Opening Convocation In Glenn Loury's Is He One Of Us

In Glenn Loury’s “Is He One of Us? Reflections on Identity and Authenticity,” Loury is addressing the Brown University Class of 2012 in its 2008 Opening Convocation. His objective for the speech is to encourages the students not to focus so much of their attention on their identity and others identity. He encourages them by sharing examples of the pitfalls he experienced and backs it up with excerpts from other notable essays. Even though Loury does not use much evidence in proving his point, the quality of the evidence makes this an effective convocation speech. Loury uses Rory Stewart’s “The Places In Between” in the fourth paragraph as a starting point for the students to begin thinking about the role that “identity” plays in in our politics and our lives. Loury does not go into great detail, to the students, about what the book is about. However, the incoming class was supposed to have read this book in preparation of their first …show more content…
In his first example uses an excerpt from John Stewart Mill’s essay “On Liberty.” In this essay Mill’s passionately states that everyone should be allowed to express themselves no matter what the consequences society imposes. By using this essay, Loury informs the audience that his intellectual growth came from the freedom of having his choices validated by “the brothers.” Another example he uses is an extension of the lesson from “Imitation of Life.” He calls the class of 2012 into action by urging them not to be a negro passing for white in order to deny their true selves for the sake of acceptance. The third and final example he uses is James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” Loury shares the lesson he learned from this piece of evidence was that it is the internal self, not external constraints and opportunities, that will hold us back from being our true