Analysis Of David Foster Wallace 's Speech

It was the was the beginning of a new decade, Americans believed the 1960’s were going to be the dawn of the golden age. Many historical feats are occurring, John Steinbeck wins a noble peace prize, Nixon and Kennedy have the first televised debate, Mohamed Ali wins a gold medal and the Civil Rights Movement is at the precipice in America. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Governor George C. Wallace are two prominent figures throughout the Civil Rights Movement. Individually, they deliver historical speeches concerning civil rights, however the dialogue encompasses completely different messages. Comparatively, the two speeches will be presented side by side using Aristotle’s, Kairos, Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.

In the speech “Inaugural Address January 14, 1963” Spoken by Governor George C. Wallace, There are times in his speech where he refers to past events, For example, he refers to Jefferson Davis , he also refers to when he was in Japan during the war, and lastly he refers to Hitler's government.

Eventually, David Foster Wallace keeps given ideas that relate what it seems to be the main idea on his speech. For example, when he says “learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think.” (Pg. 4). This idea is probably the closest to the main idea, because its saying that the more you think the more you are learning from a situation or an experience. Giving prove that our mind has no limits it gives us the capacity to go beyond our limits of thinking. If we think of something we should think deeply on what we are thinking because if we are just thinking the basic, we are not letting our mind and thinking grown. As humans or brain is capable to understand more than we think, and think broader

Education leads to the success of many influential people, such as Dr. Ben Carson. In 2013, Dr. Ben Carson, a highly respected pediatric neurosurgeon gave a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. Carson suggests that a lot of government policies under President Obama are failing. For example, national debt has severely decreased due to the lack of education. Through the use of optimistic and direct language, personal imagery with welcoming expressions and confident hand gestures, Carson gained the respect and trust of the audience, other well respected influencers and/or politicians. Carson’s ability to use these devices not only gained the trust of his audience, but also took control of his argument. This being, the United States should focus on

“Build your own life...find your opportunity, and always be sexy.” The general claim made by Aston Kutcher’s in his speech at the Teen Choice Awards is that to be successful you have to make your own life, work hard, and be thoughtful. He uses ethos and rhetorical devices to support his claim. His purpose is to inform in order to be inspiring. He establishes a serious but casual tone for his audience of mostly teens.

May 26, 1940, “Operation Dynamo” began. This was an evacuation of allied soldiers in Dunkirk during World War II from the beaches and harbor. The evacuation ended June 4, 1940 (The editors of The Encyclopedia Britannica). At this point in time most of the world was feeling defeated. “Prime Minister Churchill knew this and understood the necessity for a rise in morale. He feared this speech would simply be another telling of a horrific battle” (RCL). Churchill’s speech had a huge impact on the way the rest of the world viewed the war, people had hope again for defeating The Axis-Forces.

In David Foster Wallace’s Commencement Speech, he opens with a short parable about how a fish greets two other fishes and ask them how’s the water today, this parable introduces us to his message which is changing that default setting which is hard-wired into our brains to have a life worth living. I agree with his statement because this is’nt just the first time this formula has been brought to our attention. Many success people have said this statement in some form or fashion, we can even look at David Sedaris’s commencement speech.

Some examples of convoluted sentences from the text are “His father,” and “The people I meet.”

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

George Wallace’s Inauguration speech and Martin Luther King Jrs “I have a Dream” speech were given during the civil rights movement. Two men who stood on opposite sides of the issue; integration or segregation gave these speeches. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that America should be integrated, while Governor George Wallace believed America should be segregated. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the I Have A Dream speech in August 1963 in Washington, DC about the integration of America. In one of the greatest speech’s ever given, he tells the nation that there can be change. We could be the change that comes together from all nationalities and work together for a greater future. Martin Luther King Jr. tells that the constitution was meant to unite

Failure is an obstacle, everyone during their life must face and come to accept. But, what really is failure? I see failure as when you try to achieve at something, but do not succeed in doing so. A person who has faced many letdowns in his life is Denzel Washington; as he talks about failures in his 2011 University of Pennsylvania Commencement Address. During his speech, uses of rhetoric can be heard all throughout his words. Making the message he is trying to say to the graduating students that still have their lives in front of them, just so much more robust. Washington’s use of all three kinds of rhetoric throughout his speech about defeat and how to change your thoughts to overcome them.

In his speech This is Water, David Foster Wallace utilizes anecdotes of the daily routines of the average adult that the newly graduate will now experience. Wallace asserts to the graduating class that the overall purpose of higher education is having the ability and freedom to mindfully choose how we perceive others and to appropriately adjust our way of thinking. Wallace believes that if we really take the time to consider what we think about and control our thoughts that the scripts that are embedded in our minds can be reprogrammed to reveal what has been blind to us. Wallace’s main idea is that adults are self-centered and they lack compassion for others simply, because our thought process is set on auto pilot. Wallace’s overall claim is that we all have a choice, which is the theme of his speech.

In the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address, David Foster Wallace tries to persuade the graduates that education is having awareness. Being educated isn’t about earning a degree or how much knowledge you have but about how you think. Wallace shows that knowing how to think can change the way you look at situations, knowing how to think gives a person situational awareness. Paying attention to situations around you and things about them gives you other options of how to look at them. During his speech, Wallace gives the example of being frustrated in the grocery store after work or while driving in traffic; if you think of different options instead of thinking about yourself then you can look at these situations differently or even feel better.

Booker took his chance in addressing at the Atlanta Exposition as the essential opportunities in sharing his thoughts about the race problem. Therefore, he composed it cautiously. He was the first African-American to address in front of the white audiences about race relation. In his speech he used the analogy “Cast down the bucket where you are” to express his opinion. What he meant by this was the friendly cooperative work between two races, just as the friendly ship alerted the distressed ship to cast down the bucket right there to take fresh water from the mouth of the Amazon which meeting. He wanted to notify the people of his own race to cast down to making friends with the whites, to great agriculture, mechanics, and in professional

The "Emancipation Proclamation" speech was actually intended for most of the people that would free the slaves, not to the slaves. According to Rollyson the proclamation was not intended for the slave, blacks, or former slaves. The “Emancipation Proclamation” speech was during the Antislavery Movement or what some people call it the Abolitionist Movement, during the 1960's. The main leaders of the abolitionist movement were Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas. The point of Lincoln writing the speech about emancipating the slaves was to free the slaves and win the civil war. Lincoln had written a speech named "The Emancipation Proclamation". He wrote this speech and signed it in January of 1863, in Washington, D.C. The theme of the speech