ipl-logo

Commencement Address By George Saunders: Speech Analysis

1102 Words5 Pages

”Commencement Address” is a speech by American writer and professor in English, George Saunders, who delivered the speech at a graduation at Syracuse University in New York in May 2013. The overall theme in the text is the importance of kindness and the main point is that you have to work hard to be kind, but at the end, it will be the most rewarding thing to do in your life. He starts this theme of, by explaining that his only regret in life is “failures of kindness”, and follows by reflecting on his views on kindness. This includes that being kind is hard because we are born focusing on ourselves, how being kind gets easier with age and that working towards success is good, but that kindness should always be in the back of your mind.
The …show more content…

The fact that he is a professor is of course important, but in this case, it does not play as big of a role as it usually would. This is not an academic text full of facts that has to be correct but a more emotionally driven text. Here one of the most important factors is that he is a middle-aged man who has actually lived through the things he is speaking of. Sharing embarrassing stories, like the following, also have great effect, “Skinny-dipping in a river in Sumatra, […] seeing like 300 monkeys sitting on a pipeline, pooping down into the river, the river in which I was swimming, […] And getting deathly ill afterwards […]”. This strengthens his ethos, as it makes him more relatable to the audience, which would not be the case, had he been a perfect and polished professor.
Pathos is the form of appeal that is used the most. First of all by using the story about “Ellen”, where we feel very sorry for her, or maybe even have known someone like her, and second of all by the theme itself, as the theme of wanting to be a kinder person, probably is a topic that many people have thought about, and relate to. Logos is not that visible in the speech, but is still present because he several times displays knowledge of different historical subjects such as Darwinism, Shakespeare and

Show More
Related

David Mccullough's Wellesley High School Commencement Address

220 Words | 1 Pages

David McCullough, in his Wellesley High School Commencement Address, utilizes imagery to convey to his audience that each individual possesses the same common potential. While addressing the graduating class of 2012, McCullough makes a point to emphasize how unexceptional the students are. By bringing to light the fact that the students are all wearing the same “ceremonial costume…shapeless, uniform, one-size-fits-all” (McCullough 1), he illustrates the conformity of the crowd. By depicting the cap and gown, McCullough demonstrates that each student at the ceremony are at the same level.

Read More

Review Of Terry Tempest Williams Clan Of The One-Breasted Women

760 Words | 4 Pages

Terry Tempest Williams, 71, an American author, conservationist, and activist. She claims herself as a member of the “Clan of the One-Breasted Women,” which is also the name of her biography. Williams wrote an autobiography named the “Clan of the One-Breasted Women,” Williams is very bold for creating the title of her biography with “clan.” In the title, she is empowering one-breasted women due to breast cancer. Williams is very familiar with breast cancer, considering her mother, grandmother and her six aunts have all have mastectomies because of breast cancer.

Read More

Rhetorical Devices In Lou Gehrig's Farewell Address

1173 Words | 5 Pages

Pathos is when the speech appeals to the audience’s emotions. President Abraham Lincoln uses pathos is this speech to console the audience for the losses that the country has endured during the Civil War. Lincoln uses pathos to convey sadness when he says, “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.” When saying this Lincoln appeals to the people’s emotions by explaining that their loved ones struggled there and he also appeals to the feeling of pride they feel for their loved ones who dedicated their lives to their cause. Another example of pathos in this speech is, “...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…”

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of President Obama's Eulogy

771 Words | 4 Pages

During a funeral for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, a Charleston shooting victim, President Obama delivered an influential eulogy. This eulogy turned out to be so powerful that it traveled throughout the internet and became known as one of Obama’s best speeches from the duration of his presidency. The speech resonated so well with many citizens because of its relatable content and connections to passionate issues in today’s society. The delivery of the eulogy played a gigantic part in its effectiveness to Americans as well. President Obama’s eulogy contained beyond relatable content and various connections to the issues racking society’s bones today.

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of David Foster Wallace's Commencement Speech

1196 Words | 5 Pages

In his commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005, David Foster Wallace was tasked with the responsibility of imparting some wisdom onto the graduating class. Wallace’s message to a room of full soon-to-be college graduates at the precipice of the of their impending true adulthood, he offers them a message that cuts through the mess and concisely delivers a message that many would ironically overlook, which is for the students to realize that at times, imperative life lessons are not only the ones that they cannot conceive or believe, but the ones that are obvious but hard to acknowledge let alone discuss. The lesson in this is that no matter how instinctive that cynicism is, it is imperative that people must try to more honest and open

Read More

Commencement Speech 'This Is Water' By David Foster Wallace

1070 Words | 5 Pages

The Unusual Message Reading the commencement speech “This is Water”, written and delivered by David Foster Wallace to students and their families at Kenyon College was nothing like what I was expecting it to be. I can imagine the listeners that were present were just as shocked as I was when they finally grasped the message he was presenting to them that day. Normally when someone delivers a commencement speech to students graduating, it's more along the lines of “be all that you can be” or “You can do it” with emphasis on the word “you.” No one really tells you to think of others first at that point in your lives. However, Wallace did just that.

Read More

How Does Martin Luther King Use Pathos In I Have A Dream

886 Words | 4 Pages

Logos, or logical appeal, uses a clear line of reasoning supported by evidence, such as facts or data. Pathos, or emotional appeal, uses loaded or charged language and other devices to arouse emotions. Using these, he influenced people to follow him. If he would not have spoken up, the world could have ended up still being segregated today. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used pathos and logos in his speech to draw in people so

Read More

Logos, Ethos And Logos In Shirley Chisholm's Speech

536 Words | 3 Pages

In 1972, Shirley Chisholm stood before thousands of people and presented her presidential bid declaration speech. Chisholm uses all three of Aristotle’s persuasive appeals. Throughout Chisholm’s speech, she used logos, pathos and ethos. Logos is the appeal to logic in which reasoning and facts comes into play. Then pathos is the appeal to emotions in which she uses words to pull and the heart strings of her audience.

Read More

Examples Of Social Determinants Of Health

1707 Words | 7 Pages

The

Read More

Rhetorical Use Of Ethos And Logos In Patrick Henry's Speech

570 Words | 3 Pages

Henry believed the only solution left was to go to war with Britain. So he gives a speech to the Virginia Convention to plead his cause. In his speech he uses many different examples of ethos, pathos, and logos. To begin with, pathos is appealing with the audience’s emotions. An emotional appeal evokes anger, laughter, sadness, fear, joy, pride, and etc.

Read More

I Have A Dream And Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

920 Words | 4 Pages

Pathos is a charged language, in which someone uses a lot of emotion in words and towards the audience. In King’s speech, he uses a lot of emotion and passion in his words towards his audience at the footsteps of the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington D.C.. As of King Jr 's “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he uses a lot of Logos (another persuasive technique) in

Read More

The Rhetorical Analysis Of Steve Jobs Commencement Speech

756 Words | 4 Pages

The quote adds an element of humor to his speech, which also made the audience laugh. The speech was divide into tree main parts about his personal life experiences in which he found motivation. The first

Read More

An Angry God Ethos

864 Words | 4 Pages

The use of ethos, pathos, and logos in any type of writing or speaking can create a commanding and arresting effect on the reader/listener.

Read More

What Are The Rhetorical Devices In Lord Chesterfield's Letter To His Son

484 Words | 2 Pages

Logos, Pathos and Ethos mean logos, sympathy and credibility respectively. The logos presented to us in this letter is “act right… generous principles” (L. 32-33). This line in the letter explains the logic behind Lord Chesterfields idea of helping his son. He is doing it out of care, compassion, and generosity rather than to annoy him. The pathos here is “at least … it well” (L. 15-16).

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Bill Bysson's How You Became You

1224 Words | 5 Pages

Bill Bryson’s essay “How You Became You” gives a brief yet entertaining narrative of the unlikeliness of the creation of the human race in order to educate the common man on the miracle of life. The rhetorical strategies used within the essay successfully allow the purpose of this piece to become accessible to the general public. Bryson seamlessly interweaves elements of tone, diction, and rhetorical appeals to ultimately create a piece that successfully achieves his purpose and leaves a lasting impact on the audience, the general populace. The tone of “How You Became You” plays an important role in the effectiveness of the essay.

Read More

More about Commencement Address By George Saunders: Speech Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document