Beginning his speech, he looks out at the already teary-eyed crowd and takes a deep breath trying to hold back tears of his own and to keep his composure. Ethos is the first appeal used
For example, Wallace attempts to place his audience
Wallace, David Foster "This is Water" Kenyon College Commencement Speech 2005 The general argument by David Foster Wallace in his work "This is Water" is that sometimes the most obvious realities are the hardest to comprehend. More specifically, he argues that thinking negatively is not a choice but a natural setting and we need to start thinking cognitively and outside the box. Wallace performs this speech for a group of graduating college students to prepare them for the future life they are about to embark on. He includes the grocery store example so that the reader's can connect to the story because they have gone through that situation themselves; he is trying to connect to the audience.
When The Levees Broke Rhetorical Analysis Essay On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the coasts of southeastern Louisiana. Shortly after, New Orleans’ flood protection system failed, causing floodwalls and levees to topple and break. Covering major points in the film, as they broke, the lives, spirits, and thoughts of many Americans were also broken as well. In a documentary released on August 16, 2006, director Spike Lee utilizes rhetorical strategies to produce a profound vision into the city and it’s citizen’s internal devastation, grievance, and recovery of spirit, and our nation’s failure to assist; when the levees broke. The numerous incorporations of the emotional appeal strengthen Spike’s opinion in a unique way.
Personal anecdotes like these allow for the audience to feel as if they can trust the information being set forth by
The tone of his speech is kind of a joking method but to the point. What I mean by this is that he will introduce a portion of his speech and instead of giving only information, he gives/shows examples
As a president of America, the credibility of Lyndon Baines Johnson is well-established. He did not have to establish his credibility as everyone already knows it and he is a trustworthy source. But, as his audiences are young adults, so he still try to boost his credibility at the beginning of the speech with the joke about coeducation college student partying to let the students know he has been there too. 2.3.2 Pathos This speech can be said as an emotional roller coaster as the emotional elements have its ups and downs.
Beloved Word Essay: Water Motherhood is a major theme of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, as multiple characters often lament the futile extent to which they can be mothers. In Chapter 5 Beloved, the reader is introduced to two new motherhood dynamics, both relating to the mysterious Beloved. Wherever motherhood is mentioned, water imagery—with its established connections to birth, healing, and life—used as well. Because it factors into Beloved’s symbolic “birth” and nurturing, water is an important image that relates to giving and sustaining life and motherhood in Beloved.
David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech “This is Water” at Kenyon College is often thought of as one of the most influential speeches because it calls the graduates to observe the world around them through a different lens. However, he does not accomplish that by calling the graduates to action, but instead challenges them to use their education. He also appeals to the students’ emotions through his use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Although people mostly only remember the antidotes, it is the message associated with reoccurring emotions and literary devices throughout the speech that moves the reader into action. Wallace is able to captivate his audience and persuade them to view the world without themselves at the center through his tactful use of rhetoric.
With the speech This is Water we are able to be inspired by what Wallace is saying, but also see his own insights on the topic at hand. To fully understand we have to question all the aspects of the speech itself. Let us start with a simple one: What is Wallace saying? This is a question with varying answers because everyone is going to feel differently on the subject. From a personal point of view I take away that Wallace is telling us to live an optimistic life.
Wallace, Davis Foster. “This is Water”. Kenyon College Commencement Speech, 2005. Wallace, speech offers the importance of awareness in everyday life, think about meaning, and act appropriately in everyday life. Taking a role of awareness, the speech gives advice to the people, and makes people think of what they have always thought of some situations.
Considering that he speaks to large groups of students every day, he managed to keep his voice animated, and even though he stumbled over his words a little, he overall was very composed and kept the audience engaged. For the most part his physical delivery was minuscule because he was behind a podium. But he would use hand gestures at certain points to further express his point. The overall impression I conveyed from David McCullough is confidence, and because of title, as well as his confidence, he seemed very credible. And because of his confidence and credibility, the audience was very engaged and responsive.
Most of their miscommunication was because of defensive or selective listening, and pseudolistening. Forrester and Wallace can benefit from removing both internal obstacles, such as Forrester’s preoccupation and prejudgment thinking, along with external obstacles, such as Wallace dribbling his basketball during a conversation. Improvements for Forrester and Wallace’s listening skills include being mindful and wholly present during a communication exchange and the removal of internal and external obstacles. Both could engage more as an active listener using paraphrasing that would gain a better understanding of the other person’s perspective. Taking their whole relationship into consideration, Forrester and Wallace overcame many of their communication limitations as their relationship grew into an I-Thou type.
David Foster Wallace establishes credibility in his speech by expressing his experience in learning how to think. Ethos is a rhetorical appeal that uses credibility and experience to give an argument more strength. Within the beginning of the “This is Water” speech, David asserts his credibility to the audience by conveying that he too was a student, and that as a student, he disliked the idea that others had to teach him how to think (Wallace 1). Wallace begins with this statement to let the audience know that he knows that they do not want to be told how to think because he was a student just like them. As a student, David was stuck in his default setting because he was still being told how to think.
In David Foster Wallace’s “ Kenyon Commencement Speech,” he discusses the importance of liberal arts education in “teaching you how to think” (Wallace, 199). He mentions how education is beyond the knowledge we learn, but about simple awareness will impact the choices we make for better or worse. The real value of education cannot be found in a career (you may or may not be fired from), but it can be found in the way you view things through a different perspective and by considering how other factors can contribute to everyday life. This new approach in thinking will allow us to appreciate our lives and overcome our inner “default setting” towards the world (Wallace, 199). I agree with Wallace’s argument because the purpose of higher education should not be about having career-specific skills and obtaining a degree, but about intellectual and personal growth will help us survive in the real world.
