During the summer of 2016, I fought wildland fire for the Weiser Ranger District of the Payette National Forest in Idaho. I worked on a type four heavy engine, E-421. As a firefighter, I was able to witness climate change and increasing fire activity first hand on an off forest assignment to Midas, Nevada. It was there where my module was the first to respond to the Hot Pot Fire. In a little under 36 hours, the Hot Pot Fire spread 123,000 acres.…
David Wallace Foster’s Kenyon College Commencement Speech is extremely successful for a multitude of reasons. It is not so much inspirational or revolutionary or epic, just simply honest. His speech is blunt about what people will face in their life after education. That adult life is boring, repetitive, trivial, tiring. Yet despite being adult life being unsatisfactory, Wallace always says it will only be those things because of your perspective.…
In 2005, David Foster Wallace, a respected author of that time, and one that is still critically acclaimed today after his death through suicide in 2008, gave a commencement speech to the graduating class of Kenyon College, a liberal arts college residing in Ohio. In this speech, Wallace tries to convince this class of adults about to enter the world where they will be full-time employees that even though the reality they will live in may be frustrating an hard to deal with sometimes, there is a better option that being bitter, cynical, and selfish. He proposes brilliantly and effectively through his casual and honest tone, use of the second person, and narratives that by “noticing the water,” or really seeing the world around us for what it…
A major topic of concern today can be found in the world’s struggle with hunger and the malnourishment of millions of people. In attempt to address this matter, many countries have turned to genetically modified foods, causing many people to debate on whether or not they could be the answer to world hunger. Unfortunately, the countries not participating in the genetically modified foods movement are the main ones in need of food and nourishment. One author, Robert Paarlberg, attempts to describe the great need and positivity of allowing these modern growing methods in his article, “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers.” Through the use of convincing facts, rhetorical devices, proposals, and addressing opposing views, Paarlberg effectively argues…
One of the hottest topics that has been widely discussed lately is the “drug war”. A regular columnist and professor of economics at Samford University, Art Carden argues in his article Forbes, “Let’s Be Blunt: It’s Time to End the Drug War” for the end of the drug prohibition. The purpose of the article is to persuade the readers that the war on drugs has been a costly failure, causing unintended negative economic consequences. Overall, Carden’s argument is convincing because he offers a strong, clear thesis with persuasive logical evidences as supports.…
Each work makes a point to say that sometimes, dreams are all one has. Though it may be an unfortunate reality, both Steinbeck and Hansberry make it an important part of the characters’…
He advises as long as we have a clear destination to where we are headed to, even though the path may not always be straight and the obstacles will be tough to overcome, we can obtain fulfillment. My perception about this part of the speech is that he is absolutely right and I’m in full agreement with all of his talking points. In the real world, life in general does not always show a clear path but if we know clearly where we want to go, we can get there anyway we want. This also applies to the workplace. For example, if you’re working for a company that has no idea where they going in 5 years, it will become a problem because gaining that fulfillment will be difficult and frustrating because you and your employer will not be on the same…
The given extract is a speech delivered by Stan Grant on Racism and Australian dream in 2016 at Ethics Centre, Sydney, Australia. He primarily targets the audience belonging to Australia. With the use sarcastic and confronting tone speaker expresses his disappointment and serve his purpose to inform the audience about the historical brutality suffered by the aborigines with the use rhetorical questions, anaphora, and juxtaposition. Stan Grant at the start of his speech uses rhetorical question “Who are we? What sort of country do we want to be?” and alliteration “We heard a howl.…
White American abolitionist, Wendell Phillips, in his 1861 discourse, shows the force and quality of political pioneer and progressive, Toussaint-Louverture. Phillips' motivation is to remind his group of onlookers that legends have originated from the most improbable individuals, and accordingly, African-Americans ought to be permitted to serve in the military. By embracing a reverent and reflective tone, appealing to pathos and logos, and using historical and mythological allusions throughout his speech, Phillips convinces his ambivalent gathering of people to receive his conviction that African-Americans ought to be permitted to join the Civil War endeavors. Phillips opens his discourse by insinuating two extraordinary pioneers before him, Washington and Napoleon, who have served their nations, keeping in mind the end goal to build up ethos and sentiment with his gathering of people.…
Christopher reeves ,the author of “The Speech to the Democratic National Convention, implores us to respond to human suffering and injustice by treating all Americans with disabilities and the research for them through his use of point of view, cultural experience ,and as well his use of rhetorical appeals. Reeve uses point of view and cultural experience in order to communicate that there the reader should respond to his injustice by talking about research is key. When we put our minds to a problem, we can usually find solutions. Reeve describes about us all by “ one in five of us has some kind of disability”(reeve2)…
On November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy had planned to fight a war on poverty. The Vice-president, Lyndon B. Johnson, assumed the role as president and carried on with Kennedy’s figurative war, addressing the nation in his speech Let us Continue. Within this speech, Johnson addresses Congress and the American people. On November 27, five days after the assassination, Johnson read Let Us Continue.…
Steve Jobs can be considered an American icon. He helped create a society filled with technological advances no person could have ever imagined. In 2005, Jobs presented a commencement speech at Stanford University that captured the hearts of many people through his use of emotion and rhetoric. By breaking down his speech into three parts he was able to develop one overlying theme, never give up until you find something you love. The three stories he decided to share included connecting the dots, love and loss, and death.…
Through the iconic voice of Holden Caulfield, an estranged adolescent, one hears a cry for help emerge from the clouds of depression so effortlessly that nearly everyone, regardless of background, relates. As evident within J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, and particularly during chapter 20, Salinger utilizes casual diction, relatable syntax, and a symbolic setting to convey Holden’s great dejection and introspection about death itself. With such a strong rhetorical technique as this, Salinger appeals to the empathy of the audience and creates a nearly universal cult-following for Holden. Although undeservingly idealized, Holden’s struggle to find meaning and happiness in this passage suggests a greater, underlying aspect throughout…
Summary: The persuasive piece that I have chosen to use for my rhetorical analysis is a transcript from a TED talk by Paul Root Wolpe titled, “It’s time to Question Bio-engineering”. Wolpe is an ethicist who studies the implications of the new sciences, is the head at the Center for Genetics at Emory University, and is the chief bioethicist for NASA. He begins his talk by presenting the audience with examples of selective breeding in animals and mentions many hybrid animals such as “beefalo”, “cama” and “geep”. When Wolpe brings up the discussion about these hybridized animals, he conveys to the audience what could possibly happen if bio-engineering continues to evolve and especially if it is used in humans.…
In the short story The Tell Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe writes about a character who is never differentiated between a male and a female. The narrator explains his reasoning behind murdering his neighbor, an innocent old man. The old man had never done anything to the narrator, but he or she felt like killing him was the best thing to do. Throughout the story the narrator uses pathos and ethos in order to convince the audience that he is somehow the victim in the story. The author never reveals the gender of the narrator in the story, most assume it is a male.…