Frank Stephens Speech Analysis

The presenter, Frank Stephens, gives the speech of his life as he talks poignantly about his own life, and living with Down syndrome. During his speech, he does an excellent job portraying his purpose and stance for his message. He made it clear that his life, and all the lives of unborn children with Down syndrome disease matter; and that most importantly, his own life is very much worth living. Mr. Stephens was very direct in his speech, but at the same time he was passionate and funny. He focused on ethos and pathos as he articulated clearly his purpose and stance for addressing the Congressional Committee. He did not waiver or hesitate to provide his opinion to the Committee, who ultimately holds the power and congressional votes on …show more content…
Mr. Stephens was humorous, and made the audience laugh after the first sentence, “Just so there is no confusion, let me say that I am not a Research Scientist” (Stephens). By this statement of candor and humor, he immediately sets the tone of his speech. He comes right out and states to his audience what the context of his speech is about, “I am a man with Down syndrome and my life is worth living” (Stephens). This statement sent the audience into applause. If he hadn’t already grabbed a sympathetic ear from the audience, than he at least invoked some empathy. He continued with the use of ethos and pathos, as he purposely made statements about diversity and inclusion, prejudice, moral values, and false perceptions. His statement, “Sadly, across the world, a notion is being sold that maybe we don't need research concerning Down syndrome. Some people say prenatal screens will identify Down syndrome in the womb and those pregnancies will just be terminated.” He continued on with, “People pushing this particular solution are saying that people like me should not exist. That view is deeply prejudiced by an outdated idea of life with Down syndrome.” This directed his comments purposely at the ethical decision of having a baby when you know it is likely to be born with Down syndrome, or choosing to abort the baby. Everyone this day and age has heard of the ethical topic in society regarding “Pro-Choice or Pro-Life”. Mr. …show more content…
Stephen’s first person approach was as if he had a paint brush, and was painting his own life’s canvas. He brings the audience along using his bright and happy personality, and then ultimately leaves the audience wondering, how in the world they could live without individuals such as Frank Stephens. There have been many speeches to Congress or Congressional Committees by those with major medical conditions. There are celebrities and the like with messages about why research for their cause is important. But there have been few like Mr. Stephens who have had such a genetic disease that government entities are willing to rule in the favor of promoting laws that would allow a woman the right to abort their child based on the genetic medical condition of Down syndrome. Mr. Stephens truly gave the speech of and about his life. In his closing remarks, he again tried to convince the audience that seeing his point of view was the right thing to do. He reiterated his own worthiness to be alive, and honed in on the moral values within America regarding abortion. He left the Committee with a moral thought to ponder, “Let’s be American, let’s make our goal to be Alzheimer’s free, not Down syndrome free”