The Cerebral Penitentiary “About all a commencement speaker can really do is to suggest a couple of things that [he or] she believes really matters.” Sue Monk Kidd stated this while addressing the graduates of Scripps College. On May 21, 2005 Kenyon College graduation welcomed David Foster Wallace, an American novelist, for their commencement address. A prime example of Kidd’s statement, Wallace stated in address that “suicide’s [victims] are actually long dead before they pull the trigger” (Wallace 4). His address titled This Is Water was delivered to the graduating class of 2005 before his death in 2008. Through the use of informal language, forming a connection outside of his target audience, and genuine demeanor, David Foster Wallace’s “The Is Water” successfully delivers his message to his target audience. Kenyon College is a private liberal arts university in Gambier, OH with enrollment listed on their website just short of 2,000 students. Tuition and fees total to about just Through informal language, presenting relatable experiences, and presenting himself in an honest form, his speech becomes more engaging and his audience more receptive to his message. Wallace urges the graduating students to hold the value of their education in high regard and make proper use of it when thinking critically (Wallace 2). While Wallace’s warning targeted the graduating class, his speech can be viewed to be just as effective to the other individuals in attendance, which would include the parents/families of graduates and the university faculty and staff in attendance. Wallace believed that this warning was what truly mattered and was needed to be pressed upon his audience due to the fact that he was indeed victim to this imprisonment from which he found his release from on September 12th, 2008, through hanging himself (Weber
In 2005, David Wallace Foster delivered a memorable commencement speech to the graduating class of Kenyon College. It was not the standard US commencement speech with “the deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories” which then turn out to be “one of the better, less bullshitty conventions of the genre”. By using pathos , Foster created an intelligent argument that wasn't overpowering but thoughtful and understanding. The argument made by Foster in his speech is about the capital-T Truth. And to Foster, the capital-T Truth is about life before death. The point of Fosters speech is to expose the importance of education, the value it possesses and the awareness it brings. Its modest amount parables, proverbs and cliches revealed the honesty behind his words and ugly truths that caused a stir the audience. Wallace Foster stripped away the standardness of such monotone and basic writing of commencement speeches to his advantage. By using pathos he builds bridges, sustains his arguments and emotionally influences his audience.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
On April 3, 1964, Malcom X published his famous speech named “The Ballot or the Bullet” and on 1963, the author Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from jail to respond to eight white clergymen, who criticism him for unwise, untimely and extreme. The purposes of both writers are fight for civil rights and black liberation. They both use ethos, pathos and logos in their writings, which extremely useful in getting to their point to persuade the audiences to fight for their belief. Despite there are different between how they use these strategies but both use it very effective and produce very persuasive writings.
In an article originally published in May 2003 in USA Today called “College Isn’t For Everyone,” by W.J. Reeves combined these rhetorical devices to make a compelling argument that although colleges are easily accessible, higher education lacks students with the capabilities of academic success. To validate this claim, Reeves uses persuasive appeals to convey an effective argument by influencing the audience, however, he limits his reach because of the excessive pathos and condescending tone used to present his argument.
The speech is arranged into short paragraphs, providing an example in almost every one. Everyone is familiar with commencement speeches. They are usually used to congratulate a group of people and tend to be looking towards the future. Instead of congratulating the students at Kenyon College, Wallace challenges them. The essay opens with a metaphor about two young fish that do not realize what water is, setting the tone for the rest of the speech. Wallace proceeds to describe how completely oblivious society is to the world around us, just like the fish. Wallace supports this claim through examples within the speech. His use of examples rather than facts or statistics weakens his claim. If more facts or statistics were used his claim would become more convincing. His rationalization come in the form of the short stories that illustrate the choices people make in their everyday lives. He...
Imagine the world we are living in today, now imagine a world where we are told who to marry, where to work, who to hate and not to love. It is hard to imagine right, some people even today are living in the world actually have governments that are controlling their everyday life. In literature many writers have given us a view of how life may be like if our rights as citizen and our rights simply as human beings. One day the government may actually find a way to control and brainwash people into beings with no emotions like they have in the book 1984 where they express only hate, because that’s what they have been taught by the party.
Jack Shakley’s “Indian Mascots- You’re Out” published on the op-ed page of the LA times, he impacted readers about the argument over professional and college sport teams whose mascots are using Native American names. Shakley is the former chair of the Los Angeles city/county Native American Commission. The author describes the history of using Indian mascots and how it hurt a group of people. He wants readers to know that it is necessary to remove Native American names and mascots from college and professional teams. Jack Shakley uses three strategies to present his argument to show his attitude to remove Indian mascots in teams.
Attentiveness is characterized with being more observant, thoughtful, and considerate of others. This specific trait will help us understand one another and the world around us much better because it allows us to see and appreciate the little things we often take for granted. Being attentive helps us see the world more clearly because only then are we not blinded by our own thought and feelings that we are unable to see how similar we are to one another; we all share the same thoughts and feelings. In “This is Water,” David Foster Wallace stated everyone is always rushing to get to different places; placing our needs and wants above others and how this lack of awareness of the world around us is only drifting us apart. Wallace uses an example
The movie trailer “Rio 2”, shows a great deal of pathos, ethos, and logos. These rhetorical appeals are hidden throughout the movie trailer; however, they can be recognized if paying attention to the details and montage of the video. I am attracted to this type of movies due to the positive life messages and the innocent, but funny personifications from the characters; therefore, the following rhetorical analysis will give a brief explanation of the scenes, point out the characteristics of persuasive appeals and how people can be easily persuaded by using this technique, and my own interpretation of the message presented in the trailer.
This dehumanizes the inmates because they are no longer able to understand their role as human beings. One inmate, Jeanne DiMola, spent a year in solitary confinement and expressed her thoughts while in the cell: “I felt sorry I was born. Most of all I felt sorry that there wasn't a road to kill myself because every day was worse than the last" (Rodhan, Maya). In DiMola’s opinion, the death penalty more than likely would have felt more humane than the isolation she experienced. Another prisoner, Damon Thibodeaux, stated, “Life in solitary is made all the worse because it's a hopeless existence.
Scientists are constantly forced to test their work and beliefs. Thus they need the ability to embrace the uncertainty that science is based on. This is a point John M. Barry uses throughout the passage to characterize scientific research, and by using rhetorical devices such as, comparison, specific diction, and contrast he is able show the way he views and characterizes scientific research.
One aspect of the documentary that relates to class material was the inmate’s description of being trapped in their cells like animals in a cage. This description of imprisonment can be associated to the article written by Sykes entitled, “The Pains of Imprisonment”. In this article, the author elaborates about how an inmate’s liberty is restricted to a specific building but then reduced further to a specific routine where they are told where to go and what to do. “In short, the prisoner’s loss of liberty is a double one — first, by confinement to the institution and second, by confinement within the institution.” (Sykes, 65). This is similar to how the prisoners in segregation are confined to the prison, and additionally to their cell. Another feature of the film that reflected class material was the campus style design of the prison. The inmates were allowed to roam around cell area and interact with other prisoners. Furthermore, different styles of adaptation to the segregation unit can be linked to class material. For instance, one member of the isolation unit is focused on completing his GED, an adaptation called gleaning. This is when an inmate takes advantage of offered programs because they do not want to return to prison. Prisoners who have served longer sentence times in isolation, for instance over a year, reflected a “doing time” adaption. They were simply focused on
Studying a university degree is one of the biggest achievements of many individuals around the world. But, according to Mark Edmunson, a diploma in America does not mean necessarily studying and working hard. Getting a diploma in the United States implies managing with external factors that go in the opposite direction with the real purpose of education. The welcome speech that most of us listen to when we started college, is the initial prank used by the author to state the American education system is not converging in a well-shaped society. Relating events in a sarcastic way is the tone that the author uses to explain many of his arguments. Mark Edmunson uses emotional appeals to deliver an essay to the people that have attended College any time in their life or those who have been involved with the American education system.
Light, J. R. (2001). Making the most of college: Students speak their minds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Haley, Alex and Malcolm X. “Saved.” Reading and Writing the College Experience. Huron Valley Publishing: Ypsilanti, 2003. 203 – 214.