The general purpose of any speech will be either to Inform; Motivate/Persuade; or Entertain your audience. As soon as you know the general purpose of your speech you can develop your Specific Purpose Statement (What the speaker will accomplish). You don’t acutally say it in your speech.

A specific purpose starts with one of the three general purposes and then specifies the actual topic you have chosen and the basic objective you hope to accomplish with your speech. Basically, the specific purpose answers the who, what, when, where, and why questions for your speech.

The central idea of a speech should be expressed as a full sentence. The specific purpose reveals more about the content of a speech than does the central idea.

There are three elements that combine to create a specific purpose statements: your own interests and knowledge, the interests and needs of your audience, and the context or setting in which you will be speaking.

A statement starting with one of the three general purposes (to inform, to persuade, or to entertain), but is then followed by a specification of one’s audience, the actual topic a speaker has chosen, and the basic objective the speaker hopes to accomplish with the speech.

Theme is the main or central idea in a literary work. It is the unifying element of a story. A theme is not a summary of characters or events. Rather, it is the controlling idea or central insight of the story.

The central idea is the central, unifying element of the story, which ties together all of the other elements of fiction used by the author to tell the story. The central idea can be best described as the dominant impression or the universal, generic truth found in the story.

The main idea is what something is mostly about. Main ideas are typically found in a literary passage. Central ideas are found in an informational text. The theme is the lesson or message that the writer wants to get across in his or her story.

Theme is the central idea, or insight, about life and human behavior that a story reveals. It is the idea on which the story is built. Theme most often applies to literary texts such as novels, short stories, dramas, and poetry.

(Entry 1 of 2) 1 : containing or constituting a center. 2 : of primary importance : essential, principal the central character of the novel. 3a : situated at, in, or near the center the central part of the state.

Ventral Sentence Examples

1. The right ventricle occupies the ventral portion of the heart.
2. The whole ventral surface of the pericardium is exposed when the sternum is removed.
3. – Syrinx muscles entirely lateral or attached to the dorsal or ventral corners of the bronchial semi-rings.