During the June 2005 Stanford University graduation Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of apple and pixar, in only “jeans and sandals under his black robe” delivered his famous commencement speech (“Steve Jobs’ to 2005 graduates,” 2005). This speech drove into graduates exactly how short life is to not follow your dreams and do what you love to do before their inevitable death. As a reputable innovator and advocate for education who experience a near death situation after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the year prior, Jobs served as the perfect keynote speaker to emphasize how life can simply slip away at any moment and highlight the importance of living a life you love (Gallo, 2011, pg. 2).
Over 23,000 people were in attendance at the
Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation”, that had the audience laughing in their stiff chairs (Stanford, 2008). While the audience may have reciprocated accordingly during this starting humor, the same could not be said throughout the rest of the speech. Humor effectively used can liven up and gain the audience approval, however poorly executed jokes may turn the audience away, causing some awkward moments. Jobs included several punchlines through the speech that were setup to be comedic relief from a serious subject. However with no pause before or after, and no change in vocal intonation - keeping everything monotone - the joke’s where not received by the audience. These ‘jokes’ such as “I didn’t even know what a Pancreas was,” may have not even been jokes, but a way for Jobs to express just how out of his element he was when speaking about his near death. Still reiterating my previous point, whether it was a joke or a access to the inside of Jobs thinking, the lack of tone makes this hard to say. There was an improvement as the speech became more somber and serious, with Jobs speaking out about the topic of death, the audience death. This broke “the first rule of contemporary American culture- never talk about death”, attract the audience attention, having them shift nervously in their seats (Naughton, 2011). This coupled with an improved use of timing, enabled his horrid humor to be received. At the very minimum Jobs deserves a pat on the back for staying professional as expected, not stumbling over silent pauses or floundering with the follow up, as well as employing humor as a good method to reach the specific
Bill Clinton started his speech with humor causing people to crack a laugh and hooked his audience to listen to the speech. When there is humor involved people seem to enjoy things way better, the reason for this is that people will
43rd President of the United States, George Bush, in his speech, “9/11 Address to the Nation” addresses the nation about the day of September 11, 2001. Bush’s purpose is to convey the events of September 11, 2001 and what was and will be done about them. He adopts a serious yet somber tone in order to appeal to the strong and emotional side of the public and to his listeners around the world.
In today’s society, one of the most natural human traits is selfishness. David Foster Wallace incorporated this idea in his commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005. Wallace aims to persuade his audience that, “the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about.” Although the intended audience of his speech is the graduates and staff, along with their friends and family, the piece has become quite popular since its delivery. Wallace offers, “nothing less than the truth” and captivates the listeners with his complete honestly. His personal tone lets the audience feel like they are a part of the conversation, rather than just receiving it. Wallace successfully conveys his message that society is blind to the world around them through the use of logic, humility and emotional appeals.
Barack Obama deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Obama establishes credibility by starting off to tell a story about how he got to where he is today. He talks about how his father had a great opportunity to study here in America. His father’s dream of starting a family in the land of opportunity for himself and for his children. Obama developed an emotional connection with his audience by talking about his family dream for him and for his future. When he refers back to his family, he then goes to talk about his experience and how it would not have been possible for his dream to be achieve anywhere else and that has impacted him to make a difference.
Throughout more than two hundred years Americans have witnessed more then fifty-six inaugural addresses. In those speeches presidents have been utilizing rhetoric to make their points and outline their positions on important issues before the nation. Both of President Obama’s Inauguration Speeches successfully craft rhetoric through
President Barack Obama has been a well-known political figure for just over 8 years; he has served two terms as the President of the United States. There has been controversy surrounding the first African American president, after his first term Obama failed to prove to America that he would fix all the things he promised to fix upon election. With his second term he has set in place his views and goals for the country. Obama’s views have been trying to benefit the overall population of American, from the poor all the way to the rich with a few subclasses in-between. During the Inauguration of his second term, won against Mitt Romney. His opponent stood for many things that were conflicting to Obamas platform, while Obama stood for rehabilitating the poor after the recession, Romney wanted to focus on tax breaks for the rich. Throughout the speech given by President Barack Obama, he outlines necessary changes in the system to benefit the people and the need for people to come together as one to have an effective country.
The Sate of Address is a yearly address delivered in January by the president of the US to Congress, giving the administration 's view of the state of the nation and plans for legislation. In President Obama’s 2016 Sate of Address, his purpose was to inform Americans about his vision for the remainder of his term. He conveys this message by using a relatable and concerning tone, which allowed his readers to connect to the ideas he had proposed. Also, during his speech, President Obama’s chose topics that spoke to every gender, race, and social class. For example, President Obama said “First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy? Second, how do we make technology work for us, and not against us especially when it comes when it comes to solving urgent
Americans in order to assure these ones of their importance and to remind them that they are
President Obama’s Inaugural Speech: Rhetorical Analysis. Barrack Obama’s inauguration speech successfully accomplished his goal by using rhetoric to ensure our nation that we will be in safe hands. The speech is similar to ideas obtained from the founding documents and Martin Luther King’s speech to establish ‘our’ goal to get together and take some action on the problems our country is now facing. As President Barack Obama starts his speech, he keeps himself from using ‘me’, ‘myself’, and ‘I’ and replacing it with ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘together’ to achieve his ethos.
President Barack H. Obama has been always using rhetorical strategies in his political speeches. He used these strategies to present important points and views of his in front of public. Delivering points and views properly and logically got him to be the president in the first place. President Obama used mostly ethos and pathos, yet some logos to deliver his inaugural and the state of union speeches. Being that, he was able to reach the audience emotionally and make the speech flow efficiently while he preserved his credibility. Each speech has own audience that differs from the other. In the inaugural speech the audience was the public and therefor the speech was short and used short sentences that are easy to understand. On the other hand, the state of union speech’s audience was mostly the congers members and therefore the language was more specific and filled with political terminology. Both speeches will be discussed upon context and using ethos, pathos and logos consecutively.
To articulate on Job’s own understanding of this he expresses his encounter with death and the reality that dreams and desires of the future can be lost at any moment. Steve Jobs showcases the story in which he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and faced with the almost unbearable reality of having to say goodbye to everything and everyone he cherished. Because of this experience he was able to understand that “ [one’s] time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life” (23). Living life for one’s self is what matters and one should not put their dreams long after everyone else's. To illustrate this comprehension in a different light one could look unto the life of Roger Ebert. It is apparent that he found what he loved which was being a movie critic. After almost meeting death and having to then live without a jaw, Ebert found himself still using his words to convey his thoughts and opinions but in an even more meaningful form. Even when under the scrutinizing opinions by those that cared for him to stop what he loved, he kept critiquing films until his death in 2013. It takes a certain passion to do work without ceasing and it requires a great deal determination to find it.
Steve Jobs is trying to say that you should live every day like it is your last. He knew his life had value to him and his family. He felt like life was worth living even though once in a while a hard choice would come along to toughen his life. Making a choice is very hard, but when making a choice it should be one that you will not regret later in life. Making choices is one of the hardest things in life so you must see all the good and all the bad to the outcome of your options. Live everyday like it is your last. Ebert says that life is a very precious thing. Hamlet wants to die, but him not knowing what is on the other side scares so he decides to live. Even though Ebert had to get surgery, he got through it and learned to still live his life with no regrets.
In this paper I am going to discuss the rhetorical appeals, as well as the argumentative structure, audience and purpose set forth by George W. Bush in his September 27 speech in Flagstaff, Arizona. More specifically I will refer to the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos and logos, and explain how they are used to gain the support and attention of the audience and further the further the purpose of the speech. As I explain these appeals I will also give an insight into the argumentative structure and why it is apparent in this particular speech.
Jobs starts his speech with humor. He said, “I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation,” this statement instantly added an element of humor to his speech and this was well observed by the audience. The opening statements of the speech automatically lightened the mood. Steve jobs’ introduction appeals to the emotions of the audience, giving Jobs a valuable opening into the rest of his speech. In the whole speech, Jobs recites three stories from his personal life, which gave him inspiration.
There have been over 42,000 gun violence incidents in the United States, resulting in nearly 11,000 deaths (Gun). For a long time the Second Amendment has been up for debate, even though it is one of the rights the Founding Fathers put in place. Back when Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson decided upon that right, guns were not as complex and powerful as they are today. With such advancements, does this amendment need to be reevaluated? When it is time for a new president to be elected, one of the first questions asked by the press is what their position is on gun control. Many people are passionate about this topic and they typically take one of two sides. They either get highly offended about the thought of the government taking away