Belonging Speech: Texts? (1 Viewer)

[taykid]

So I have a 5-6 minute speech due, and we must use two of Emily Dickenson's poems which we've studied in class as two texts.

However for the text of our own choosing I'm debating between Dexter (the novel) and Helter Skelter (film or novel).

The Manson family is a complete example of both the positives and negatives of belongings and also refers to nature, as Dickenson does in many of her poems.

However I feel that it may be a little too heavy, or philosophical/humanitarian rather than actual language techniques (I'm much more a Society & Culture person, not so much into literary critique...)

Any advice? Any idea's on what I could include in the speech?
The quotation as our basis is "One's identity is developed and re-inforced by many factors. One of the most influential is one's experience of belonging"

Thanks

edit: I'm thinking of this as my opener:

The primal urge to seek out others of our own species, kind and kin is one entrenched in the entirety of the animal world, humanity inclusive. From the dawn of time creatures have roamed the earth in mobs, herds, packs and flocks somehow recognizing and understanding the concept of strength in the numbers, and the importance of both family and pack mentality for the survival of the individual. In the urban world of the 21st centaury today, the intrinsic desire and need to belong continues to shape our development as individuals, societies and cultures.

 

[jennieTalia]

So I have a 5-6 minute speech due, and we must use two of Emily Dickenson's poems which we've studied in class as two texts.

However for the text of our own choosing I'm debating between Dexter (the novel) and Helter Skelter (film or novel).

The Manson family is a complete example of both the positives and negatives of belongings and also refers to nature, as Dickenson does in many of her poems.

However I feel that it may be a little too heavy, or philosophical/humanitarian rather than actual language techniques (I'm much more a Society & Culture person, not so much into literary critique...)

Any advice? Any idea's on what I could include in the speech?
The quotation as our basis is "One's identity is developed and re-inforced by many factors. One of the most influential is one's experience of belonging"

Thanks

edit: I'm thinking of this as my opener:

The primal urge to seek out others of our own species, kind and kin is one entrenched in the entirety of the animal world, humanity inclusive. From the dawn of time creatures have roamed the earth in mobs, herds, packs and flocks somehow recognizing and understanding the concept of strength in the numbers, and the importance of both family and pack mentality for the survival of the individual. In the urban world of the 21st centaury today, the intrinsic desire and need to belong continues to shape our development as individuals, societies and cultures.

What was your question, exactly, or is it just a speech?
I like the idea, although it is important to also use your techniques (weave these in to your more S&C stuff).
I was thinking about the last line of your intoduction... I think that we are reverting AWAY from a typical type of belonging. In that before, in smaller villages, we were forced to belong to the society we were in, and we had to get along with everyone. Nowadays we generally live in areas that are big enough to be autonomous, or to choose who we will belong with. Is there more variety though? Or is it just that we are becoming more picky.
I think that the industrial revolution changed how we all belong to the world, and to each other... and now our IDEAL about belonging has altered with it.

 

[taykid]

It's just a speech, and the only guildelines they've given us is to use the quotation "One's identity is developed and re-inforced by many factors. One of the most influential is one's experience of belonging" as the basis of our speech.

The speech itself is to demonstrate our understanding using the texts etc.

I'm having trouble organising my thoughts though, I've got so many conflicting ideas of what belonging is (simply because it is so hard to define) that I'm not sure which path to take.

I was very tempted to approach it stating that Belonging does not exist and that it's simply a social construct, and that Dickenson recognized this and hence chose to exclude herself from it etc, but a friend of mine said it would probably be wiser not to state that the AoS "doesn't exist".

I also have no idea how to write a speech and am currently googling "speech conventions" like mad