SACE NO: 74122G (S.C.Bur)
Text type 4: Folio
Part one: Response to an Example of Communication Word count: 999
Name of Speech: Commencement Address to Wellesley Class of 1996 – Nora Ephron
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".
The intention of Ephron
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In Ephron 's commencement address she incorporated various language techniques to enhance her purpose of inspiring and empowering women. Ephron employed rhetorical questions in queries such as "how long ago was it?", in reference to her graduating class, and "[her] class … of 1962" to effectively contrast and elaborate upon the differences between the two graduating classes and society 's expectations of women. She elaborated upon difference, stating the graduates of 1962 were not "meant to have futures" but "to marry them". Through the repetition of "don 't", Ephron reminded the women "don 't delude [themselves] that the power cultural values that wrecked the lives of so many of [her] classmates have vanished from the earth" as the Feminist movement did not change everything for women. Ephron adopted various cliché 's such as "lived happily ever after" and "wish [they] could turn the clock back" when referring to particular women with whom she attended college because their "education was a dress rehearsal for a life [they] never led". Ephron reminded the women metaphorically "there 's still a glass ceiling", when involving women 's rights, because "there 's [still] magazines devoted almost exclusively to making perfect casseroles". Using humour, Ephron informed the women are "graduating from Wellesley in the Year of the Wonderbra" and through this, she humorously reminded them of the "glass ceiling" as …show more content…
Explaining the changes in expectations for women, and being appreciative of them, Ephron concluded that despite the advancements brought about by the Feminist movement, women still unfortunately faced discrimination because of their gender. She challenged and inspired the women to become the "heroines of their li[ves]" so that other could be
To regard the importance of the bigger picture, he maintains parallel structure and utilizes the repetition of words in the body of the speech. “The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life” occurs when one seizes the day—when one finds the joys in life by realizing “you are not special”. The pauses and short sentences also adds to the conversational aspect and pace of the commencement piece. To continue, he notes how in this moment of time, every single one of them is dressed “exactly the same” and their diplomas are “exactly the same”. The unification of these prospective seniors further augments the message of settling. McCullogh further critiques the phrases that defy logic. High school students have perceived that “good is no longer good enough, where a B is the new C”. The goal into doing one’s best has been shaped into doing the capabilities of another, in which McCullogh responds metaphorically to only focus on the betterment of the self: “climb [the mountain] so you can see the world, not so the world can see you”. All of these seniors have fallen into the preconceived mindset of superiority, unifying them together but it is their personal capabilities that distinguishes one from another, successes from failures. The support and inspiration he is aiming for is clearly portrayed in proposing to the students to, “[d]ream big. Work hard. Think for yourself”. He inspires them to experience life instead of accomplish
In her ,“Harvard”, address, actress, comedian and producer Amy Poehler speaks to the graduating class of 2011. Her speech is filled with her uplifting sense of humor and her down-to-earth personality that you can’t help but enjoy. Poehler utilizes various rhetorical strategies throughout her address such as allusion, and conveying pathos in a humourous as well as an emotional way. By using these, she successfully encourages the young students and families at Harvard University to work their hardest and take on the world.
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.
While Rimer directly interviews the students and faculty of Smith College’s Ada Comstock Scholars Program for her primary research source, this particular college is not the main focus of the essay. Women’s colleges Mount Holyoke and Bryn Mawr are also mentioned in the essay (para.27). Rimer’s interview with a historian who has studied women in higher education, speaks to women’s colleges in general. The historian goes on to explain that going back to college is transforming for older women who have been shaped by gender specific expectations (para.9). Women’s colleges o...
The goal of Hillary’s speech is to persuade her audience that her ideas are valid, by using ethos, pathos, and logos. Hillary is the First Lady and Senator, she shows credibility as an influential activist for woman rights. “Over the past 25 years, I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children, and families. Over the past two and a half years, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing women in my country and around the world” (Clinton 2).
“There is a double standard here that shapes our perceptions of men and women in ways that support patriarchy as a system. What is culturally valued is associated with masculinity and maleness and what is devalued is associated with femininity and femaleness, regardless of the reality of men’s and women’s lives”,( Johnson 64). In the movie Mona Lisa Smile, Betty’s mother was pressurizing Betty to make her husband read a poem at the wedding not just to act like he enjoyed the marriage but mainly because it was a tradition for men. When Betty said she didn’t care about it, her mother refused and still insisted that she should do it. Women are looked down upon when it comes to the assignment of gender roles and this is because of labels that the society has placed on the female gender. In a home, the father is always the head of the home, providing food and clothing for every family member but there are some women who like to be independent and would also love to work and make money and cater for the family. In the 19th century, women were told they were home makers and were not allowed to endeavor further in higher educational studies. Wellesley College was a college built to raise future wives and not future leaders meaning that society had already placed women below the ladder without any intention or thoughts of them climbing back
A college education is something that women take for granted today, but in the 1800’s it was an extremely rare thing to see a woman in college. During the mid 1800’s, schools like Oberlin and Elmira College began to accept women. Stone’s father did a wonderful thing (by 19th century standards) in loaning her the money to pay for her college education. Stone was the first woman to get a college education in Massachusetts, graduating from Oberlin College in 1843. Her first major protest was at the time of her graduation. Stone was asked to write a commencement speech for her class. But she refused, because someone else would have had to read her speech. Women were not allowed, even at Oberlin, to give a public address.
... been interested in issues related to gender equality, so it only took me a while to figure out this topic. Nevertheless, the following planning process was puzzling, probably was because the first few pair of sentences I found were always tended to be similar since they were both too formal. It was only until I saw Truth’s speech, which was so different in the rhetorical styles from the conventional feminists’ speeches, I then confirmed my decision and continued my work. I spent a lot of time reading the documentation of the speeches and the slides from Purdue OWL, trying to figure out how to apply the terminologies I learnt into different rhetorical contexts. I found this task really useful as for now I had a better understanding of the knowledge I learnt, and most importantly, I started to know how to apply certain techniques into my writing style in the future.
There were many women who fought for female equality, and many who didn’t care, but eventually the feminists won the vote. Women today are still fighting for equality in the home, in the workplace, and in society as a whole, which seems like it may take centuries of more slow progress to achieve.
This movement had great leaders who were willing to deal with the ridicule and the disrespect that came along with being a woman. At that time they were fighting for what they thought to be true and realistic. Some of the great women who were willing to deal with those things were Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Jane Hunt, Mary McClintock, and Martha C. Wright. These women gave this movement, its spark by conduction the first ever women 's right’s convention. This convention was held in a church in Seneca Falls in 1848. At this convection they expressed their problems with how they were treated, as being less than a man. These women offered solutions to the problem by drafting the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. They cleverly based the document after the Declaration of Independence. The opening line of their document was “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal” (Shi & Mayer 361). In this declaration they discuss the history of how women have been treated and how men have denied them rights, which go against everything they believe in. This convention was the spark that really
...al questions, an extended metaphor, and allusion, she persuades her audience to try and break down their insecurities in order to create a rich lifestyle for them. However, gender stereotypes have been and always will be prevalent in society. As she states in the essay, “Indeed it will be a long time still, I think, before a woman can sit down to write a book without finding a phantom to be slain, a rock to be dashed against.” It has been shown that she was correct, seeing as women are still discriminated against in a number of professions. If a woman states, for example, that she wishes to be a mechanic, or possibly even an electrician, many men and other women will likely snort at the idea and think of it as a ridiculous joke. Even though society has come a long way over the years, it will still be an even longer amount of time before women can finally feel equal.
Gender inequality has been a disadvantage for women in society for many centuries. Women have always had a disadvantage in society, even though there's been many years of time for improvement. Women in the time of Shakespeare, were treated like possessions and how a man treated a women and how he controlled his women, was how masculine he was. Women in some work places get paid less than men do. In 2011, for every $1.00 a male worker earned, a women worker earns 74 cents. In today's society, people who are called Feminists, stand up for the rights of women and the issue of women being treated as equals compared to men. This topic of gender inequality, is very prominent in the play Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare. Even in the title
History accounts for the great contributions of women in promoting social justice, particularly in uplifting the morale and functions of women in the society. From being the oppressed gender, various women managed to change the traditional roles of women by fighting for their rights to be heard and for them to given equal opportunities. These women boldly stood against gender stereotypes of women and proved the entire world that they could defy conventions. Particularly at the turn of the 20th century, women battled against the oppressions brought by patriarchy in different ways. These activist women had crusaded for the promotion of their civil rights, sexual freedom, and pursued careers which were once forbidden to them.
"A Woman’s Place", the name of the commencement speech given by Naomi Wolf at the Scripps College graduation in 1992; contrasts the independent and the dependent woman. In today’s society, there are two different types of women: the woman who has a good head on her shoulders and knows where she is going in the world, and the woman who seeks dependence within the masculine world. Just as they were thirty years ago, women are still not considered to be equal to men. They are more or less looked at as being second to men.
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.