The 21st Annual Book Report Competition
for Secondary School Students
The Champion of English Junior Section
Name of Award Student
Name of School
Title of Book Read
Author
Publisher
: Cheung Ka Wai, Mathias
: St. Joseph’s College
: Franklin Delano Roosevelt – Great Speeches
: (Edited by) John Grafton
: Dover Publication, Inc.
My attention has once been drawn to a great speech, thus leading to the
discovery of this unique delicacy. That is how I began my journey all the way through
this book – a partial collection of speeches made by a renowned America President, a
man who is regarded as one of the most important National Heroes of America, and
the finest and most superb speechmaker in the history of America, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt. During his national campaigns and four terms of office, from 1920 – 1945,
which was a relatively short span of 25 years, he has delivered hundreds of speeches,
in which most of them are masterly orations, A selection of 27 of the very best of
Roosevelt’s speeches has been assembled in this book. These speeches provide
students with an immensely useful reference for the history of World War II and
America. At the same time, it provides a reference for politics and rhetoric. This is an
ideal book for all students who are interested in history and politics, as well as
speechmaking techniques.
After feasting my eyes on all of Roosevelt’s masterly speeches, I realized that he
was truly a superb politician, possessing a lot of fine qualities and virtues that a great
leader should have – he was steadfast, resolute and decisive. Furthermore, he was
always able to motivate, inspire, console and convince his audiences through his
insightful speeches. A vast majority of people, mostly students, consider historical
speeches of Great Leaders dull and boring. This, however, cannot apply to
Roosevelt’s speeches. Although Roosevelt could be stern and serious in his speeches,
he mastered the great technique of sarcasm. In his speeches, he could be witheringly
satirical, and if the occasions permitted, he could even be outright humorous.
Moreover, Roosevelt was a superb, almost flawless and consummate expert at reading
his audience. He could be so dazzling and charismatic on the stage that his audience
would feel that he was speaking to them alone, leaving them a strong remembrance of
the speech.
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Even I, who do not have firsthand experience of his speeches, feel their impact.
His speeches still leave me inspired, enlightened and motivated even though it had
been a while since I had read them. The skills and techniques that took him to create
such an effect and atmosphere is what every speaker strives for, yet so few could
accomplish. As a dedicated and enthusiastic speechmaker myself, the ability in
delivering eloquent and witty speeches, which President Roosevelt had mastered, is
exactly what I strive for when delivering a speech.
Commonly found in Roosevelt’s speeches, are inspirations and enlightenments.
The part that inspires me the most could be found in Roosevelt’s dramatic and
inspirational First Inaugural Address, delivered on March 4, 1933. It is the origin of
the famous saying “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, which is exactly the
part that enlightened me. The whole paragraph is as follows: “Let me assert my firm
belief that the only thing we have to dear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning,
unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat in advance.” (F.D.
Roosevelt, p.29)
This short paragraph has a very profound, insightful meaning. If we come to
think of it more carefully, it is actually a fact. Fear is actually the origins of many of
our shortcomings and mistakes that we make. Being shy – because we fear that we
would make a fool out of ourselves in public. Lying – because we fear to subject
ourselves to the punishments we deserve for our misdoings. Bullying – because we
fear to be subservient and inferior to others. In order to extract our power, strength
and authority, we bully others. As Roosevelt mentioned in the above quote,
retreating – because of the fear of being defeated and taking risks, as well as the lack
of courage and confidence to advance. In short, fear is technically the lack of
confidence. Isn’t fear really worth fearing of? I was deeply inspired after basking in
this speech. I acknowledged that we should control and suppress our fear, or even
better, confront and face it, instead of being overwhelmed by it, and we should,
paradoxically, be able to handle our daily problems optimistically with ease and haste,
so as Dr. David M. Burns once said “Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the
right to be human can, make you a far happier and more productive person”.
Roosevelt’s ‘fear’ quote has become my personal philosophy, making me a better man
each and every day.
The above is just one of the many masterpieces of Roosevelt. Another one of my
personal favorites, the “War Message to Congress”, made on the day following the
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poignant Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor: “No matter how long it may take us to
overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might,
will win through absolute victory.” (F.D. Roosevelt, p.115) almost serves as the
trademark of Roosevelt’s consolatory and motivational speeches. Not only did it
successfully encourage his people to be patriotic, to enlist and fight for justice, but
also provide lots of motivation and determination to them.
The content of this book is absolutely superb. The speeches are ingenious to the
extreme! I find great enjoyment in admiring the graceful idioms and structures used in
the speeches. At the same time, it is educational and inspirational, together with an
immense reference for speechmaking techniques and skills. The benefits of this book
are more than what words could express. Mark Twain once said, “The men who
doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”
Honestly, this is an excellent choice of a book, for it enhances you as a life premium –
it broadens your scope immensely, and it benefits your archives of knowledge. I
highly recommend this book, for I have no doubt that you would find extreme
pleasure while enjoying it!
Number of words: 981
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