an explicit thesis statement in the Gettysburg Address.
What is the speech's shortness, solemn setting, or letting the audience discover the point at the climax?
The maximum recommended number of main points for most classroom speeches.
What is two to five (or 2-5)?
The organizational pattern used when main points follow a step-by-step timeline.
What is chronological order?