The Effective Power of Wallace’s Speech
When I first read David Foster Wallace’s Kenyon Commencement speech, I instantly gained a reaction from it. What struck me the most was the way that I felt, I had actually had a connection with what he was talking about. I felt as if I had actually been in the audience and was sitting right below him listening to every ounce of word he was saying. His sole purpose in his speech was to introduce and redefine what education was. Not only did he make his point across through his speech thoroughly but the way he did it with his choice of words, tone, and style were what impressed me the most. Wallace uses a tremendous use of examples to portray his message, for example he uses many analogies that a reader
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Back to Wallace’s sole purpose about choosing what to overlook and how to overlook it I think it gave me a sense that many of us are so blind to the world around us. He was effective enough to demonstrate what the actual quote of “think before you speak” means. His speech positively had an effect on me, it was a broad topic yet somehow he seemed to expand it in a way where I thoroughly thought about how I lived my life. Was I oblivious to the things and people around me? When I questioned myself I knew that David Wallace’s Kenyon Commencement speech was effective because it spoke to me. Yet when I thought about how Dyer had made me feel, it had just made me feel like I wanted to be angry at the world for something I really shouldn’t be angry about. I did not like the negative effect I got from Dyer’s essay because it made me question whether he had real meaningful intentions with the world around him. What pushed to compare both articles and say that one was better than the other in the end was that one had more of a logical purpose. Wallace’s thoughts seeped through every word that he had said because he made me understand that it’s not about receiving wisdom but knowing how to use
“Climb on one’s back and stand on their shoulders to reach the top” this is what the Coronel Colin Powell hints to recent graduating students from the Howard University in 1994. The Commencement Speech was long enough to motivate the graduating students. In addition, it was proper and formal. When the speech began, Powell was excited by ending on sharing his own experiences and giving great advices for those future professionals. Powell´s Commencement Speech demonstrates his interest by sharing his thoughts, and its language was uplifting and captivating. (502).
Another technique in his writing that I have noticed is personification, sometimes in the form of quotes. All of these techniques are used in the following excerpts from an article entitled, "Food For Thought."
“Climb on one’s back and stand on their shoulders to reach the top” this is what the Coronel Colin Powell hints to recent graduate from the Howard University in 1994. The Commencement Speech was long enough to motivate the graduating students. Also, it was proper and formal. When the speech began, Powell was exciting by ending on sharing his own experiences and giving great advices for those future professionals. Powell´s Commencement Speech demonstrates his interest by sharing his thoughts, and its language was uplifting and captivating. (502).
Wallace was fighting for his concrete beliefs and ideals. Although it was sparked by the murder of his wife and father. He was prepared to be a martyr, although all he really wanted was to have a family and a farm. He was willing to give his life for the future of his country, which says something about his character. He was finally betrayed again and handed over to the throne to be tortured and killed.
The film covers the life of William Wallace from the time he is a small boy, when
I think this speech is an appropriate text for a year 12 audience as it holds significant world history and it shows the audience the importance of understanding problems that weren’t/aren’t necessarily occurring in their society, country or town. Reading this speech gave me a personal understanding of what it must have been like in 1963 America, it shows me how the world has changed in such a little space of time. From 1963 where there were still slaves and the ‘black’ people were segregated from the ‘white’ to 2015 where Obama is the first ‘African American president to serve The United States of
Martin Luther King Jr. was a big impact on the world, he stood up for what he believed in. When Martin was young, he and his family went through a lot of discrimination and threats of violence many times throughout the day. Martin did not like the way he and others were treated, he wanted to make a difference, so he became the leader of the Civil Rights Movement to stop segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. is a hero because he wanted equal rights for everyone.
Graduating from school is only one of the essential tools for a young person to have a successful life. A person endures many long years of schooling, and then the graduation day finally arrives. That special day is one of the most momentous days in a young student’s life. Happiness and sadness are the two emotions a person will feel on that special day. A student will experience happiness because of a significant milestone that was completed in the student’s life. The sad emotions will arise because of a terrifying new chapter in the book of life that is about to begin. Both Bradley Whitford and His Holiness the Dalai Lama give their commencement speeches by using humor to relax the mood of the crowd, making light of their fame, and giving the usual words of wisdom to the graduating class of students.
David McCullough Jr., delivered the commencement at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts on June 1st 2012 to staff, the 2012 graduates, and their family and friends. The speech was straightforward and supplied valuable information for their future. . McCullough’s speech at times felt harsh, offensive, and insulting. His words and examples were given to achieve insight, knowledge, and awareness for each student’s future. The commencement expressed a great deal of achievement, but conveyed that there was more work to be done. His speech was effective and appreciated through humor parallelism, repetition, and anaphora. His point of view has obtained respect and determination by all those that have been challenged and have heard his words.
Commencement speeches, which are presented in American graduation ceremonies, aim to inspire and motivate. Successfully, Nora Ephron 's commencement speech addressed to the Wellesley Class of 1996; inspired her audience to "be the heroine of [their '] li[ves], not the victim". Through anecdotes, Ephron explored the differences between her education and the graduates at Wellesley College, to remind the women graduating that whilst society was different in many ways, in particular for women, "there was still a glass ceiling".
This Is sown by telling stories. While it may put you in a better mental state if you tell yourself that the guy who cut you off on the highway could be rushing his kid to the hospital, which would mean, in Wallace’s words, “he’s in a bigger, more legitimate hurry than I am: it is actually I who am in HIS way,” what if they aren’t? What if that guy who cuts you off on the highway really is just being a jerk? If you force yourself to believe otherwise, can that still be considered a genuine or appropriate interpretation and response?He argues that the ability to choose what to think and how to perceive, coupled with an allergy to the automatic responses to our daily annoyances, inform the sympathy and awareness that are the purpose of a quality education. The main message from the speech to me is the way he can look past things and come to conclusion within himself. David Foster Lewis says “The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.” This quote really explains how people get so caught up in
...old, xenophobic white men don’t want just anyone off the street joining them for intellectual discussions over Sunday tea . This is why Wallace advocates for students in high school and college to learn SWE; if students are able to present themselves in a more erudite and intellectual manner by using SWE, it can provide them with more opportunities to ascend the “social ladder” as they will have a stronger foundation for academic and professional success. Using SWE will not guarantee that a student will become a doctor or a lawyer, however, they will have the opportunity to expand their education and achieve that ranking if they wish.
In June of 2011, Conan O’Brien gave the commencement address to the 2011 graduating class of Dartmouth College. O’Brien uses humor and anecdotes to deliver a powerful speech which resonated with most viewers. O’Brien also used many literary devices for the graduates to better understand his primary points. Conan O’Brien delivery of his commencement address was effective because of his use of pathos, ethos, and antidotes, which contributed to his fantastic speech.
In the words attributed to Socrates in Plato’s Apology, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” David Foster Wallace expands on this idea in his “Kenyon College 2005 Commencement Address,” pointing out the importance of awareness and escaping the natural, default-setting of an unconscious, self-centred life. While commencement speeches are typically epideictic—celebratory—in nature, Wallace takes a deliberative rhetorical stance. According to Fahnestock, deliberative discourse is used in order to persuade in “the best possible course of future action” (1998, p. 333). Abizadeh argues that character and emotion are “constitutive features of deliberation,” and that deliberation cannot be “reduced to logical demonstration” (2002, p. 267). In his speech, Wallace uses a blend of Aristotle’s persuasive appeals—logos, pathos, and ethos—in order to effectively persuade his audience.
The commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace in the autumn of 2005, is a very deep speech that examines the whole idea of a Liberal Arts education at an extremely deep and intellectual level. In the 22 minute long speech Wallace talks about how higher education not only teaches you to think but “how to exercise some control over how and what you think.” (Wallace). Wallace later in his speech stresses the importance of this level of thinking by saying “if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed” (Wallace) What he means by saying this is that if you cannot think at a higher level and make sense of real world problems your life will become meaningless and you will become dead inside your head.