Topic
The proposed topic is “immigration”. It has been one of the most frequently discussed subjects in the United States for many decades and thus it makes sense to explore it one more time in order to cover the primary aspects that it involves and update the audience on the latest issues and trends in this area.
Goal of the Informative Speech
First of all, the goal of this speech is to inform the audience of the current immigration issues in the country and how they have been and are promised to be treated by the politicians. Secondly, another objective of the speech is to stimulate the audience’s critical thinking on the subject without attempting to persuade them to take a certain side. In other words, unbiased presentation of facts is the main purpose.
Relevance of the Topic
The immigrant population in the United States is very large. According to the data provided by the Migration policy Institute (2016), the number of immigrants living in the territory of this country has been growing steadily throughout the last several decades. To be more precise, in the 1970s, the percentage of the foreign-born population was about 5% whereas, in 2014, it grew to constitute 13.3%, which equals 42.4 million people (Migration Policy Institute, 2016). The likelihood is high that some people in the audience will be immigrants or will know someone who is.
How Is This Topic Interesting?
This topic is not unique as it is very common as a subject for discussion or debate in the United States, as well as in the rest of the world. Globalization stimulates immigration and powers the worlds’ concerns about the issues that it creates. However, the views on immigration in the USA constantly change, and that is why the topic is interesting to discuss once again.
Organizational Pattern
I could start with an attention grabber and then move on to stating some facts supported by numbers (size of the immigrant populations, most important problems, points of view, and perspectives of the current election candidates (Trump and Clinton). At the end, I would ask questions to provoke further critical thinking and interest of the audience.
Potential Main Points
I could mention the points of President Obama as to the support of the immigrant rights, and the perspective of Trump who is anti-immigrant – for instance, his position is that immigrant labor harms the employment rates of the local population (On the Issues, 2015). I could emphasize the contribution of the immigrants into the US society. I would also mention the opinion of Clinton concerning the problem and the proposed solutions.
Potential Back-Up Topics
The first potential back-up topic is “Cultural Appropriation” – a commonly discussed issue. I would attempt to enlighten the audience on the meaning of the phenomenon and how it can be perceived by different communities. My second back-up subject is “Police Accountability” – the issue of the police shootings ending up in murder of the civilians – the subject that has been a cause of the confrontation between the population and the police and that led to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Sources and Links
Apart from the two sources already cited in the paper, here are two more that contain valuable and credible information for the speech:
- “Immigration and America’s Future” by Abraham and Hamilton.
- “Immigrants in the United States” by Camarota.
References
Migration Policy Institute. (2016). Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States. Web.
On the Issues. (2015). Donald Trump on Immigration. Web.