Before most of you uttered your first words, a member of a famous American family faced an episode of personal behavior that resulted in the death of an innocent young woman.  That event was the inspiration for the recent film Chappaquiddick.

It is not up to us to sort through the history of the event, but the speech you watch today is a special type of speech: the Damage Control Address.  After viewing the video a first time, go back to the speech to address these four questions:

1.Where early in the speech does Kennedy offer some legitimate reason for why he would have been alone in the company of the young woman, Mary Jo Kopechne, by reminding them of the tragedy his own family had endured and what is he hoping to achieve through that association?
2.What are two basic “facts” that he wants to establish early in the speech that speak to moral conduct?
3.Through what three or four “turns of phrase,” does he hope to explain, in part, his inability to save the young woman’s life and to exonerate himself for “gaps” in his accounting the events to authorities?
4.What effort does he make as the speech draws to a close to remind his audience of his “more moral self” and to diminish this one event to a momentary lapse in a larger public existence?
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedychappaquiddick.htm
View this speech prior to addressing the questions posted below.  The M2 Damage Control or Remorse posting site is your Discussion Forum.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedychappaquiddick.htm (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.