User:Amandalhouse/sandbox

Acutezza, popularly used in speech, is an Italian word meaning acuteness or keenness. It can also refer to an action or a physical motion. When applied in rhetoric, the word generally refers to the wit or wordplay used in speech.2 This rhetorical device has been used in speeches since the early beginnings of rhetorical speech. It's advantages include using humor or wit to help persuade an audience to agree with the speaker's opinions. By using acutezza the speaker is able to influence the audience's opinions by making them seem more knowledgeable on the topic and making the speaker easily relatable to the listeners.3 Acutezza can be found in post-modern texts such as The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by mocking traditional folk stories and also within the historically well-known texts, known as quips, written by William Shakespeare.4 Acutezza in Media: Samuel Clemens, famously known by his pseudonym Mark Twain, was well known for using humor to convey his messages in both his writing and his speeches. One of Twain's most famous lectures, "Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands," was given more than 100 times, first in San Francisco on October 2, 1866, and lastly on December 8, 1873.5 He used his wit to help win over his audiences and to help them understand and agree with his messages.6 There are many examples of acutezza throughout his speech. Right in the very beginning Twain already has his audience laughing: "I was obliged to excuse the chairman from introducing me, because he never compliments anybody and I knew I could do it just as well." By doing this Clemens is able to get the audience on his side more easily because they are in a good mood and also think he is knowledgeable.7