On June 12th, 2005, the late Steve Jobs gave a memorable commencement speech at Stanford University. As the co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc., NeXT, and primary investor and CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, Jobs has been deemed one of the greatest technological and business leaders of all time. Jobs revolutionized the technological industry in a way that not only shaped modern technology, but impacted the daily lives of consumers. Throughout his speech, Jobs appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade his audience to pursue personal passions and do what they love. Throughout this speech, Jobs tells three stories of his life experiences which motivated him to become the technological leader he is remembered as today. Jobs begins with the story of his upbringing, which he says is about connecting the dots. He evokes pathos from his audience as he discusses his adoption and early childhood. Jobs also uses anaphora and epistrophe by repeating the phrase “connecting the dots” throughout his story. “Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards” (Jobs para. 8). In Jobs’ second story he describes his …show more content…
Immediately after his diagnosis, Jobs was informed he only had three to six months to live. Shortly after it was discovered his cancer was easily cured through one surgical procedure. “This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades” (Jobs para. 21) Jobs used his story of death to share with his audience the sentiment that life is short. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by Dogma. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your inner voice. And most importantly have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary” (Jobs para.