The Rhetorical Devices In Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech

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Lou Gehrig once said, “I love to win; but I love to lose almost as much. I love the thrill of victory, and I also love the challenge of defeat.” Lou gehrig was not a speech giver, he was a top class athlete that was not afraid of defeat. He used defeat to his advantage instead of mourning over it. He was not a speech giver or speech writer but he was almost as good at it as he was good at baseball. The speech he delivered to a sold out Yankees Stadium full of fans for his farewell was one of the best short speeches ever given in my opinion. Given the length of the speech, he was able to incorporate different kinds of rhetorical devices that make the speech more enjoyable to listen to.

Lou Gehrig's ability to use a lot of alliteration and anaphoras make the speech more enjoyable to listen to. For example, Lou’s use of alliteration makes a boring sentence more fun because of the use of the same letter one after another which adds a certain ring to the sentence. “Who Wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert-” The rhetorical scheme of alliteration that Lou Gehrig uses shows emphasis in the sentences which makes it better to say but if too much alliteration is …show more content…

I think that the fact that it is so short is just another reason as to why it should be a master speech because it is so impactful and motivating in such a small amount of words. This speech is exactly 277 words long, which mans he was able to leave his mark on history in such a short speech. Also, he inspired thousands of people with this speech by telling them that just because something is holding you back that doesn't mean you have to stop. In conclusion, Lou Gehrig's farewell speech was a short and sweet speech that left its mark in history and will never be forgotten. I hope this speech can be a part of your master speech unit next year so students can enjoy it like I