Poet and educator, Clint Smith, in his 2014 TED Talk, “The Danger of Silence,” asserts that individuals should not stand silent to the “injustice” of “indifference” and discrimination. Smith illustrates his assertion by using emotion evoking allusions, crisp contextual imagery, and ardent spoken word poetry. Throughout the speech quotes from the civil rights advocate, Martin Luther King Jr., are tactifully used to enhance the historical significance of discrimination and indifference by showing the parallels of the present and the past. Smith effectively uses personal narrative of being a school teacher to further demonstrate the relevance of this withstanding issues of discrimination. In his narrative he describes how vital it is to “create a culture” within his own classroom and society where “students” and anyone else could “feel safe sharing the intimacies of their own silences.” These personal references set up the audience to feel more connected on not only the topic and message, but the speaker himself making him more believable and his story more compelling. Through this connection, trust is built, especially with the audience’s knowledge of Smith as a self-described caring school teacher. Being a teacher adds to his credibility and achieves …show more content…
Events such as the “Rwandan Genocide” and the civil rights movements in the 1960’s are mentioned to stress the importance of not being silent. Smith uses repetition to stress the importance of this topic as well. Anaphora is used more than once in lines such as “It is chains. It is privilege. It is pain.” and “Silence is Rwandan genocide. Silence is Katrina.” Smith’s tactile use of anaphora enhances the emotional connection to the words being said, especially with the loaded language being attached to the phrases. Loaded language in his speech includes “chains,” and “gut-wrench guillotine,” as well as many other