Rhetorical Analysis Of Coach Valvano's Final Speech

Coach Valvano was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster—highly regarded for his excellent coaching career, most notably at North Carolina State University. Unfortunately, like many great individuals, Valvano fell victim to cancer; specifically, metastatic adenocarcinoma, a glandular cancer that spreads to the bones. In Valvano’s final speech, a speech made nearing his time of death, Valvano calls his the audience to appreciate the importance of living an inspired life and being charitable. Coach Valvano helps persuade his audience to his message by the implication of rhetorical appeals such as ethos, logos, and pathos. To start, Coach Valvano attempts to persuade his audience using ethos, informing the audience of his credibility and background—as well as mentioning his partners and friends of high credibility. For instance, during his speech, Valvano flashbacks to the audience, “I rode on the plane up today with Mike Krzyzewski, my good friend and a wonderful coach.” The following quote highlights ethos as Valvano is “name dropping” a highly regarded basketball coach whom he goes out with, Mike Krzyzewski. By doing this, Valvano is giving himself credibility by conveying to the audience that because he’s around well-regarded people, himself and his overall message should be taken seriously. Furthermore, during the start of his speech, Valvano provides the background, “When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it's the same thing.”

Specifically, he uses these appeals to call to the audience to live a happy and fulfilling life. Valvano’s speech truly highlights his strong character through his immensely positive and uplifting attitude while endeavoring the hardships of cancer as well as calling for further efforts to support for the search to the cure of the