Fernando Sillas
Eliott N. Coyle
Engl 130W-04 Academic Writing
February 25 2020
Rhetorical and Argumentative Analysis Paper
In Wellesley High School Commencement Address speech by David McCullough, Jr. he is addressing the graduating class of 2012 at Wellesley High School, where students, parents, and everybody in attendance is listening to his speech. McCullough utilizes ethos, pathos, and logos to appeal to the young audience on their initial achievement of graduating High School. McCulloughs main goal is to convey to the young audience the importance of having a “big dream” and doing something with their lives.
McCullough utilizes logos to structure his speech, which allows his audience to see a perspective on a worldwide stance. An example of this is when he wants the class of 2012 at Wellesley High School to understand that they are not the only ones graduating and that they are “not special”. He states “Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools. That’s 37,000 valedictorians; that’s 37,000 class presidents, 92,000 harmonizing altos, 340,000 swaggering jocks, 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs”. McCullough further adds to his point by stating that “Even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you”. He uses logos to statistically validate his point and allow his audience to understand that they aren’t the only ones graduating. He also ties in a little bit of pathos to really make this statistic sink in the students mindset. He uses pathos because it makes you understand what you are worth. But his purpose is not to make them feel bad about themselves , but rather understand that what they do next will separate you from the other “7,000 people just like you”.
The presence of ethos is present in McCullough’s speech because of his credibility and the experience he holds. David McCullough, Jr taught for 16 years at Punahou School in Honolulu and also has been teaching at Wellesley High School since 2002. So McCullough is very invested in the education system and knows what he’s talking about. Since he has plenty of experience working with students and graduating multiple classes he sees the potential in the young adults and wants them to do good. One example that truly illustrates his intentions and correlates with ethos and pathos is when he states “Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you”. This statement is very strong and holds lots of value to him and the graduating class. He wants the new generation to not only do something in their lives but enjoy it and do it for other reasons. Everyone wants to get something done, but hardly people enjoy the process. So he wants them to embrace the result and the process, which will overall make them reach their goals. Overall David McCullough is a trustworthy individual because he has lots of background knowledge that allows him to give the best advice. He graduated from Lafayette College and the Bread Loaf School of English, so he knows how to be a successful student.
One of the biggest strategies that are used throughout the whole speech is pathos. The ability to make the reader feel an emotion which in this case the young adults. David McCullough jr uses laughter and joyful writing to not only really grab the graduate’s attention but also convey his message. An example of when he does this is in the beginning he states, “Weddings are one-sided and insufficiently effective. Weddings are bride-centric pageantry. Other than conceding to a list of unreasonable demands”. There are many reasons why David McCullough jr starts his speech with this, one is to highlight the negative side of marriage and what marriage entails. But his intention here is to grab the graduates’ side of humor. He also starts his speech with marriage because he’s already looking into the future of these young adults and wants to set the tone. Towards the end, he wraps up his speech by shining light on the future ahead and giving his final piece of advice to the 2012 graduating class. He concludes “discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself: The sweetest joys of life, them — then, come only with the recognition that you’re not special — because everyone is”. This last section is where McCullough leaves the most important piece of advice and that is to be `selflessness”. There are many ways people can react to this, many may agree or disagree but the purpose is to get this point across. McCullough knows that these young adults have their whole lives in front of them and want them to live their lives with “The sweetest joys’ ‘. Overall pathos is used heavily through the speech which allows McCullough to successfully perform his speech and make a mark on the new generation.
One constraint that is present in the speech is that he wants everyone to be someone in life and he discusses the importance of making yourself stand out from everyone else. But a constraint here can be that everyone has a different view on life and what path they want to take. So his appeal may not be effective, towards some audience because their end goals may vary and may present an obstacle in his delivery. Especially when he tries to appeal to his audience by using ethos to emotionally try to persuade them. Many of the graduates may not feel that sense of motivation with his argument because of that barrier present. But overall McCullough had a very good delivery and appealed to everyone in attendance and had a lot of motivational and important information about the future.
In conclusion in David McCullough, Jr s Wellesley High School Commencement Address speech, he can appeal to his audience by emotionally making them feel some way. Which in this case is what to expect about the future ahead and understanding the importance of doing something in the years ahead. He then utilizes logic and facts to put each graduating student into perspective with the whole nation. This strengthens his argument because he makes the graduating class not feel special in a way and sees that what they did is only the beginning and that many others are in their spot. Thus he creates motivation to want to do something that others can’t and stand out from the rest. What overall makes McCullough, Jr speech so powerful is that he is in a position where he can give valuable and useful advice. Many people see him as a role model and person to trust due to his credentials and experience in the education system. To conclude McCullough, Jr speech to the 2012 graduating class was very powerful and I think impacted many of the young adults that day.
Works Cited:
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