Question

what best explains why the delivery of William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize speech does not support rhetoric and purpose?

Answer 1

He is hesitatant, which distracts his audience from the purpose of inspiring them. (Apex)

Answer 2

William Faulkner's Nobel Prize speech does not support rhetoric and purpose because he delivers the speech too quickly for the audience to absorb his message.

William Faulkner (1897 - 1962) received the Nobel Prize in 1950. In his speech, he fails to emphasize words to highlight his main point due to the high speed with which he delivers it, making the speech non-effective in terms of purpose and rhetoric, the art of using language to convince or persuade. In this case, the famous writer does not follow the instructions on the proper modulation of the voice, pace, and emphasis of speech that rhetoricians such as Aristotle laid down in Classical times.

Faulkner resorts to different rhetorical devices during his speech, such as parallelism, rhetorical question ("There is only the question: When will I be blown up?") and polysyndeton but they cannot be fully appreciated because he delivers the speech too quickly.