Rhetorical Analysis Of John Lewis Speech

John Lewis, in his speech “You must find a way to get into trouble, good trouble” (2014), argues that others shouldn’t stand in the shadows, that they should go out and make their voices heard. Lewis supports his argument by using historically accurate evidence such as referring to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. and their advocacy for civil rights; he also uses personal experiences to further his argument. Lewis’s purpose was to empower others to make their voices heard in order to effect change. Lewis speaks in a calm, relaxed, but serious tone for the graduating class of 2014 from Emory University. His speech came in the same year that Eric Garner and Micheal Brown were murdered after being racially profiled, giving his speech a particular

Those relations being Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights movement, etc. the most important ones he made were his personal experiences and personal history. Lewis begins talking about his aunt having a “shotgun house” and one of his personal memories of going to each corner of the house when “The wind started blowing. The thunder started rolling. That lightning started flashing and the rain started beating on the tin roof of this old shotgun house”. Within these statements he personifies the wind, thunder, lightning, and rain which helps his audience picture what he is trying to say. He continues to make a point that society as a whole is together. He makes this clear and emphasized by stating: “The wind may blow. The thunder may roll, the lighting may flash, and the rain may beat on our old house. Call it a house of Emory, call it a house of Georgia or Alabama or New York. Call it a house of Europe. Call it a house of Africa. Call it a house of Asia. Of central or south America. Call it a house of the Middle East. We all live in the same house, and it doesn’t matter whether we are black of white, Latino, Asian American, or native American. It doesn’t matter if we, we are straight or gay. We are one people. We are one family. We all live in the same

He does this so that his audience understands that society has to unite together to make change and to make progress. Lewis goes on to state in a hopeful tone “It doesn't matter if we, we are straight or gay. We are one people. We are one family.”. He does this to emphasize that any problem impacting one member of society then affects all of us. He wants us to all act as one and to move forward in society. He makes this known by stating “We are one, one people and one love. Thank you very much.”. This being his last remark it is a very important and heavy statement, which is why it was crucial for this to be it. It makes it so important and crucial for society to understand that we are all just one people to be