The Effectiveness of David Brooks' Commencement Speech Analytical Essay

The Effectiveness of David Brooks' Commencement Speech
A rhetorical analysis of David Brooks' commencement speech to the Wake Forest University class of 2007.
# 154148 | 897 words | 1 source | 2015 | US
Published on Mar 30, 2015 in English (Analysis) , English (General) , Communication (General)


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From the Paper:

"There is no prouder moment in a young adult's life than their graduation day, and May 21, 2007 was a proud day for many. Breaking out into the world filled with fresh knowledge, the Wake Forest Graduate class of 2007 was ready as ever. Amongst the overly excited graduate students was David Brooks, a New York Times columnist. After receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letter degree, the journalist presented a commencement speech to propel the students into this proud new chapter of their lives. There was approximately 1,520 undergraduate students, graduate students, and family members that attended the outdoor ceremony at Wake forest's Hearn Plaza to celebrate their achievements. David Brooks constructed and delivered a very effective speech through his use of reasoning, as well as his play on emotions using the past and a bit of humor, and his credibility as a fellow graduate.
"Brooks' use of logos is excellent. As any good writer does, he used reasoning to invest as well as captivate. We are taught from birth to believe that we need to be successful and to go to college, and if we do not we are failures. "Day by day the Ubermoms perfect their kids. By the time they apply for college they've started six companies, cured four formally fatal diseases and did community service by environmental awareness training in Tibet," he says as he makes fun of the outrageous weight we all feel on our shoulders as young adults (Brooks, 2007). Brooks then went on to say that he had a friend named Steve Trachtenberg, a college president in Washington, said that he doesn't know where his students manage to find lepers, but they do and they read to them. These expectations are deeply imbedded into our value system as soon as we are conceived."

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APA Format

The Effectiveness of David Brooks' Commencement Speech (2015, March 30) Retrieved December 10, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/analytical-essay/the-effectiveness-of-david-brooks-commencement-speech-154148/

MLA Format

"The Effectiveness of David Brooks' Commencement Speech" 30 March 2015. Web. 10 December. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/analytical-essay/the-effectiveness-of-david-brooks-commencement-speech-154148/>

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