Don 't Give Up

Doesn’t giving up mean a person can’t fail? I believe that if someone gives up they can’t succeed. If they hadn’t given up, think about all the accomplishments they could have earned

You would think a man dying of cancer would not be so happy and willing to spend the last few months of his life giving a lecture. But, Randy Pausch, who has 10 tumors in his liver, does not want people to pity him for having cancer. Rather, he wants to teach people how to follow their childhood dreams. Looking at the seven elements of communication we see how he is so effective in his last lecture.

In the movie, the manager of the Rockford Peaches, Jimmy Duggan, used to be a stellar baseball player until he injured his knee in an non-sported related alcohol incident. When an injury happens, athletes go through a coping phase called the grief response. It has five stages – “denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance” (Weinberg & Gould, 2014, p.464). Although Jimmy’s injury happened many years ago, he still presents in the anger phase: being rude to others, not taking his job seriously, and resenting the girls for their opportunity to play baseball. Furthermore, if someone is fixed in one of the stages of the Grief Model, they may display signs such as anger, obsession and mood swings. Jimmy demonstrates all of these traits. The obsessive behavior is demonstrated by his drinking problem, as well as his addiction to chewing tobacco. The fact that Jimmy will never again play baseball results in a complex transition from a player to a coach. He is facing identity issues, not only as an athlete, but as a male. The directors made sure to highlight that Duggan could not go fight in World War II because of his knee injury. As an allied healthcare provider, these signs and symptoms would demonstrate means for a referral to a sports psychologist. Duggan was not only harming himself, but he began affecting the athletes and personnel around him. Therefore, a change I would make in order to address the

The primary audience for this speech were those attending the speech at the 1993 ESPY’s and those watching at home that night. I can tell from his language he uses to direct his message at the audience, using words such as “you” and “we”.

Despite his circumstances, Joel does his best to maintain his positive outlook. He says, “I have never gotten angry about my illnesses. I have been sad, but never angry.” In fact, in the face of this battle for his life, Joel finds contentment in maintaining his service to others. “The one thing having cancer has really done for me is it has reaffirmed my commitment to being of service to other people who are in greater need than I am. I found the path to unconditional love a long time ago. Having a life of love and care and compassion has been the right kind of life for

“Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” The words of the great Jimmy Valvano. Jimmy was a Men’s Basketball Coach at N.C. State University. He is one of the greatest coaches of all time. But he is also the man who delivered the “Never Give Up” speech at the ESPY Awards in 1993. This has inspired so many people. It’s the thought of Cancer that often brings Jimmy into mind. Stuart Scott is also very inspirational when it comes to cancer. A real inspiration is Mrs. Spatz. She has beat cancer 4 times. Over and over again, she has fought and beat cancer. She is now a teacher at Wyndcroft Private School in Pottstown. Although she is my mother, she creates inspiration for many

Many people can relate to his personal battle with cancer and his dedication to cancer research. His speech was full of emotion. He gave examples of his anguish during a seven-day stay before the awards ceremony, explaining his liver complications, kidney failure, and multiple surgeries. This provided the audience with real life experiences to understand the depth of what this award stands for.

Finally, Clinton shifts to ethos to finish off his speech strongly and efficiently. Without him even mentioning it, his credibility as a speaker is already set due to the fact that he was the last democratic president of the United States which in a lot of people’s opinions qualifies him as someone who could accurately talk about the recovery of the county and know what is going on. Even before he was president, Clinton was also the governor of Arkansas who worked with previous republican presidents such as Ronald Reagan on welfare reform and George H.W. Bush to help with the national education goals, furthering his credibility as a political figure who has the background to sustain the claims he’s making in his speech to support the reelection

The tone in Jimmy Valvano’s speech is outgoing and lively. He easily grabs the attention of the audience by being so humble and grateful, and speaking softly to

Washington starts off his speech with pathos. Pathos is appealing to the emotional side of the audience and trying to get an emotional response from them. Washington begins his speech on why he is doing the speech in the first place. His son went to Penn U, so he was already officiated with the school. Him sharing his information about his past with the school makes the crowd feel more relax and less anxious. Knowing the person who is speaking, understands what you are going through helps a lot in building a connection with the Washington. With a smooth beginning, Washington begins to tell jokes about the staff and how everyone here hates the Yankees. Washington, first establishing baseline with the audience, was key to conveyance his message to the spectators. Washington evens tells the people, that he is nervous and uncomfortable for he has not done this kind of speech before. The feeling of knowing this man in front of you is speaking to thousands of people is afraid, even though he is such a famous actor makes you feel empathy for him. This connection is strong for even though he is famous, he can still get nervous like all the graduates. Washington brings up ideas he had for this speech, making jokes about his co-workers and stories of them. He did not decide to use one of those because he wanted to leave a message worth leaving for the graduates that will last a lifetime. Washington even connects with the parents, by saying “I always like to check how my money is getting used, am I right parents?”. (Penn's 2011

He used ethos more toward the end of his speech to wrap it up and make it relate even more to his audience. Quotes like, “increase prices in ruthless disregard of their public responsibilities”,or, “American people have a right to expect in return for that freedom, a higher sense of business responsibility for the welfare of their country than has been shown in the last two days.”, give the audience a sense of representation to their country and that the steel companies wont be able to get away with not providing a change as well. Its like he is trying to pump up the country against steel companies in a way, make them

“Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding”. These were the words that the late Jimmy Valvano gave to his audience at the ESPY Awards on March 3rd 1993. The ESPY Awards are sponsored by ESPN each year for those recognized for their achievement in sports. Almost 21 years ago, “Jimmy V” as he was known gave his speech because he was not told to; rather, he gave his speech because he was qualified to influence a revolution. Jimmy Valvano was a prestigious collegiate basketball coach at North Carolina State University. It was at North Carolina State, where he led his Cinderella team to a national championship in 1983. Just nine years later in 1992 he was diagnosed with a rare

In 1996, at the age of 25 Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer that spread to his brain, lungs and abdomen. He educated himself about the cancer and its treatment. While combating with cancer he recognized the resources available for people combatting this cancer were very less. Therefore, he created a foundation with the purpose of helping others who are diagnosed with cancer. It is a non-profit organization.

Jack woke up one morning not feeling well. He felt very weak and could not get out of bed. His mother decided to take him to the doctors. The doctors took many tests to figure out what was making him feel that way. After about an hour or two the doctors got the results back from a blood test. Results that would change Jack’s childhood for the worse. Jack has been diagnosed with Leukemia, a blood cancer. Of course, Jack was not sure what that meant but, his parents became worried beyond belief with the long road ahead of them. Scientists and researchers were all involved in the discovery of Leukemia cancer, which increased knowledge of this cancer, decreased deaths and discovered treatments, and started charity groups to fund research.

It has been said that life can never be carried out and truly lived to its fullest unless there has been some sort of suffering and pain. Mistakes are to be learned from, and a hard past can only result in a stronger present. Though many might find themselves alone in their misery the truth is they are not, everyone has struggles. We all have our ups and downs, but it is how we react to them that truly matters. Life is life and no matter what, giving up on lifelong dreams and aspirations because of a few bumps in the road should never be an option.