“This is Water”, a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace to the graduating class of 2005 at Kenyon College, talks about how they, the students, haven’t faced real life yet and how their surroundings are what they’ve been in and are used to. Wallace conveys his message very well because of his use of emotional appeal as well as his word choice. He reminds his audience to look beyond yourself and think about how life is not just your story and your world, it’s about others and stepping into their shoes for a minute and seeing other perspectives. Most importantly, he is able to speak from personal stories and relatable scenarios which makes him credible and his speech becomes applicable to the audience at the graduation.
Wallace uses of
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For example, Wallace says, “But then you remember there's no food at home — you haven't had time to shop this week, because of your challenging job — and so now after work you have to get in your car and drive to the supermarket.” (Wallace). The purpose of using this storyline is because it allows the audience to be able to relate to what the author talks about. This imaginary scenario is one that not only the graduates can relate to, it’s also something that the parents and/or other older attenders can speak from. Using examples such as these is significant to the authors use of pathos also because it can help the author to develop an emotional connection with their audience. Another example would be when he touches on the subject of suicide. “And the truth is that most of these suicides are actually dead long before they pull the trigger” (Wallace). Suicide is clearly an emotional and depressing subject and having this in his speech helps readers to understand the unhappiness that people go through before actually committing it. The example of suicide is noteworthy because even if people in that audience may have not had to experience it or dealt with it, it’s still an important matter and to the American society, it continues to be something that more than a majority take to
An example in Danielle speech is “We got so geeked-out on making WALL-E this convincing robot, that we made his binoculars practically optically perfect.” I think this is a great way to use pathos because, for one thing, it made the audience laugh. Another thing is that she connected it with what she was talking about. At this point in the TED talk, she is talking about how they use lighting to make the characters stand out. Throughout her speech, she uses pathos to engage the audience. To help explain what she is talking about without boring people. She used pathos so they could be
In “Bring Back Flogging”, Jeff Jacoby addresses the problems within America 's criminal justice system. He gives many reasons why imprisonment simply does not work, and suggests that corporal punishment should be used as an alternative. Published in the Boston Globe, a newspaper well known for being liberal, Jacoby provides a conservative view and directs his argument towards those who strongly support imprisonment and view corporal punishment to be highly barbaric and inhumane. However, in order to shed light on our current situation, Jacoby discusses the dangers that we face though our criminal justice system a nd shows concern that imprisonment is doing more harm than good. In effect, Jacoby looks to the past for solutions, and
example of pathos because it plays with peoples emotions and they can more relate to this and
The relationship you have with others often has a direct effect on the basis of your very own personal identity. In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had affected his life so dramatically. It is hard for anyone to rely fully on their own personal experiences when there are so many other people out there with different experiences of their own. Sometimes it takes the experiences and knowledge of others to help you learn and build from them to help form your own personal identity. In the essay, O'Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodges that O'Brien stays on while on how journey to find himself. The experiences O'Brien has while there helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. It gives you a sense than our own personal identities are built on the relationships we have with others. There are many influences out there such as our family and friends. Sometimes even groups of people such as others of our nationality and religion have a space in building our personal identities.
Laura Esquivel uses all of her strategies to make small moments in Like Water for Chocolate have meaning and emotion in relation to her characters. In the book, the month of July is where Tita, the protagonist, is staying with a doctor named John and she refuses to speak. That is until Chencha comes to see her. Esquivel uses repetition and imagery in a few paragraphs to enhance that moment, Chencha’s arrival, and to make it meaningful. With her use of repetition and imagery, Esquivel is able to convey her tone, create a mood and support her purpose in the matter of one page.
He also includes a lot of emotional parts throughout the speech this is effective as it may get an emotional response from the audience this happens when he says “Your loved ones were daring and brave” and “It is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen” this is a good use of pathos as it does connect to the emotional feelings of the viewer.
In May of 1998, Kipland Kinkel brought a gun to his school. Over the course of two days this escalated from: being sent home, to murdering his father and mother, to murdering 2 students and wounding 26, earning a lifetime sentence of 111 years and 8 months in prison. In the court case being examined, the presiding judge addresses the original case, defendants ground for appeal, and the justification for the State’s decision to deny the appeal. Judge Haselton effectively uses ethos, logos, and pathos to support the Higher Court’s decision to deny the appeal because the original sentence was constitutional and just.
The relationship you have with others often has a direct effect on the basis of your very own personal identity. In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had effected his life so dramatically. It is hard for anyone to rely fully on their own personal experiences when there are so many other people out there with different experiences of their own. Sometimes it take the experiences and knowledge of others to help you learn and build from them to help form your own personal identity. In the essay, O'Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O'Brien stays at while on how journey to find himself. The experiences O'Brien has while there helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. It gives you a sense than our own personal identities are built on the relationships we have with others. There are many influence out there such as our family and friends. Sometimes even groups of people such as others of our nationality and religion have a space in building our personal identities.
Many people tend to become frustrated with their daily lives and start to have a negative mindset of blaming other people for their problems. In David Foster Wallace’s speech, “This is Water,” he informed the audience of the importance for everyone to know they have a natural default setting, which is the automatic way that a person feels they are the center of the universe and that negative situations are other people’s fault. He also discussed the importance of trying not to act in this natural default setting, and try to think of problems that other people have to go through in their lives. The main purpose of Wallace’s speech was to persuade the audience to fight the urge of staying in their natural default setting to prevent
President Reagan evokes pathos in the introduction of his speech by using diction and a flashback. Reagan addresses the grief that is being felt nationwide by his use of diction, he states that the tragedy “is truly a national loss” (Par. 1). This appeal to pathos makes the audience feel truly connected and unified as a nation during this terrible time. Another way that Reagan evokes pathos is by using a flashback. For example, Reagan states, “Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But…we’ve never had a tragedy like this” (Par. 2). At first the flashback is used to remind the audience that this type of accident has happened before, however, he also reminds them that it has never been this extreme. In a way, he is showing them hope, but also making sure that the audience knows
Foster Wallace’s commencement address on May 21, 2005, ‘This is Water,” proposes the concept of being able to choose how to think instead of being able to learn what to think expresses the true idea of enlightenment. Through detailed imagery that creates a contemptuous tone, repetition of diction that creates emphasis , and anecdotes that arouse interest, Wallace successfully defends his proposition on the true meaning of being educated; to be able to discipline yourself to override the default setting of selfishness and switch on a more empathetic attitude towards life and others. Finally, despite many views of contradiction, Wallace's tragic suicide three years after this speech further builds on his theory of awareness. Although he was
For instance in the excerpt written by Jane Addams, she uses a lot of rhetoric when talking about the necessity for social settlements. In this excerpt there is one rhetoric in particular that stands out, which is pathos. Pathos stirs up feeling of sorrow, sympathy, and pity and that's exactly what Jane Addams does. Jane Addams put as lot of feeling into this piece of writing and that definitely helps build up her argument. When you read this you can get a
In writing there are several ways authors use the ethos, pathos, and logos of rhetoric to publish a compelling piece. In the essay by Kingsolver titled “In Case You Ever Want To Go Home Again” she utilizes heavy pathos in several ways throughout her piece to help make her story more relatable to readers. One particular strategy she seems to use quite a bit is to use examples that relate to either the general population or any reader who happens to glance over this piece. She writes sentences starting like “It’s human to be…” (36) or “Imagine singing at the top of your lungs…” (37) generalizing humans or relating to people using a common experience such as singing. She did this blatantly but also very subtly in the piece.
The authors shows a formal argument of the slogan “it’s the real thing”, both Herbert and Seaver argue on the importance as the Coca-Cola company has stolen a slogan from Haskins .In the letter Herbert states that the Grove press should discontinue the use of the slogan¨It´s the real thing¨ as the Coca-Cola company did not want to advertise Jim Haskins novel ¨Diary of a Harlem Schoolteacher¨ as they too used the same phrase as Coca Cola ( Herbert, 23-25). That is to say, Herbert feels, not knowing the consequences of using a slogan to advertise other thing would be wrong. The significance of this idea is to prove Herbert’s agreement is weak compared to Seaver. It show how Seaver would be more convincing by using evidence to base off his ideas.To
The use of Ethos and Pathos throughout the speech effectively draw the listener in and maintain attentiveness. His anecdotes of failure and death employ a direct link to a reality that is relatable for the listener. The relaying of his diagnosis of death and the overcoming of this situation makes his words seem that much more real