>From this side of the pond there is an impression that Drew Westen's *The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation* has taken Washington (and political America) by storm. Now it may well be that Westen's message is something Democrat election campaign advisors should take to heart, but I must say that when I first heard about it my immediate reaction was that it was (to use the vernacular) a statement of the bleedin' obvious. How long is it since you saw a TV commercial for a car [trans.: automobile -:) ] that gave the viewer *specific* factual information about its performance, rather than an appeal to the emotions? Or, to take a more directly relevant example, let's go back to the dear old Bard and the funeral oration scene on the death of Caesar. For Brutus' oration, Shakespeare gives him a speech in prose (as far as I can see the only one in the whole play) in which he appeals to the crowd to understand the reasons for the action of the conspirators. Then back to blank verse for Mark Antony. And how does he appeal to the crowd:
"When the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept." "Bear with me; my heart is in the coffin with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me." "You do all know this mantle; I remember The first time ever Caesar put it on; 'Twas on a summers evening, in his tent, That day he overcame the Nervii. Look! in this place ran Cassius' dagger through..." and so on And the clincher: "I come not friends to steal away your hearts; I am no orator, as Brutus is; But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man [shades of Ronald Reagan!] That love my friend; and that they know full well That gave me public leave to speak of him. For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, To stir men's blood: I only speak right on; I tell you that which you yourselves do know..." And off go the mob to kill and burn, while Mark Antony mutters to himself. "Now let it work: mischief, thou art afoot." Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London http://www.esterson.org --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
