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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Jason Reynolds's Speech

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Alexandrea Burke Mrs. Korey English 2 Advanced Honors 21 March 2023 Sharing an emotional story can have a huge impact on someone’s life. Jason Reynolds had that impact on his audience during his speech at Lesley University in 2018. In his breathtaking and notably crafted speech given to the graduating class of Lesley University, Jason Reynolds clearly articulates and emotionally persuades the audience through the use of symbolism and anecdotes. Jason Reynolds establishes himself as a powerful and memorable speaker by using symbolism to appeal to the audiences’ emotions. His statement, “The significance of being told over and over and over again to spread my wings and change the world, without ever addressing the fact that not everyone has …show more content…

Reynolds had a teacher named Mr. Williams and he was known for being a relaxed teacher but when it came to him getting a class pet, Reynolds thought otherwise. He mentions, “We could not, under any circumstance, touch the fish. Mr. Williams warned us that if he caught any student with their hands in the tank, we would get suspended for two days,” as he stated. Without a doubt, Reynolds never thought that if he touched the fish, a suspension would occur. Accordingly, he and his classmates thought that it was a ridiculous punishment but soon later realized that there was a reason behind Mr. Williams’ thoughts. Nonetheless, two girls touched the fish and dealt with the consequence of being suspended since the fish was dying on the floor and the girls saved the fish by putting it back in its tank. Devastated and confused by the punishment, Mr. Williams explained, “Pick your heads up. You have no reason to hang them because you, in fact, did the right thing. But sometimes doing the right thing has consequences.” Reynolds will forever remember his teacher because of the lessons that were learned from that experience. Doing the right thing can sometimes cause trouble due to people’s opinions or just not simply following rules of conduct. Consequently, Reynolds shared the short story to emotionally appeal to the audience because it had great significance in his life, which is why he felt it was important to share it in his

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