On January 7, 2018, television personality Oprah Winfrey won the Cecil B. DeMille honorary Golden Globe for her contributions to the entertainment industry. Oprah became the first African American woman to win in the award’s sixty-six-year history. Past winners include Judy Garland, the first woman to be awarded, and Sidney Poitier, an inspiration to Oprah (Hollywood 1-10). While Oprah’s win made history that night, her acceptance speech will also go down in history. The entire night was filled with controversy, as actors and actresses showed their support for the Time’s Up movement, which began in response to the outpouring of sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood royalty during 2017. Oprah gave a passionate speech that combined
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She begins by telling a story of her childhood; when she was ten years old, she watched Sidney Poitier become the first African American man to win an Oscar. She recalls herself watching from a TV at home, in the ‘cheap seats’, while her mother rested after cleaning houses all day. Oprah aligns herself with the audience at home by reminding them that she was in their position once, too. By garnering the audience’s sympathy in the beginning of the speech, Oprah ensures that she will keep their attention for the important statements that follow. The award itself also shows ethos. In a room of talented actors, producers, and directors, Oprah earns an award for substantial contributions to the field of entertainment. She’s a storied television journalist who transformed her career into a 3-billion-dollar empire. Though most people know Oprah for her talk show, she is also a producer, philanthropist, and author. Another rhetorical strategy in the speech is kairos, which can be defined as doing the right thing in the right moment. Oprah gave a voice to the sexual harassment movement, Time’s Up, which began approximately six days prior. As Hollywood reeled from several harassment allegations, Oprah earned the opportunity to praise the women in that position and give everyone hope for a future without sexual harassment (Writing 2). Giving …show more content…
Pathos is evident when Oprah tells the story of Recy Taylor, an African American woman who was sexually assaulted by several white men in 1942. She really hits home by telling the audience that Recy died ten days before the awards ceremony. Oprah shows that sexual harassment, the topic of the night, has been happening for years and can affect anyone. This is especially effective when one remembers that Oprah herself was sexually abused by several family members. Oprah uses pathos again when she gives thanks to other women that came before her. She praises abuse survivors, including her mother, and other women in various fields who are providing for their children (OWL). She helps remind the audience of the women in their lives by listing several careers. When speaking about sexual harassment, reminding men of their mothers, wives, and daughters can evoke more sympathy than when speaking of women they don’t personally know. Another rhetorical strategy Oprah uses is anaphora. When expressing gratitude to women, she begins several sentences with the phrase “They are”. She also repeats the phrase “how we” when describing how men and women behave. This adds rhythm to the speech and makes it easier to remember, for both the speaker and the audience. Oprah also includes polysyndeton, the repetition of conjunctions in a series of words, at several points. Polysyndeton improves the rhythm of the speech,
She begins by telling a story of her childhood; when she was ten years old, she watched Sidney Poitier become the first African American man to win an Oscar. She recalls herself watching from a TV at home, in the ‘cheap seats’, while her mother rested after cleaning houses all day. Oprah aligns herself with the audience at home by reminding them that she was in their position once, too. By garnering the audience’s sympathy in the beginning of the speech, Oprah ensures that she will keep their attention for the important statements that follow. The award itself also shows ethos. In a room of talented actors, producers, and directors, Oprah earns an award for substantial contributions to the field of entertainment. She’s a storied television journalist who transformed her career into a 3-billion-dollar empire. Though most people know Oprah for her talk show, she is also a producer, philanthropist, and author. Another rhetorical strategy in the speech is kairos, which can be defined as doing the right thing in the right moment. Oprah gave a voice to the sexual harassment movement, Time’s Up, which began approximately six days prior. As Hollywood reeled from several harassment allegations, Oprah earned the opportunity to praise the women in that position and give everyone hope for a future without sexual harassment (Writing 2). Giving …show more content…
Pathos is evident when Oprah tells the story of Recy Taylor, an African American woman who was sexually assaulted by several white men in 1942. She really hits home by telling the audience that Recy died ten days before the awards ceremony. Oprah shows that sexual harassment, the topic of the night, has been happening for years and can affect anyone. This is especially effective when one remembers that Oprah herself was sexually abused by several family members. Oprah uses pathos again when she gives thanks to other women that came before her. She praises abuse survivors, including her mother, and other women in various fields who are providing for their children (OWL). She helps remind the audience of the women in their lives by listing several careers. When speaking about sexual harassment, reminding men of their mothers, wives, and daughters can evoke more sympathy than when speaking of women they don’t personally know. Another rhetorical strategy Oprah uses is anaphora. When expressing gratitude to women, she begins several sentences with the phrase “They are”. She also repeats the phrase “how we” when describing how men and women behave. This adds rhythm to the speech and makes it easier to remember, for both the speaker and the audience. Oprah also includes polysyndeton, the repetition of conjunctions in a series of words, at several points. Polysyndeton improves the rhythm of the speech,