Preview

Rhetorical Analysis Of You Are Not Special By David Mccullough

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
902 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Rhetorical Analysis Of You Are Not Special By David Mccullough
Life as an experience not an accomplishment
In the new economy of the information age, you need to be a game changer in a world full of players in order to accomplish more than others to be more successful than others. This leads us to always be obsessing with the end results and with what we get out of everything that we do.
As a result this is what David McCullough’s speech was about; the fact that everyone in society is only caring about their successes and being number one that it takes what it means to be truly successful out of context and changes it to being successful just for the sake of winning and accomplishing. David McCullough was effective in delivering his argument in his speech “You’re not special” written for a graduating class in 2012. He uses pathos and deliberate choice of diction to get through to the audience, meaningful analogies to develop his argument, and powerful antitheses to illustrate his arguments.
McCullough is effective in delivering his argument through developing the audience’s emotions with pathos and his choice of diction. He says that“[…] our own detriment […] to love accolades more than genuine achievement
…show more content…
McCullough illustrates this through the use of antitheses that it is only then that people will be able to achieve what is truly self actualization.
In a world where to be number one, you need to be the odd one, David McCullough’s “You’re not perfect” directed towards a graduating class in 2012, is able to be an effective speech through the use of pathos, analogies, and antithesis to indoctrinate his audience in how to live life to the fullest and how not to always focus on all the little fundamental things in life and to view life as if it were to be lived, and not like a race to be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    6. The four parts of a successful persuasive message are attention, interest, desire, and action.…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    DEVON (20s) makes his way through the trees. He sees a bulldozer cover a massive pit filled with thousands of dead animals. Suddenly, a bullet hits a rock by his head. Devon makes a run for it as bullets continue to fly at him. A helicopter cuts off his path.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapter 4, we learned the various aspects of an audience, when preparing a written or electrical document. How did I consider my audience needs and interests as I developed the presentation about Great Calls marketing strategy? I put myself in their shoes and considered the expectations that a manager of a large cellular company would expect. I recognized their time is valuable and I would need to be quick and direct. I also thought that I would have to put together a presentation that was professional and eye catching and brought valuable information to helping them direct the company to a new solution to increase customer attention. Who was my audience? The people I am presenting to are five managers of Genuine Cellular, who I assume are…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this essay, John M. Barry uses antithesis to display a contrast in his thoughts and the assuming thoughts of the readers. In doing this, the author is not only able to show the readers the different sides of how scientists are perceived by people, but as well as how they actually are in the world of scientific research. The author collates certainty and uncertainty as an example for the readers to view that scientists of the world are just like them. Scientists contain “certainty, [which] creates strength, and uncertainty, [which] creates weakness” (Barry). In using these disparities, Barry is showing the readers that “science teaches us to doubt” (Barry). By elaborating on the concepts of certainty and uncertainty, readers are able to see…

    • 183 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    "Facebook encourages narcissistic blabbering, video and Powerpoint have replaced carefully crafted essays" Clive Thompson, author of this excerpt, shows how social media as well as technology is disintegrating our level of knowledge. He states that the Z generation is the age of technology and children are not as aware of their surroundings as other generations. They do not read, their IQ scores have dropped, and the way they carry themselves shows that this is the dumbest generation.…

    • 77 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried, applies multiple techniques in his memoir in order to produce the theme of horror in war. He utilizes word connotation, literary/rhetorical techniques, sentence structure, and overall structure in the memoir. In an excerpt on page 199, O’Brien employs the combination of anaphora, metaphor, and negative word connotation to illustrate the horror of the Vietnam War.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Well, this is blunt to say the least! Writing as being communication and not self-expression is all in a matter of one’s opinion. I detect, that Richard Peck my not like to waste his time on reading others feelings, thoughts, or ideas. In my assessment, this appears to be absolutely hypocritical of him. I myself appreciate reading about different people's self-expressions besides just my own. Therefore, by my observation of Richard Peck statement; it is just a mere feeling, thought or ideas he is projecting. So how ironic is his statement? In my conclusion, it’s bona fide irony.…

    • 98 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Finally, the quintessential rhetorical strategy used in this work, is the appeal to fear it leaves amongst the audience. To illustrate, Brown ends his lyrical video by way of acknowledging fear in present student’s lives. Specifically, by declaring dangers and strain that may seemingly be consequences of errors made previously, Brown appeals to the passions which his audience holds, such as “…so like a typical citizen now I don’t know what I’m voting on”. Moreover, tossing around expressions and opinions that produce the feeling of uselessness and mistrust in the modern day school system can result in distress. Additionally, relying on a tone that is both unnerving and brutally straightforward, he influences in what manner one may consider…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Soldiers looked for ways to communicate their experience to those who were not soldiers. O”Brien, Komunyakka, and Owen are soldiers who each wrote a text describing soldiers at war from their personal point of view. O”Brien writes to get others to understand the physical, mental, and emotional things soldiers carried during war. Komunyakka writes to get others to understand how the soldiers must face death and reality at the same time while also having emotions as any other human does. Owen writes and exhibits his frustration with the condition that the soldiers were in and the point of view of people who haven’t experienced war first hand. All three soldiers wrote to better communicate with the world the conditions and reality to those…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the tragic novel Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer provides an in depth analysis of the life and lonely death of Christopher McCandless. McCandless was a young man straight out of college, looking to find himself while hitchhiking alone in the bush of Alaska. Unfortunately for Chris his well anticipated venture turned fatal after a hundred some days alone in the wilderness. Jon Krakauer uses rhetorical methods for the duration of the book, which allows him to speak of Chris’s life with a sense of certainty. The reader thus trusts Krakauer’s narrative and somewhat understands why a man like Chris could head into unknown territory without a second thought. The author shows his qualification for writing about Chris by making comparisons with his own life and interviewing those close to Chris…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    | |Viewing success in terms of personal progression rather than being in competition with others, |…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Published in 1894, “The Story of an Hour,” has endured longer than the title would indicate and is a declaration of the support of independence for women from its author Kate Chopin. Having read this story before in other courses, and having spoken at length about how Chopin was in support of the idea of woman’s suffrage even before the suffrage movement caught hold, this story leaves a lasting impression and resonates deeper with me every time I read it. Chopin uses her work to illuminate the joy of independence and the oppression that marriage can bring. Whether intentional or unintentional, her message is not only meant for women but, extends to men as well. It is a timeless theme that anyone can learn from in every age. By her use of various literary elements such as, structure, and style, and the use of rhetorical devises such as pathos Chopin creates a work that provokes deeper though and asks a reader to delve into the emotional struggle of her character Mrs. Louise…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    • 884 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “The Carnivore’s Dilemma”, an essay by Nicolette Hanh Niman, incorporates rhetorical elements, such as logos, ethos, and rhetorical questions, in an attempt to convince the audience that meat itself is not the root of global warming. Written from a rancher’s point of view, the essay relies on studies and logic to prove itself. Niman starts out with a short acknowledgement that the meat industry has a hand in the increasingly noticeable global climate change. She then quickly changes gears, stating that the studies that show the meat industry is a major player in global warming only take the prevailing methods of producing meat into account and spews facts that show the flip side of the food industry.…

    • 884 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Boy Problems

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout the years many people are motivated by different means. Ann Hulbert states, “Males come from Mars and thrive instead on no-nonsense, authority, accountability, clarity and peer rivalry.” Boys are being motivated; not by the means of academic progression like women but by rivalry and being aggressive to be ahead of somebody else. The use of pathos shows the relationship between men and the motivation to obtain success.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This confusion embodied itself into a mountainous, far-reaching wall, and I had miraculously found a ladder in which to overcome the blockade and transport myself into a plain of understanding. Once I reached the other side, I realized how lonesome it was, and it isolated me from the rest of my class. I do not favor a position of being the only person who does well in an environment; I believe withholding knowledge for the sake of being the only person who can excel is a corrupt logical stance. A disheartening multitude of individuals in school wish to compete with me in academics and other means, but I am a firm believer that we can all win by elevating each other and working together. There is more to life than trying to be the “best,” and the notion that a singular person is somehow “best” in all aspects due to grades alone is absurd. The only person I compete with is myself, and I do not compare my own worth by using other’s accomplishments as a template, because we all face differing…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays