City Proclamation
At tonight's City Council meeting, the City will be making a presentation of a Proclamation to members of the Brevard County Historical Commission commemorating City Resolution 1969-30, which commends the historical Apollo 11 Moon Landing of July 20, 1969, and declaring June 21, 2019 through September 23, 2019 as the Summer of Space in Cape Canaveral. Here is that Proclamation:
I will be reading the historical proclamation at the City Council meeting. As a writer, it is important to understand language usage. Looking at this proclamation, we can examine its structure and learn about how the City uses structure to make this proclamation.
This type of writing is generally called a "resolution" because it shows that the signatory is resolved to perform an action.
The first thing we can see are statements that begin with the word "whereas". These are generally referred to as "recitals" or the "preamble". As used in recitals, whereas means “in view of
the fact that” or “considering that". The purpose of such recitals is to explain the facts or observations as the Council or Mayor sees them and to establish and explain the background of the proclamation.
Next, there is a statement that reads "now, therefore...". This statement is usually called the "lead-in". This lets the reader know that the language following this statement is "language of performance". The word "hereby" is often used in these sorts of writings. This word lets the reader know that this is the moment that the resolution takes place. Without "hereby", the reader might not know that this is the primary authority, the birth place of the action. Then we see the present tense verb "proclaim". This is called a “performative” because it is the present tense verb explaining the current action. It is present tense because it shows the contemporaneous nature of the event described and the speech itself. It memorializes an action of the Mayor, stating that based on the recitations, he is proclaiming the item that follows.
Next we have the Mayor's proclamation itself. This is called the "Resolution". This states the action that Mayor is resolved to perform. It is relates to the recitals clearly. It makes a clear and actionable request. In this case it encourages the citizens of Cape Canaveral to take pride in our history and remember the contributions our town made in mankind's first arrival on the Moon. It also proclaims this summer to be the Summer of Space.
Finally we see the "concluding clause" and "signature block". This lets the reader know things like the date, who is signing, and whether or not the document is sealed or witnessed.
You can see that the City's structure of proclamation has not greatly changed since 1969. In fact, the structure of such resolution documents has not changed in America since well before 1969. Can you look at the 1969 proclamation and identify the structural elements and word usage?
This type of writing is generally called a "resolution" because it shows that the signatory is resolved to perform an action.
The first thing we can see are statements that begin with the word "whereas". These are generally referred to as "recitals" or the "preamble". As used in recitals, whereas means “in view of
the fact that” or “considering that". The purpose of such recitals is to explain the facts or observations as the Council or Mayor sees them and to establish and explain the background of the proclamation.
Next, there is a statement that reads "now, therefore...". This statement is usually called the "lead-in". This lets the reader know that the language following this statement is "language of performance". The word "hereby" is often used in these sorts of writings. This word lets the reader know that this is the moment that the resolution takes place. Without "hereby", the reader might not know that this is the primary authority, the birth place of the action. Then we see the present tense verb "proclaim". This is called a “performative” because it is the present tense verb explaining the current action. It is present tense because it shows the contemporaneous nature of the event described and the speech itself. It memorializes an action of the Mayor, stating that based on the recitations, he is proclaiming the item that follows.
Next we have the Mayor's proclamation itself. This is called the "Resolution". This states the action that Mayor is resolved to perform. It is relates to the recitals clearly. It makes a clear and actionable request. In this case it encourages the citizens of Cape Canaveral to take pride in our history and remember the contributions our town made in mankind's first arrival on the Moon. It also proclaims this summer to be the Summer of Space.
Finally we see the "concluding clause" and "signature block". This lets the reader know things like the date, who is signing, and whether or not the document is sealed or witnessed.
You can see that the City's structure of proclamation has not greatly changed since 1969. In fact, the structure of such resolution documents has not changed in America since well before 1969. Can you look at the 1969 proclamation and identify the structural elements and word usage?
Comments
Post a Comment