Communication Studies Subject Guide

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Speech and Oratory

Reference Books | Databases | Organizations | Web Sites

Reference Books

• American Speaker: Your Guide to Successful Speaking

Ref. PN4121.A43 1996 - Tips, talking points, jokes, quotations, and sample speeches, arranged alphabetically by topic or type of speech.

• Contemporary American Voices: Significant Speeches in American History, 1945-Present

Ref. E173.A786 1992 - 73 important speeches on public issues.

• Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics

Ref. P29 E48 1994 (10 Vols.) - Vol. 8 contains the articles "Speech," "Speech Act Theory," "Speech Communication," "Speech Play," "Speech Styles," "Speech and Thought," and "Speech Writing."

• Native North American Literature: Biographical and Critical Information on Native Writers and Orators from the United States and Canada

Ref., PS508.I5N38 1994 - "Part I. Oral Literature" provides articles on major Native American orators.

• Speaker's Lifetime Library

Ref. PN4193.I5S64 1997 - Contains a "Speaker's Reference Guide" by topic; "Apt Comparisons", a "Day and Date Book" and "Special Occasion Book."

• Voices of Multicultural America: Notable Speeches Delivered by African, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans, 1790-1995

Ref. PS663.M55V64 1996 - Addresses by and information on over 130 minority orators.

• Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1800-1925:A Bio-Critical Sourcebook

Ref. HQ1412.W67 1993 - Information on 37 early women orators who contributed to public discourse.

• Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1925-1993: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook

Ref. HQ1412.W68 1994 - A companion volume to the above title, covering distinguished women speakers up to the 1990s.

Databases

• Academic Search Premier

Click on "Subject Terms" and type in Speeches or Oratory in the "Browse for:" box. Mark the desired terms (or click in the "Explode" box opposite a term to include subheadings). Then click on the "Add" button to search.

• America: History and Life

In the Advanced Search mode, click on the icon to the right of the Subject Terms box and type Speech to see all terms starting with this word. Mark the terms you wish to search on and click "Paste Terms." Add a name or keyword to limit results. For non-American speeches, follow the same procedure in the "Historical Abstracts" database (also type in English in the language box)..

• ComAbstracts

In the "Advanced Search" screen, type "Speech*" or "Orator*" (* = any ending on the word, such as a plural form) to find articles in core communication journals.

• Communication & Mass Media Complete

Click on "Thesaurus" and type in Speeches or Oratory as in Academic Search Premier, above. Database includes more communication journals than ComAbstracts.

• Ingenta

For comprehensive journal coverage, type "Speeches or oratory" in the "Search for" box. If an article is not available at UT, a delivery service is available for graduate students and faculty.

• Lexis/Nexis Academic

To find political speeches: in the "Guided News Search" screen, choose "News Transcripts" in Step One and "Political Transcripts in Step Two. Then type the name of a politician to find his or her speeches or interviews.

• MLA Bibliography

Click on "Thesaurus" and type in Speeches or Oratory as in Academic Search Premier, above. Results are from journals and books in literature and language only.

• Web of Science

In "General Search," type Speeches or Oratory to find articles from refereed journals from any field.

Organizations

• Advanced Public Speaking Institute

Practical help for the public speaker.

• American Forensic Association

For educators and researchers; publisher of the journal Argumentation and Advocacy.

• Toastmasters International

A non-profit organization promoting public speaking and leadership skills.

Web Sites

U.S. Presidents and Presidential Candidates

• American Leaders Speak, Recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election

Recordings of brief speeches by presidents and major public figures, 1918-1920.

• The American Presidency Project

Includes almost 30,000 historical documents, many of them speeches.

• American Rhetoric: John Kerry - Acceptance Address - 2004 Democratic National Convention

Full text, audio and photos of the speech.

• Miller Center of Pubic Affairs, Presidential Speeches

Audio of major speeches by Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Carter and Reagan.

• Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson: Democratic Convention Speeches

Transcript and audio of his 1984 and 1988 convention speeches as a presidential candidate.

• PresidentialRhetoric.com

Links to current and past presidential addresses and speeches. Includes links to the Presidential debates and to other speeches from the GOP and Democratic national conventions.

• President Bush's acceptance Speech at the GOP Convention - September 2, 2004

Full text and audio, with links to Bush's profile, the Republican National Convention, and "Vote 2004" news items.

• WhiteHouseTapes.org

From the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, an audio library of Presidential tapes from 1940 to 1973. Covers both foreign and domestic affairs.

U.S. Speeches

• Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University

Includes speeches from major conservative thinkers (scroll down to "Audio Archive" from the list on the lower right).

• Douglass - Archives of American Public Address

Speeches from all time periods, including Frederick Douglass, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King, Walt Whitman, the Clintons, and George W. Bush.

• Graduation Speeches (Yahoo)

Memorable commencement addresses by both celebrities and high school seniors.

• Nineteenth Century Documents Project

Primary texts from 19th century American history.

• Public Speaking in an Outspoken Age: Oratory in 19th Century America

An archive of speeches plus an informative essay with links.

International Speeches

• Avalon Project at Yale Law School

Includes speeches from pre-18th to 21st centuries.

• Castro Speech Database

Searchable collection of speeches, interviews, and other utterances by the President of Cuba. Includes the speeches from 1959-1996.

• Great Speeches from the History Channel

Over 120 RealAudio speeches of the 20th century, including the nonpolitical.

• History and Politics Out Loud

Audio of significant addresses and even telephone conversations, with historical context, mostly from 1960 to 1979.

• Online Speech Bank

Text, audio and/or video of over 5,000 speeches and media events (requires RealPlayer). Features speeches on the 2003 Iraq war.

• Public Speaking Web site

Both audio (requires RealPlayer) and text versions of historic U.S. and British speeches, including links to many other sites.

• Speeches and Speechmakers

An eclectic international collection.

• Television News Archive

Index to tapes of presidential press conferences and all programming of the major networks—some back to 1968. Register before using.

Speeches on Minority and Women's Issues

• Afro-American Almanac - African-American History Resource

Includes speeches by Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. DuBois, and many others.

• Feminist.com

Speeches and articles, arranged by subject, on many women's issues. Type in "speech" and click on "search" at the top of the page.

• Gifts of Speech

Searchable index of speeches by about 70 important, contemporary women, worldwide.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project

Includes his speeches as well as other papers.

• Not For Ourselves Alone, The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

Documents and speeches from the women's suffrage movement.

• Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1775-2000

Contains 45 questions addressed by documents—dating from the American Revolution to the 1990's--along with images and links. Searching on the word "speech" produces 179 matches.

Practical Issues

• Big Dog's Leadership Page

Presentation Skills, discussions of the voice, nonverbal communication, listening, tips and techniques for public speakers.

• Virtual Presentation Assistant

A tutorial which helps you write a speech, with links to public speaking sites and "Historic Audio Archives."

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