What Is The Tone Of David Sedaris Commencement Speech

In the Commencement Speech, “This is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life,” Wallace claims that people are naturally self- centered. (235) We only tend to see the world as it relates or pertains to us. Wallace’s speech is meant to change the graduate’s perspective on the world. Wallace believes that the graduates should heed his advice because it will eventually provide an important

Huey P. Long’s speech was judged based on his practices as a Louisiana senator and governor, however it had the potential to be so much more had he lived to continue his legacy. People appeared to be afraid of how Governor Long operated within the legislative system of Louisiana because of the fact that, he tended to find his way around legal statutes that hindered his agenda. Some could argue that he stepped out of the bounds of power that reigns in a representative of a democratic nation, however he wound up being one of the most effective public servants in the country. Amidst the Great Depression, Governor Long gave Louisiana 's economy a huge lift with the vast construction of bridges, schools, and roads. In fact the state of Louisiana has not had anything close to such an economic boost as to what Huey p. Long offered since that time. As time has passed, Louisiana has become infamous for its lack of proper public education, especially regarding grades one through twelve. This lack of proper education has become constantly associated with the state since Huey Long’s assassination. Despite the controversy over how Long executed his political agenda, it cannot be refuted on how productive and beneficial his reign was for the state.

I believe that existence is comprised of hundreds and millions of different realities intermingling and colliding into one another. I also believe that at the center of each reality there lies the individual who crafted it. Our perception of what is real and false exists solely in our own minds, and our minds are what determines the lense in which we perceive the world. Our perception is largely influenced by our psyche; how we live and think stems from our perception of the world. Our brains are directly influenced by a number of key factors, including but not limited to; societal connotations, individual experience, instinctual desires, environmental factors, and cognitive thought. These factors, as well as other conditions, are what determine our “default setting.” In his noteable “This is Water” speech, given at the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address, David Foster Wallace argues a similar idea as he explains his take on the phrase “teaching you how to think”. Through his use of relatable parables and anecdotes and repetition and reverent focus of words like “choice” and “awareness” he paints a livid picture of the use of conscious choice in our daily lives. He stresses the concept of a self centered “default setting” that comes from an individual's “blind certainty” and the repercussions that deferring to that default can have on an individual's lifestyle and fulfilment. If we are unable to recognise the water in which we dwell we will always remain unaware, stuck in an

One of the finest commencement speeches was given by David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College. Wallace’s speech can be viewed as enlightening to those who are often blindly single-minded. It forces the audience to take a look at the way they approach everyday situations, rather than being self-centered, consider others before yourself. However, many overlook Wallace’s impeccable rhetorical maneuvers, focusing on the constant clichés and fictional anecdotes used. What people don’t realize is these clichés and fictional anecdotes are what make Wallace’s speech effective and reinforce the basic principles we were taught as a child, to share and think of others before ourselves. Overlooking Wallace’s flawless technique is doing a disservice to

Galileo Galilei, an Italian polymath, once said, “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.” After graduating college, many students feel anxious about the new chapter of their lives they’re about to begin. Students are bound by a curriculum since primary school, guidelines they conform to all their lives in order to walk across a stage with a degree in hand. However, these individuals are seldom able to explore the passions inside of them that shape their aspirations throughout their time in the education system. Instead, they reflect on their college years of staying up all night to write final papers. Finals papers students have revised and edited a multitude of times in order to produce a paper that adheres to a rubric and, once again, conforming to another set of guidelines. In Donovan Livingston’s Harvard Graduate School of Education Commencement Speech, “Lift Off”, Livingston uses rhetorical devices such as alliteration, allusion, and metaphor to reinforce his message that students should not be limited by the confines of the education system, but that the education system should be supporting and guiding students towards reaching their full potential by the time they step out into the real world.

In the 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College, David Foster Wallace delivered an unusual message to the graduates. He uses a unique approach to the typical conventions of a commencement speech in order to catch the attention of the graduates and to reinforce the honesty of his message. By defying their expectations, he urges them to consider their own obliviousness and to look past their own natural biases in order to see what’s truly right in front of them.

Yes my daughter is excited and she look forward to being part of girl code club.

In Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”, King asserts that the war in Vietnam is a “symptom” (7) of a much larger disease that affects the “American spirit” (7). The disease King mentions is causing destruction where ever it is found, and in the case of the Vietnam war, it has led to their oppression and the death of people. In the section, Strange Liberators, King states, “They move sadly and apathetically as we heard them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know they must move or be destroyed by our bombs” (8). King believed that the disease was leading the United States to take drastic actions against the Vietnamese people. The U.S.

Famous actors, musicians, politicians, artists and authors are often called upon to deliver commencement addresses at prestigious places of higher learning. It doesn't take Nobel-Prize-winning social scientists or psychologists, or speech professors to predict what these elite guest speakers will say on such occasions such as these. The speaker will tell the graduating class to aim high, never give up, make the most of opportunities, and do as our forbearers did: pull yourselves up by the bootstraps. But when Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks showed up at Vassar College to present the commencement address, his presentation avoided those clichés and platitudes. Hanks was refreshing original and yet remarkably pragmatic. This paper critiques Hanks' themes, examines his rhetorical techniques, and editorially analyzes his purpose.

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 frustration in a person’s daily life.

From 1954 to 1968 there was a Civil Rights movement changing African Americans rights in America. The civil right goals were to change the way blacks in America where treaded in schools, buses, bathrooms and other facility’s and to get equal rights from legislation. On January 14, 1963, Democratic Governor George Wallace was sworn in, giving his “Segregation” speech. In that same year on August 28 a man named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lead the march on Washington D.C giving the “I Have a Dream speech”. The two speeches given in 1963 coincided to the civil rights but the speeches differed in both opinion and message. To explain this in a more thorough explanation, the terms Kairos, Ethos, Logos and Pathos will be used to define each compare and contrast.

Racism has always been a major problem in America. However, it was known to be the most problematic in the late 1950s. On August 28 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his infamous speech “I Have a Dream” to America. His dream highlighted the injustices of segregation and discrimination of African Americans that took place in this nation every single day. Dr. King inspired thousands despite the color of their skin, to take a stance against racism, with his powerful way with words. In his speech MLK efficaciously uses, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos by using allusions, developing credibility, in his speech to persuade all Americans to be aware of the problems with racism.

In class we were shown a recording of the speech, “A call to men”. The first thing I noticed was the title, which made me immediately assume it was going to be a female speaker that was going to speak about feminism; or something along those lines. To see a man giving the speech grabbed my attention instantly. The man giving the speech was Tony Porter, and his audience was mostly women, who made me think, “Is this guy going to be giving a speech about feminism?” While listening to his speech I felt guilty for being quick to judge, because his speech was actually about growing up as a male, and being masculine is today’s society. While Tony Porter was giving his speech, he brought up stories that without a doubt every guy in our class could relate to that left many of us saying, “Wow”.

In order to deliver a successful speech, there are countless qualities that must be present to reach both the emotional and logical sense within a crowd. Through the use of rhetorical strategies and by remaining credible, a speaker or an author can connect with their audience; getting them involved with their writing. In May of 2011, a man by the name of Denzel Washington used multiple rhetorical strategies to deliver a graduation speech at the University of Pennsylvania. While revealing all of the difficult times that he had gone through while in college and discovering what career he wanted to pursue, he inspired millions of people, leaving a profound effect upon the world. Now, with millions of fans, Washington is a famous actor that has starred in numerous movies such as Courage Under Fire, Crimson Tide, and Malcolm X. Washington, along with the authors: Aristotle, Peter Elbow, and Donald Murray, and many others, have made a big difference in the world, simply by using rhetorical strategies.

Former President, Barack Obama, in his speech “Obama’s Commencement Address at Arizona State University”, the purpose is to convey the ideas that there is always more to do, always more to learn, and always more to achieve. His rhetoric is so successful because of his effective use of pathos, kairos, and structure matters.