An Unlikely Source
By: Brenda Karl
Tags: Persuasion, Morality, Education, Speech, Life Lessons

for teaching persuasion

vulture.com

I recently watched the Netflix special by Dave Chapell called Unforgiven. Normally, I would skip over something like that because I’m not really all that into stand-up comedy. However, my oldest son sent me the clip and asked me at least three times if I had watched it yet. I kept promising, it just didn’t happen. And then it did.

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t watched it sooner.

His writing is a brilliant work of persuasion. Artful. Breathtaking. Genius. I would love to teach it as part of my persuasive writing and speaking curriculum. This is why.

It is relevant.

When I mention Dave Chappell to any of my classes, eyes immediately light up. All of the 15-year-olds know who he is and want to know what he has to say. He is a very popular part of their culture. But, when I say “persuasive writing and/or speaking”, he isn’t the first person who comes to their mind.

Each year, to teach persuasive speaking, teachers across the country turn to Malala Yousafzai. If you haven’t heard of her, she is the young Pakistani girl who was shot in the face by the Taliban when she refused to stop attending school. Don’t misunderstand, my students thought it was amazing that she was brave, and they even thought it was cool that she was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. They couldn’t, however, relate. If someone threatens them, or not, they are happy to skip school.

I’m not suggesting that we stop teaching persuasive speeches such as Malala Yousafzai’s speech to the United Nations, any of Obama’s dazzler’s, or even Martin Luther King’s traditional favorite, I Have a Dream, but once in a while, wouldn’t it be fun to give a gritty, real-life example of persuasion rather than a polished one? It would be for me, and I think my students would love it.

Teaches many life lessons.

I teach on-level tenth graders and every day they happily remind me that they are not going to college. While it may not be something they aspire to, it could happen. For most of them, they want to learn a trade, work in the family business, or join the military. Many of them are what we might consider good students, but just as many are not.

That doesn’t mean that they aren’t good people. People, especially good ones, need life lessons. They love to hear me tell stories about the important things in life. Things like respect, kindness, and generosity. Chappelle’s, Unforgiven, does just that.

Through his own life experiences and his gift for humor, he creates a space to discuss things we might not normally talk about in polite conversation. He makes us comfortable with truths such as everyone has moments of desperation, anyone can be cheated, the importance of standing up for what is right, and most important, “never get in the way of a man and his meal”.

These truths are things I can say all day long to my students, and they listen. But, when Dave Chappell says them, they HEAR him.

Draws unlikely comparisons.

My students write persuasive papers in tenth grade. I teach them to use real-world examples as comparisons — examples that people can understand and relate to. Chapelle does this brilliantly.

He compares the predatory nature of the show business contract to the Me Too Movement. The innocence of the young artist and the experience of the lawyers who lure them in with promises that they will be taken care of. Viacom to the hustlers on the streets of New York City who tempt the unsuspecting into laying all they have on the table for that one big win.

Morality and legality, integrity and deception, over and over, in every story. He has his audience on the edge of their seats, listening attentively to story after story, like children on their grandpa’s knee.

Clear purpose

Teachers have a list of techniques for strong persuasive speaking, and Chappelle has checked every box. He knows his purpose and his audience. He adds icing to the cake with a compelling title and a fantastic hook. His story is personal, raw, authentic — and, in classic DC style, very funny.

Through an artful weaving of stories from the time he was 14 to the current day, Chappelle carries us effortlessly along, gradually revealing the purpose of his talk, and teaching us life lessons along the way.

About halfway through the routine, the audience understands that the purpose of his set is to answer the question, “Is it right?”

Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.”― Saint Augustine

The audience learns throughout his routine that Chapelle has a legal and binding contract with Viacom involving his work on Comedy Central. As most are aware, he left the show after about three years to do other work. Recently, HBO and Netflix begin streaming the work he did on Comedy Central.

According to Chappelle, when he confronted HBO, they dismissed his request for justice, and to add insult to injury, asked him, “Why would we need you?”

When he confronted Netflix, they listened, stopped the streaming, and offered him a new deal. One that was legal and moral.

The contract he has with Viacom is legal. It will hold up in a court of law. No one can argue that. However, any self-respecting English teacher or writer will recognize this as plagiarism. They stole his work, AND they made it legal.

This is an important lesson for my students. They may not ever be shot like Malala, become a president like Obama, or a Civil Rights leader like King. They will, however, face potential threats to their livelihood regularly. They are much more likely to be taken advantage of by people who know more than them, have more power than them, and don’t mind exploiting a young, desperate person with a dream.

Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless. ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Restraining the heartless

After Chappelle presents his perspective on the contract, he agrees that it is legal, but he asks, “Is it right?”

He asks his audience to ponder the question. Then, like any quality persuasive work, he leaves you with a powerful call to action.

“Boycott me,” he commands.

He closes his appeal by reminding the audience that they are truly the ones who must decide because they are the ones who employ HBO. The audience holds the power.

Brilliant Persuasion

Dave Chappelle started his talk with a powerful story that included the line, “Never get in the way of a man and his meal.” Then, he shows us how Viacom has gotten in the way of him and his meal. He closes by asking his audience to get in the way of Viacom and their meal.

Teaching this amazingly persuasive set by Dave Chappelle would be something the students would probably never forget. It would reinforce what I teach about writing and speaking persuasively, but more importantly, it would teach good kids real lessons about life and persuade them that what is legal, isn’t always right.