David Commencement Speech Analysis

Wake-up, go to work, watch television, go to sleep. College students fear that life after school will be a routine and, David Wallace in his speech, “The 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address” (May 21, 2005), agrees that after entering the workforce life will be repetitive but argues to students that with their education they can look at life in a different perspective, with their education they would be able to understand the hardships others face and appreciate the more annoying routines. Wallace supports this claim by appealing to pathos to illustrate a frustrating example that future students will experience once they enter the workforce to help prove that at times when not aware people fall into the natural-default setting, Wallace also appeals …show more content…
David Foster Wallace pleads to students in his commencement speech that they should be aware of the world as college graduates and to not fall into their natural-default setting. Wallace believes that selfishness is engrained into people into what he calls the natural-default setting and that education is the only way that people can be more aware of the world around them. With the use of pathos to illustrate a frustrating example that future students will experience once they enter the workforce to help prove that at times when not aware people fall into the natural-default setting, logos to support his claim by presenting a premise argument to his audience this helps him logically explain the natural-default setting, and ethos by building common ground with his college graduate audience so that they could understand him as a peer that’s not telling them what to do this helps him connect with his audience so they could fully listen and comprehend his commencement speech. Wallace forms great points to help support his main claim that through education and awareness people can avoid their natural-default setting and become more empathetic and compassionate to those around