A Rhetorical Analysis Of 'TED Talks' By Freeman Hrabowski

The authors of Freakonomics use rhetorical devices, namely cause and effect, to connect a study and its data to their ideas. This connection is essential in furthering their analysis and argument about a certain problem or “riddle” of everyday life, while making their explanations logical for readers. There is a pattern evident in almost every chapter of the novel that involves the authors introducing the riddle, assessing the data and what it means for their position on the subject matter, and revealing causes that may not be “conventional wisdom” as explained. In addition, the authors reach conclusions and discuss the effects of what has occurred. Though, the pattern is sometimes reversed where the effects of the situation are introduced

“Colleges Prepare People for Life” by Freeman Hrabowski, is an informative essay about how college is a crucial step for the preparation of a successful future job opportunity as well as future life. Hrabowski is the current president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and has been in that role since 1992. “In 2012, President Obama named him chair of President’s Advisory Commission on Education excellence of African Americans” (Hrabowski, 2013, p. 259). This quote goes to show the amount of knowledge and respect Hrabowski has earned throughout his life by proving himself and his ideas to others. Although college is a crucial step for the preparation of a successful future job opportunity as well as one’s overall wellbeing of life; some might disagree that college is the key to success. From this essay, messages within the text will be made known by analyzing the real meaning behind Hbrabowski’s words. As well as reasoning, as to why a college education is essential to one’s overall quality of life.

1. The podcast is talking about how it would be if economists run the world and that politicians only do all the talk but with no changes. They would talk what they dislikes about the government the most is the laws. “They wonder if economists took over, they would see a lot of deregulation.” They also believe that economists have a lot of answers but were not able to give out.

Great authors portray their ideas in multiple ways to reach out their message to the present audience. As Tim Urban in his Ted Talk ¨Inside the mind of a master procrastinator¨ he discussed what the thinking behind procrastination leads to through his own experiences, presenting in a way to make the audience laugh, and to convince them that everyone procrastinates in life. Any great writer incorporates ethos, pathos and logos within their writing, speech or even presentation. Tim did an excellent job portraying to his audience these rhetorical strategies which earn him the right to be listened to respectively.

This postcard builds suspense in the reader’s mind. Alex saying that this adventure could kill him makes the reader interested in finding out more. “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again I want you to know you’re a great man.” (Krakauer 3).

High school is an important time for developing a sense of who you are as a person. Each kid who starts out high school will usually asks themselves what they are there to accomplish. For the most part, many set personal goals for themselves and strive to achieve above and beyond. However, some are just there for the experience and to see where it takes them. It’s apparent that some kids have an easier time and don’t have to struggle with their high school career. For example, some of the students have followed strong academic paths that have prepared them for this time in their lives, where as others have struggled with educational influences and feel unprepared or lost. Swerdlow mentions that the students, who attend J.E.B. Stuart, are given many chances to improve their educational foundation in order to

Moshe Szyf, an epigenist informed us through his Ted Talk, “How life experience is written into DNA,” of our genes and how they are “combined of two components” (15:17). He used rhetorical strategies to engage his audience in understanding the view of DNA through an epigenetics perspective. He provides many examples of experiments performed which show these layers of information. The two layers include the old information from millions of years of evolution and the epigenetic layer which includes the open and dynamic set up of a narrative that is interactive and allows us to control our destiny.

Hrabowski uses facts and data to prove the benefits of college and to establish his position as an intellectual. As higher education becomes more mainstream, some people start to ponder if schooling is worth it at all given the tremendous costs and time requirements. Rather than spend money on a degree and go into debt, some students believe it would be wiser to skip college entirely. The belief in this is gaining traction, and Hrabowski notices it by mentioning how the echo is becoming “increasingly common” in the collegiate world (Hrabowski, 259). Hrabowski emphasizes this point to establish credibility that he is informed on the topic, and that he isn’t oblivious

The speaker of the last speech is Malcolm X, who was another prominent figure during the Civil Rights era. Malcolm X gave an alternative view to the movement, where he advocated for the establishment of a separate black community (instead of integration) and for the

“Stop trying to be good people.” It is only human to be biased. However, the problem begins when we allow our bigotry to manifest into an obstacle that hinders us from genuinely getting to know people. Long time diversity lawyer, Verna Myers, in her 2014 Ted Talk, “How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them” discusses the implicit biases we may obtain when it comes to race, specifically black men. Myers purpose is quite like the cliché phrase “Face your fears.” Her goal is to impress upon us that we all have biases (conscious or unconscious). We just have to be aware of them and face them head on, so that problems such as racism, can be resolved. Throughout the Ted Talk, Verna Myers utilizes an admonishing yet entertaining tone in

Hrabowski perceives that colleges do well to encourage and promote students to be successful in their future jobs and that the process of attending college itself is sufficient in teaching such “street smarts” as reviewed by Graff. Despite some contradiction between Hrabowski and Graff in previously discussed topics, Hrabowski is in agreement with Graff on in various ways. Such as, while college helps prepare students for future jobs, these jobs are only starting points and should not be the ending point. He continues by weighing the vast complexity of college success. He feels, in agreement with Graff, there is room for improvement in college, although Hrabowski stresses “There needs to be a more effective way to help people find the correct path for personal needs in higher education.” (Hrabowski 260) Graff continues in his essay sharing that intellect surrounds everything. Researchers are known to suggest that intellect is only in regards to schooling involving math, reading, english, and science or in other words academic based things only. On the contrary Graff would argue, “intellectualism is in everything.” (Graff 265). Sports were Graffs main concern, and interest in his younger years. Consequently, it was through sports he was able to find a love to study statistics, summarize interviews done with athletes, and many other intellectual practices. It wasn’t until college, that he was able to

For our first essay, I selected the topic group “Is College the Best Option” from They Say, I Say. I chose the group for a few key reasons. I have read, streamed, listened, and watched many different forms of the discussion on higher education, hearing many compelling arguments from both sides on the issue. The education system in the United States of America is a topic that I continue I strive to learn about whenever the opportunity presents itself and it did just that with this assignment. Although I had never read any of the selections from the three authors that I chose, I had heard of the President of The University of Maryland, Freeman Hrabowski, but I had never read any of works or realized that he was a writer. It was an enriching experience to read more about the subject from new perspectives. I believe that the insights I gained from the readings have helped shape my views on the topic and will help me in the near future.

Alice Goffman, the speaker in this TED Talk, does a great job reaching out to her audience in a great number of ways. Her purpose in this TED Talk titled, “How We’re Priming Some Kids for College, and Others for Prison,” is to grab the attention of all people, but it is directed towards the younger generations, to show them that they have to work together in order for change to be made. The change would be to work together to help end the problem of mass incarceration; to help completely rebuild the Criminal Justice System. Throughout her talk, Goffman uses examples of logos, ethos, and pathos to reach her audience in an effective way, and to inform them of the problems going on with the United States Criminal Justice System.

In the “The Flight From Conversation”, Sherry Turkle uses the method of pathos to make her argument about the distraction of technology effective. In her excerpts, Turkle uses two common strategies of pathos; inclusive, vivid, and descriptive language throughout her excerpt to support her argument. The strategies of pathos are apparent in her excerpt as she relates her argument to real situations based on a variety of different people, shares stories about people that are meant to create a relationship between the reader and the story, and includes herself as a part of the argument. The rhetorical appeal is used to help create a connection that makes Turkle’s argument effective to the readers. Sherry Turkle uses one story in her excerpt to explain how technology is starting to replace humanity in the subject of human comfort and interaction, “One of the most haunting experiences during my research came when I

In the Ted Talk given by Hetain Patel, Hetain uses the stereotypes of his physical appearance to his advantage against the audience in order to help establish his theme of the Ted Talk, which is perception. He begins the Ted Talk speaking in Chinese mandarin, while a translator sits beside him and translates what he is saying to the audience. About a minute into the ted talk the translator reveals that Hetain was born and raised near Manchester England and that he is actually repeating the same paragraph of Chinese mandarin each time he is speaking to the audience. He actually knows English but he chose to speak in mandarin so he could “avoid any assumptions made about him due to his northern accent.” Basically wanted to avoid others using