Rhetorical Analysis Of Father Chenema

The Resurrection of Humanity

On the first Sunday of April, the day that Jesus Christ was resurrected, the priest Jose Mari (Father Chema) spoke to an audience of roughly 200 people. The audience contained a variety of people from all demographics, which attended The Good Shepard church at 9:30 in the morning to honor Jesus. The speaker, Father Chema, is a certified priest and has experience reading and interpreting the Bible. When speaking he does not use notes to remind him about what he is going to talk about, the only time he reads directly from a text is when he is reading directly out of the Bible, to the audience. With the audience being as large as it is he speaks at an elevated level with nothing in front of him, so that he can be

seen by everyone in the audience, and he uses a microphone so that the audience can easily hear him.
Throughout the speech, Father Chema, maintained eye contact with the audience when he spoke, with the only exception being the times he read the Bible, to the audience. As a priest, maintaining his eye contact with the audience is the most important action he can perform. In the textbook, A Speakers Guidebook, it states that “having eye contact with the audience is one of the most, if not the most, important physical actions in public speaking” (O’Hair, Stewart, & Rubenstein, 2015). The eye contact he displays creates a deep bond and an emotional connection between the audience and him. The purpose of the Sunday mass was to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He didn’t focus on Jesus Christ specifically, instead, he focused on the resurrection. Father Chema, used various forms of examples and methods to explain and describe how people will be resurrected and sent to heaven when Jesus comes to save us.
The most important choice in a career is to make sure that it is something you love to do, and when listening to Father Chema, it is clear that he loves what he does. He was passionate in talking about the bible, and he expressed positive energy when talking to the audience. While speaking he was confident with what he was saying. On a day that is full of a lot of pressure from many people, he delivered his speech in a way that grabbed the audience’s attention. He spoke what he believed, and the audience absorbed everything he was saying.
When a person delivers a speech, the audience expects a sincere tone in their voice.

The audience wants the speaker to be confident and sincere because if the speaker doesn’t feel passionate about their topic, the audience doesn’t either. It is stated in the textbook A Speakers Guidebook, that “One of the most consistent expectations that we as listeners bring to any speech situation us that the speaker will be honest and straightforward with us”. Father Chema has dedicated his life to giving speeches each week, and these speeches are not a script to be read from, but instead something that comes from the heart. He knew what he was doing and he loves what he does. Father Chema is not a priest that speaks with a formal tone. While speaking to us he would use humor to lighten the mood while still delivering his speech. While speaking he used effective delivery which is the “skillful application of natural conversational behavior to a speech in a way that is relaxed, enthusiastic, and direct”. The conversational tone that he used made the audience feel comfortable and at ease while he was

speaking.
While speaking in front of an audience most people are expressive with their gesture so that they can get their points across, although for this speech the priest didn’t do many grand gestures aside from the ones that went with the mass routine. Despite not using his body to make purposeful gestures, he did have appropriate facial expressions while speaking. He would laugh and smile when he said something funny, and he would frown and furrow his brow while speaking about a serious topic, overall throughout his speech he had a soft and kind expression on his face. The way that Father Chema spoke was clear and expressive. While speaking he was able to clearly demonstrate and teach the audience about the Bible and the purpose of how important Easter day is. He was also able to use concrete language in his speech, because as he spoke he demonstrated events and gave examples that were clear and visual to see.
The church always begins with a song as the priest walks down the aisle of the church, which is always an elegant and attention capturing entrance and introduction.

He begins by giving thanks to God and Jesus and appreciating that Jesus was resurrected, he then goes to a group prayer as his introduction. His purpose is clear and the reason that most of the audience attended church and that is to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He not only focused on the resurrection of Jesus Christ specifically, but the resurrection of humanity in the future. His main ideas consisted of the story of Jesus Christ resurrection and the resurrection of humanity after death. When speaking of the main ideas he spoke clearly and used various examples and while some were funny and comical others were sentimental and thought-provoking. When giving examples he used people that the audience would know, while he explained a story, and when he gave a sentimental example he used an experience such as the death of a loved when to relate to a majority of the audience. He concluded his speech with the traditional prayers they say every week at church. By ending it this way he was able to keep the tradition of a traditional mass while having previously incorporated a lesson. Father Chema speaks to a large group of people every week and although he must feel nervous at times, when he goes up to speak he is full of confidence and pride because he loves what he

does.