Persuasive Speech: Literature's Role in Preventing Past Errors

This assignment is a persuasive speech delivered by a student acting as a delegate from the United Nations. The speech argues for the critical importance of literature in preventing the repetition of historical mistakes, particularly focusing on the dangers of misinformation and the manipulation of truth. The student draws parallels between Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" and contemporary issues, such as the spread of fake news and the abuse of power, emphasizing how literature can help us learn from the past. The speech explores the role of literature in fostering critical thinking, understanding historical contexts, and recognizing the dangers of mass hysteria and propaganda. It calls for action to combat misinformation and promote the value of literature in shaping informed public opinion and preventing future societal crises. The speech includes an introduction, main body with analysis, and conclusion, along with a list of references.

PERSUASIVE
SPEECH

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFRENCES...................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
"At any given moment public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation and prejudice".
These words were spoken by American novelist and public intellectual Gore Vidal and are
relevant to the current environment which promotes misinformation. Literature is often
disregarded as a tool to influence collective behaviour of society and help us learn from our past
so that our mistakes are not repeated. As of the third quarter of 2020, there were more than 1.8
billion fake news engagement on Facebook (27 Alarming Fake News Statistics on the Effects of
False Reporting [The 2021 Edition], 2021). These fake news engagement were able to spread
misinformation all over the globe influencing political decisions and shaping world view of
many people. Fake news and misinformation has created a society where truth can be easily
manipulated for personal or political gain of individual. This circumstance is perfectly presented
in The crucible by playwright Arthur Miller. In the book Abigail manipulates the truth in order
to seek personal gain. This resulted in the town of Salem being controlled by misinformation and
people using untruth to harm others and personal benefits. Manipulation of truth by social media
disinformation to gain personal or political benefits is creating a society controlled by
misinformation. What happened in the town of Salem is slowly becoming reality of our times. I
ask everyone here to learn from the mistake from our pasts and stop the spread of
misinformation.
MAIN BODY
The Salem witch trials begin as a result of manipulation of truth by Abigail to avoid harsh
sentence and achieve personal goal of killing Elizabeth to marry John. Miller used this instance
along with the incident of Hale and Paris using their influence on tituba to ensure that she
accuses their suggested candidates of witchcraft. Manipulation of truth is again highlighted when
George Corey alleges that Ruth Putnam has accused George Jacobs of witchcraft so that her
father can buy the forfeited property of Jacobs (Koorey, 2019). Perhaps one of the primary points
of the play which showcase direct manipulation of truth is in act 3 of the play. The third acts
marks the beginning of townsfolk losing control of their life to a situation of mass mass
manipulation of truth. As John proctor brings Marry Warren to the court so that she can confess

about her false testimony. Marry Warren accepts her falsehood testimony. At this point of the
play, people at authoritative position could have recognised manipulation and other girls and
come to reason by stopping the trials. The last hope of normalcy returning to Salem vanished as
Paris, Hall, Putnam and Danforth refused to accept the truth and hard evidence laid in front of
them. They believe that everyone who is against the court is dishonest as the court is divinely
sanctioned. "You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be
counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live
no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world.
Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it."
( Judge Danforth, scene 1, Act 3). Miller uses the situation of Salem witch trials and
manipulation of truth to depict the setting of red scare affecting USA during the premiere of the
play. America saw a period of fear from Soviet communism during the propelled. This fear was
used by many politicians such as senator McCarthy to attack political opponents and silence
dissent. Abigail was invited to the court by Judge Danforth. She denied the statement of Marry
Warren and manipulated the whole court by pretending that Marry Warren has transformed
herself into a yellow bird and is attacking her. The intensity of Abigail's actions create a scene of
horror as every person in the court is terrified. The sets the path of mass hysteria as every
member of the town are in state of panic while authority figures use this situation to maintain
personal goals and others seek personal gain. One might think that we would have learned from
these mistakes outlined in literature. We must have taken steps to ensure that authoritative
figures are not able to manipulate truth for personal gains. So what did we do when it came to
Internet manipulation? NOTHING.
It is important look at the harm caused by spread of misinformation at an accelerated rate thanks
to 40% to 100% increase in internet usage compared to pre-lock down levels (The Network
Impact of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020). The spread of misinformation during
pandemic has lead loss of human life. Misinformation surrounding cure of COVID-19 and
hydroxychloroquine lead to death of a couple in Arizona. This happened because the couple
thought that hydroxychloroquine in their fish tank cleaner could prevent coronavirus. Conspiracy
theories related to 5G causing COVID-19 resulted in mob attacks on telecommunications
workers (Coronavirus: The human cost of virus misinformation, 2020). Thirty years ago with the
introduction of personal computers in the market invited the possibilities of creating of a better

future with better connectivity and better technology. Instead we have created a society
controlled by misinformation and lives are threatened by half truths and progress is halted in
favour of propaganda!
This situation of misinformation gets worse as we look at the power of technology companies on
information served to consumers. Money and influence is being used by to fill minds of people
with alternative facts and generate fear for political benefits of few. If serious measures are not
taken against such misinformation, it will become very very difficult from mass hysteria
becoming reality on a global scale. Another global catastrophe such as the COVID-19 will result
in mass hysteria and immeasurable damage to human life.

CONCLUSION
Historian Georg Lincoln Burr states that " the Salem witchcraft was the rock on which the
theocracy shattered." It is time to take action against spread of misinformation, stop technology
firms from gaining power and stop injustices happening with lives of innocent people due to
propaganda and misinformation. We must begin this task of stopping the spread of
misinformation by acquiring knowledge. I incite everyone present here to understand the
significance of reading literature in battling the misinformation.

REFRENCES
Books and journals
Kadam, A. B. and Atre, S. R., 2020. Negative impact of social media panic during the COVID-
19 outbreak in India. Journal of travel medicine, 27(3). p.taaa057.
Calvillo, and et. al., 2020. Political ideology predicts perceptions of the threat of covid-19 (and
susceptibility to fake news about it). Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(8).
pp.1119-1128.
Koorey, S., 2019. Critical Insights: The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Arthur Miller
Journal, 14(2). pp.133-135.
Shirish, A., Srivastava, S. C. and Chandra, S., 2021. Impact of mobile connectivity and freedom
on fake news propensity during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-country empirical
examination. European Journal of Information Systems, pp.1-20.
Online
27 Alarming Fake News Statistics on the Effects of False Reporting [The 2021 Edition], 2021.
[Online] Available through<https://letter.ly/fake-news-statistics/>
Coronavirus: The human cost of virus misinformation, 2020. [Online] Available through
<https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-52731624>
The Network Impact of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020. [Online] Available
through<https://thenewstack.io/the-network-impact-of-the-global-covid-19-pandemic/>