John F. Kennedy Archives

The Anatomy Of A Perfect Speech

By Chris Carosa on October 22, 2024

Buchel, Charles A.; Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1852-1917), as Mark Anthony in ‘Julius Caesar’ by William Shakespeare; Theatre Collection; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/herbert-beerbohm-tree-18521917-as-mark-anthony-in-julius-caesar-by-william-shakespeare-30507 Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Well, isn’t that interesting? It seems last week’s column brought forth a surge of fascination. And curiosity. Several readers requested a more complete example. They wanted to see an actual speech that most effectively employed the three cornerstones of a perfect speech: story weaving, callbacks, and self-deprecating humor.

Oh, there are so many. From Churchill to Reagan to Kennedy, modern orators have used these tools to persuade and entice listeners.

Marc Antony’s eulogy for Julius Caesar in the second scene of Act III of Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar is a classic example of a speech that uses these elements effectively (see “Story Weaving, Callbacks, and Self-Deprecating Humor,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, October 17, 2024). Now, I realize it’s probably been a while since high school or since you watched Marlon Brando’s masterful performance as Marc Antony in MGM’s 1953 production of Julius Caesar. So, before we begin, here are the salient parts of Antony’s speech:Continue Reading “The Anatomy Of A Perfect Speech”

Posted in Great Speaking Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Brutus, Callbacks, Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Julius Caesar, leaving a blank, Marc Antony, Marlon Brando, MGM, Persuasion, Reagan, repitition, rhetoric, self-deprecating humor, Shakespeare, speaking skills, story weaving

Story Weaving, Callbacks, And Self-Deprecating Humor

By Chris Carosa on October 15, 2024

Many years ago, a young aspiring columnist asked an established author what it takes to be a writer. “To write, you need to find your pen,” said the wordsmith. “To write well, you need to find your voice.”

“Find your voice?” What does that mean?

I never understood that expression. It seemed like a cop out. It’s what you tell a young buck when you don’t have a real answer. After all, everyone is looking for that magic bullet, that sure-fire secret that makes you a success.

Well, after years of writing, it dawned on me the answer to “How can I be a good writer?” is obvious. You need to find your voice. I can’t tell you what it means, but I can tell you it’s Continue Reading “Story Weaving, Callbacks, And Self-Deprecating Humor”

Posted in Great Speaking Tips, Great Writing Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abraham Lincoln, callback, Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Founding Fathers, Gettysburg Address, inaugural address, John F. Kennedy, public speaking, Revolutionary War, Ronald Reagan, self-deprecating humor, story weaving

The Day ‘The Democracy’ Died

By Chris Carosa on August 27, 2024

JFK Campaign Poster. Source: Unidentified Artist, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Two hundred years. It was a great run while it lasted.

I wrote eight years ago how the establishment Republicans’ alienation of Donald Trump signaled the end of that party, (see “The Night the Grand Old Party Died,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, April 14, 2016). A week ago, their counterpart decided to return the favor.

To fully appreciate the significance of this, understand I was raised a Kennedy Democrat, pretty much like every other Catholic who grew up in the 1960s. Every home in my family and every home of my family’s friends had two pictures hanging somewhere among their walls. One was of the Pope. The other was of John F. Kennedy.

How effusive was the Kennedy aura in our family? My brother’s name was “Kenneth.” We called him “Kenny.” My great-great aunt Zia Pepe (that would be my mother’s great aunt and my grandmother’s aunt) watched us when my mother had to substitute teach. She called my brother “Ken-eh-dee.” It was a badge of honor for him. He collected all things Kennedy, at least for a short time.

Zia Pepe was babysitting us when JFK was assassinated. The three of us watched it on TV. She cried. We didn’t know why Zia Pepe was crying. As we were watching, our mother Continue Reading “The Day ‘The Democracy’ Died”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1980 Presidential Election, Buffalo, California, Catholic, Cheryl Hines, Democrat, Donald Trump, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Grand Old Party, JFK, John F. Kennedy, Kenny, New Hampshire, Reagan, Republican, RFK Jr., Ricky, Robert F. Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy, The Democracy, Zia Pepe

How Banned Cartoonist Scott Adams Became The American Illuminati

By Chris Carosa on March 14, 2023

Johann Adam Weishaupt, Founder of the Illuminati Source: Art of Charm, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Everyone loves a good mystery. Everyone loves a good conspiracy. And, if you happen upon a good mystery interwoven with a good conspiracy, then you’ve got a best seller on your hands.

Just ask Dan Brown. He’s made a career writing trendy books that allude to the mysteries of the Illuminati. These include The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, both of which, along with Brown’s Inferno, have been made into movies starring Tom Hanks.

Brown writes of a popularized vision of the Illuminati. He is not alone in painting a picture of the clandestine group as a nefarious conclave set on world domination. Through the ages, many have used the Illuminati as their favorite punching bag. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Illuminati was “credited with activities ranging from the instigation of the French Revolution to the assassination of U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy.”

Josef Wages, author of The Secret School of Wisdom: The Authentic Rituals and Doctrines of the Illuminati and a board member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, explains the reason for this. He says, “There was a nice convenient vacuum and, until my book was Continue Reading “How Banned Cartoonist Scott Adams Became The American Illuminati”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Adam Weishaupt, Angels and Demons, Assassination, Ban, Beyonce, Dan Brown, Dilbert, Dilbert Reborn, French Revolution, Illuminati, Inferno, Ingolstadt, Jay Z, John F. Kennedy, Josef Wages, Locals.com, penetration, Perfectibilists, Real Coffee With Scott Adams, Rosser Reeves, Scott Adams, Scottish Rite Research Society, secret society, The Da Vinci Code, usage pull

Why America’s Founding Secretly Influences You

By Chris Carosa on August 30, 2022

You don’t have to be an American to say you’re an American. That was the whole idea of the American Experiment – it was meant for all nations, not just those uppity Tea Partiers who frolicked in Boston Harbor a few centuries back. But this experiment didn’t start with the American Revolution, Declaration of Independence or even the United States Constitution. It began with a collection of oppressed runaways and an accidental metaphor that endures to this day.

After reading a perhaps too rosy account of the Plymouth Colony by the Pilgrims Edward Winslow and William Bradford, excitement grew in England to establish more companies to Continue Reading “Why America’s Founding Secretly Influences You”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged A Modell of Christian Charity, American Exceptionalism, American Experiment, American Ideal, American Revolution, Anne Hutchinson, Arbella, Ben Franklin, Boston Harbor, City Upon A Hill, community, Constitutional Convention, core value, creed, Declaration of Independence, Edward Winslow, England, Jesus, John Adams, John F. Kennedy, John Ford, John Winthrop, King Charles I, Lifetime Dream, Lifetime Dream Process, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Massachusetts Bay Company, Matthew 5:14, Mayflower Compact, Nathaniel Hawthorne, personal belief, Plymouth Colony, Puritan, Roger Williams, Ronald Reagan, Scarlett Letter, Sermon on the Mount, Tea Party, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, United States Constitution, unity, William Bradford

The Italian-American Triumvirate: #1 – God

By Chris Carosa on October 5, 2021

Each October we celebrate Italian-American Heritage Month. The month is obviously chosen in honor of the Italian that most influenced America: Christopher Columbus. Of course, Columbus’ discovery of the New World predated the creation of the United States by about three centuries, but our country long ago adopted his journey as an inspiration for the nation.

Columbus has since been joined by many Italian immigrants who would become Italian-Americans.

That’s an important distinction: “Italian-American.” It recognizes that you are, in fact, an Continue Reading “The Italian-American Triumvirate: #1 – God”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged and Gold, Aristotle, Baptism, Catholic, Christian, Christopher Columbus, church, Confirmation, Crassius, diocese, Ethos, First Holy Communion, First Triumvirate, Fontecchio, Gaius Julius Caesar, Glory, God, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, Italian American, Italy, jesuit, John F. Kennedy, Ku Klux Klan, Logos, Marriage, Mass, Modes of Persuasion, New England, Pathos, Pompey, Protestant Ethic, rhetoric, Roman Republic, Rule of Three, Spain, SPanish, Three Kings, trium virorum, unification of Italy

Home, Sweet Home: The Joy of Our Return to Space

By Chris Carosa on June 2, 2020

I sat fixed in front of what seemed a massive TV screen, my eyes glued to the shreds of white steam shooting from the rocket’s body.

My own body remained tense. “Would the mission be scrubbed at that last minute?” “Would there be an in-flight ‘anomaly’?” “Is there any Tang left?”

What year is it?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

1968? It was a terribly bad year.

1969? It was a joyful year of ascending achievement.

Today? Well that’s an interesting idea.

Let’s return to the beginning. If you’re a member of the “space age” generation (like me), you’ll enjoy (and reflect) on this brief trip down memory lane. If you’re too young to remember the 1960s, you’ll appreciate the eerie similarities that might have you question Continue Reading “Home, Sweet Home: The Joy of Our Return to Space”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Age of Exploration, Andrew Chaikin, Apollo, Apollo 11, Apollo 15, Apollo 8, Buzz Aldrin, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Donald Trump, Doug Hurley, Falcon 9, Frank Borman, Galileo Galilei, Houston, James B. Irwin, John F. Kennedy, Mars, Moon, NASA, Rice University, Robert Behnken, Space Age, Space Generation, Space Policy Directive 1, space shuttle, SpaceX, Tang

Declaration of (Italian) American Independence

By Chris Carosa on October 9, 2018

“They all laughed at Christopher Columbus/When he said the world was round…” So begins the lyrics of Ira Gershwin for brother George’s 1937 composition “They All Laughed.” The Gershwins wrote the song for the movie Shall We Dance, starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Frank Sinatra famously included the tune in his masterpiece Trilogy album, where he sings the closing lyrics “Who’s got the last laugh now?” with a knowing wink.

From Christopher Columbus to Frank Sinatra, it’s clear that Italians and Italian-Americans have had a tremendous impact on America. Over the next three weeks, we’ll focus on those names history books seem to have neglected.

Did you know Italian-Americans played a prominent role in the founding of America? For example, three of the first five American warships were named after Italians. These were Continue Reading “Declaration of (Italian) American Independence”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Andrea Doria, Benjamin Franklin, Christopher Columbus, Conqueror of the Old Northwest, Declaration of Independence, Filppo Mazzei, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Furioso, George Gershwin, George Rogers Clark, George Washington, Ginger Rogers, Giovanni Caboto, Giuseppe Maria Francesco Vigo, Hannibal of the West, Henry Hamilton, Ira Gershwin, Italian American, John Cabot, John F. Kennedy, Lewis and Clark Expedition, New Orleans, Patrick Henry, Shall We Dance, St. Louis, St. Vincent, Terre Haute, They All Laughed, Thomas Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Treaty of Paris, Trilogy, Vincennes, William Clark

The Virtues (and Vices) of Deadlines

By Chris Carosa on August 8, 2017

What kind of student were you? The kind that got all your homework done before school ended so you could play guilt-free the whole weekend, or the kind that played all weekend and crammed your homework assignment in that space of time between Sunday dinner and bedtime?

Sorry if I just caused tonight’s nightmare for you. No doubt these questions bring up horrible memories for those who the phrase “no more pencils, no more books…” was last uttered decades ago. Similarly, those still subject to the school bell probably wish to avoid these questions the same way they want to avert their eyes from the coming weeks’ advertising circulars trumpeting all their “back to school” sales.

It could be worse folks. I could write just another ad nauseum piece on the latest hearsay Continue Reading “The Virtues (and Vices) of Deadlines”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged back to school, Chinese Philosophy, Confucius, homework, John F. Kennedy, Neil Armstrong, Shakespeare, yang, yin

What The University of Chicago Can Teach Yale

By Chris Carosa on October 11, 2016

They took all incoming freshman on a special tour within a day of our arrival at the campus in New Haven. Those were ancient times, when many (like me) had neither the time nor the treasure to visit colleges prior to matriculation (let alone application). To this day, one fact from that introductory outing stands out in my much more crowded brain – the visit inside and around Connecticut Hall. Completed in 1757, this last remaining survivor of Yale’s “Old Brick Row” served as a dormitory for nearly two centuries. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

But that’s not what I remember.

Here’s what I remember: First, there was some obscure graffiti left on an interior wall. Supposedly more than a century old, I don’t remember what it said. All I remember feeling upon hearing this story is that college students have always been rascals and Yale apparently didn’t mind – and even glorified – these youthful misdemeanors.

The second memory carried far greater weight. Outside of Connecticut Hall stands a Continue Reading “What The University of Chicago Can Teach Yale”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Andrew Jackson, Bill Richmond, Black Panther, Bobby Seale, Calhoun College, Connecticut Hall, Daniel Webster, Doonesbury, George Washington, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, John Ellison, John F. Kennedy, John Quincy Adams, magister, Master, Nathan Hale, New Haven, University of Rochester, Yale