Outline Shell for a CAS 100C Speech (see Chapter 11)

General Purpose: To persuade, to inform, and to entertain

(see Chapter 6)

Specific Purpose: To persuade the audience members that United States of America is a corporation; to
inform the audience that money has only as much value as we agree it has; and to entertain them by
using real-world examples of hypothetical situations of the illusory concept of the American Dream.
(see Lesson 4)

Thesis: The American Dream is an illusion built on.

(see Chapter 6, and passim)

I. Introduction (see
Chapter 10)
A. "The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe
it," quote by comedian George Carlin. (Attention Getter)
B. Being on autopilot for 20 years and then having a massive awakening, I started seeing
that everything is not as it seems. (Personal Credibility)
C. The American Dream is an illusion.

(Thesis)
D. We all know that something does not seem right. We work hard, day in and day out,
trying to make ends meet. Why are these ends not meeting to begin with? Why is it that
some people can open their mouths and produce a nice melody from their vocal chord
and get paid millions of dollars while others make differences within their communities
and get paid much less?

(Preview)

II. Body [These main points support the thesis.]

A. The United States of America is not a country; its a corporation. (Main Claim)
1. Presidents are elected in corporations. (Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
2. We, the people, of United States are slaves to the organizations within the corporation
independent of race and ethnicity.
(Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
3. Rules of the corporation, or societal rules, dictate how we think, feel, and act. (Cite
Banduras Bobo Doll Experiment (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963)
(Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
4. The placebo effect is in full throttle. (Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
a. We believe that our votes count during presidential elections.
(Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
b. We are given money and believe it solves problems.
(Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
 Transition: Donna Summer sung it best: [We] work hard for the moneyso hard for the
money.
B. The money we make is never ours. (Main Claim)
1. No matter how much we save, the money is always exchanged for something else.
(Supporting Material, Claim, or
Reasoning)
2. We do a lot for money; lie for it, die for it, steal for it, kill for it.
(Cite Barnes, Welte, Hoffman, & Tidwell (2009); Cite Chen, Tang, & Tang (2009 ))
(Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
3. Making a lot of money does not make one happy. (Cite Quoidbach, Dunn, Petrides, &
Mikolajczak, 2009) (Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
4. Money only has value because we say it does. (Supporting
Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
a. Money is arbitrary. (Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
b. The arbitration of money has caused a lot of psychological effects
amongst the American people pursuing the dream. (Cite New York Post, couple suicide)
(Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
Transition: Madonna told us in her American Life song that [Shes] just living out the
American Dream, and [she] just realized that nothing is what it seems.
C. (Main Claim)
1. The American Dream has been cognitively structured to psychologically,
emotionally, and mentally fuck us up. (Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
2. Modern-day media propagates the imagery for the fucking up. (Mention The
Pursuit of Happyness (Supporting Material, Claim, or Reasoning)
Transition: Please wake up, everyone. We are all in this together.
III. Conclusion
A. We need to wake up and realize that the American Dream is built on a lot of
inconveniencing factors that brutalize our collective consciousness as people.
(Call
to Action)
B. The American Dream has been imprinted in our thoughts since we were children. We
have seen every adult around us chase the dream, and now, we, as adults, are doing the
same. Nobody can dream and be awake at the same time. Perception is a powerful
cognitive function we have.
(Summary)
C. There is a mass awakening occurring, and people are beginning to identify with their
true selves and not the programmed self that is centered around society standards.

(Closure)
 Bibliography

Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. (1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. Journal of
Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66(1), 3-11.
Barnes, G. M., Welte, J. W., Hoffman, J. H., & Tidwell, M.-C. O. (2009). Gambling, alcohol, and other
substance use among youth in the United States. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 70(1),
134-142.
Chen, J., Tang, T. L-P., & Tang, N. (2013). Temptation, monetary intelligence (love of money), and
environmental context on unethical intentions and cheating. Journal of Business Ethics, 123(2),
197-219.
Cohen, S., Pagones, S., Fears, D., Lapin, T., & Musumeci, N. (2017, July 28). Couple caught in financial
spiral jump to their deaths. The New York Post. Retrieved from
http://nypost.com/2017/07/28/couple-caught-in-financial-spiral-jump-to-their-deaths/
Quoidbach, J., Dunn, E. W., Petrides, K. V., & Mikolajczak, M. (2009). Money giveth, money taketh away:
the dual effect of wealth on happiness.