aaa-Civic+Hero-+Jessie+Jones

**[|My Civic Hero: A King Without a Voice]**

media type="youtube" key="vgWLX2dofuQ" height="315" width="420" align="center"


 *  The person I have chosen as my civic hero is not usually thought of as a civic hero. I picked King George VI, and until recent Hollywood films have focused on him he was usually not thought of as an influential king of England. Recently there has been a movie made of King George VI shows in detail his tragic moments of dealing with a speech impediments. I think King George XI could be viewed as a civic hero because he overcame his stutter, and was still known to provide a great support during the war. Not only did he have to conquer his speech impediment, but he also had to do it in the spotlight of the world. He showed unbeatable courage when it was not easy, and he had to do this while England was in the middle of the war. King George VI is a hero to those who have speech issues, because he did not let his stutter conquer him; instead he worked with his situation and became a hero to England during the World War II. **
 * [[image:king-george-vi-of-england-1936.jpg width="206" height="226"]] King George VI was the younger of two boys, and was actually never destined to become the King of England. [1] As a child he thought this was a lucky deal for him, because he had a speech impediment for most of his life. He never had to focus on trying to “fix” his speech issue when he was younger, because public speaking at this time in history was not really necessary for the royal family all the time. However, with the invention of the radio, and new technologies of sound systems, public speaking became vital for anyone in positions like the royals. At a late age King George VI had to face his fears of speaking in front of crowds, and it was something he was not prepared for. **
 *  It is estimated around the time of 1926 the British Broadcasting system was reaching at least 2.2 million people through the radio waves.[2] King George’s father King George V realized this prior to his death, and began using the radio as a way to reach the common people of England. However, King George V was not in favor of these new technologies because it brought him into the commoner’s homes, and beingof an older generation he liked having the distance between the to//.[3] [4] **
 *  Lionel Logue used technology that he based off of his training with soldiers after the First World War.[5] Logue’s new speech therapy worked with the physical level of speaking and worked with the emotions and the stress on your body that are involved when speaking. He did common things like tongue twister to have the patient get used to repetitive actions in his mouth.[6] However, he also used new forms of speaking therapy like working with the diaphragm muscle so that the speaker could breathe sufficiently in order to make complete sentences fluently.[7] King George VI embraced these new theories in public speaking because, for the first time he was able to see results in his speaking. These two men worked together for most of the King George’s reign, and establish a great friendship together. **


 *  After King George’s father died his brother Edward VII took the role as king for a short time. Edward VII decided to abdicate the thrown, and turn it over to his brother. [8] Edward was more than likely convinced to hand over the thrown because of Edward’s personal love life.[9] Within a short time of turning over the thrown to King George VI the nation of England had decided to enter into the Second World War.[10] By this time King George was heavily involved in his public speaking treatment, and was able to deliver the news to his nation through the radio. The juxtaposition of having a King with a stutter versus Hitler who was one of the most charismatic public speakers of the day had to be difficult to deal with as an Englishman. However, King George recognized this juxtaposition as well, and he was not willing to let his people down. He worked very hard with new technologies of speech therapy that Lounge introduced. With these new skills King George became a voice for the nation. During some of the most difficult times of the war he was able to use the radio to reach out to people of England, and provide comfort and support to their homes. Even though he was not as firm, and outspoken with his voice in comparison to Hitler during the war, he still provided an abundant support **
 *  King George VI thought his voice would be his greatest downfall, but in reality it became his greatest strength. He embraced the radio as a way to make connections with his public audience. During a time of war the best thing you can do for your people is to provide comfort, and King George did this extremely well through the radio. He was aware that he could reach almost every family in their home at any point with radio. He used this new technology to the greatest advantage during the war. **
 *  King George XI is one of the greatest examples of a civic hero because he was willing to put himself before his nation as a vulnerable man with a stutter. He not only over came his speaking issues he also did it because he wanted to be a voice for his people during the war. He was not perfect, and he still sounded strained at times when tried to speak over the sound waves, but he was there for his people. He put as much effort as possible into having a strong voice. I like the idea of him as a civic hero because not only did he help his civic society during the war, he also had to over come challenges that anyone can be faced with. He became the voice for people with speech impediments, and gave realization that it was not a disease that only conquered stupid people. It was speech issue, and with the right treatment it could be transformed into **
 *  a working form a speech. King George XI was able to be more humble with the people of England because he was not perfect, and he was willing to show that. It could have been easy for him to use someone else as his voice when broadcasting on the radio, but he saw how vital it was to show his people the raw unperfected stutter he had. He provided a voice for many people who were going through similar issues with public speakin//g.// **


 *  The greatest challenge King George VI had to face was his voice. Not only did he conquer this issue by using new speech therapy tactics he also did not let his voice stop him. King George XI took something negative he was born with, and turned it around to one of his most positive features. He used that voice to gather a nation in some of the most critical times. He took his voice, and made it his strongest weapon. King George VI shows others to not settle with their imperfection, but instead use them to the greatest advantage. **

 media type="youtube" key="opkMyKGx7TQ" height="315" width="420" align="center"
 * (This is the speech mentioned in the essay from September 9, 1939. The graphics are not that great, but it the best sound quality I could find. Please excuse the grainy quality of sound it was recorded in 1939.) **


 * Bibliography **


 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Bowen, Caroline. "Lionel Logue: Pioneer Speech Therapist." 2002.http://www.speech-language-therapy.com (accessed October 6, 2011). **


 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Chotiner, Isaac. "Royal Mess //The New Republic//". (2011), (accessed October 10, 2011). **


 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Luxenberg, Steve. "'The King's Speech's: Brilliant filmmaking, less-than-brilliant history //The Washington Post//". (2011), http://www.washingtonpost.com. (Accessed October 8, 2011). **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Masters, Tim. "Colin Firth on being Price Albert in The King's Speech “//BBC Entertainment and Arts//. (2011), (accessed October 8, 2011). **


 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Pierce, Susan. "Therapists Praise Accuracy of Stuttering Depicted in 'The King's Speech"." January 30, 2011.http://www.timesfreepress.com (accessed October 6, 2011). **


 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Spielvogel, Jackson. //Western Civilization: Since 1500//. Seventh. II. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub Co, 2008. 828. Print. **


 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[1] Masters, “Colin Firth on being Prince Albert in the King’s Speech” **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[2] Spielvogoel, //Western Civilization,// 828 **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[3] Chotiner “Royal Mess” **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[4] Pierce, “Therapists Praise Accuracy of Stuttering Depicted in “The King’s Speech” **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[5] Bowen, “Lionel Logue: Pioneer Speech Therapist” **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[6] Bowen “Lionel Logue: Pioneer Speech Therapist” **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[7] Bowen “Lionel Logue: Pioneer Speech Therapist **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[8] Luxrnberg, “The King’s Speech’s Brisling Flimmaking, less-than-brilliant History. **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[9] Master “Colin Firth on being Prince Albert in the King’s Speech” **
 * <span style="color: #4c1384; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">[10] Spielvogoel, //Western Civilization,// 828 **