Elezer Habtewold Essays (1336 words) - Rhetoric, Humanities

Elezer Habtewold Ms. Riley Rhet 1302 February 10, 2017 There is hope Throughout history, we have seen many great speeches that are considered monumental in todays time. What made them so great? Maybe it was the way they connected with their audience, or the way the speech was carried out, or maybe even the famous one liners we all love and remember. Regardless of these reasons, these speeches have managed to last countless years and are still remembered today. But even today, historical speeches are being made by many great pioneers. In his speech at the Standford's graduation ceremony in 2005, Steve Jobs delivered a speech that captivated the young and talented Standford graduating class. "Stay hungry, stay foolish," he said as he concluded his speech. What could that mean exactly? Well, that phrase is one that was strategically placed by Jobs in order to create a lasting impression on his audience. By the use of ethos, pathos, and structuring the speech, Jobs did an excellent job of communicating his thoughts and beliefs to his audience in a precise manner. In a factually driven world, it's close to impossible to prove a point without showing an array of facts. However, Jobs relies only on his opinion and past events as evidence. His use of stories made a great substitute for the facts that he was lacking. The stories play a huge role in displaying an image of himself that is made to look like the everyday person. He makes himself out to be someone that has overcome the trials and tribulations he's faced. Jobs includes his failure to show the audience that despite his success, he is just like the average person that goes through every day struggles. If his fame and success didn't incline an audience member to listen to him, making himself sound more human definitely will. He breaks down this stereotype that rich and successful people are just handed the success and money without facing any adversity. Developing this image of himself not only displays the use of ethos, but it also allows him to win the hearts of his audience. This also l eads to more credibility and deeper connection with the audience. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Jobs again presents the idea of failure and success, of ups and downs, in order to allow the audience to understand the true measure of success and what it takes to be successful. While maintaining simple language and diction, Jobs utilizes metaphors and imagery in order to evoke pity and despair from the audience when he discusses being fired from Apple. "I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down- that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley," Jobs says. Then, he once again introduces the overall argument of his speech in talking about how he overcame his difficulties. Jobs notes that because he knew that he was still in love with what he did, he continued to persevere rather than quitting or running away. He started two new enormous companies, NeXT and Pixar, and even regained his position as the CEO of Apple after just several years. For this reason he tells his audience, "The only way to do great work is to love what you do". Indicating his hardships not only creates reliability, but it also creates an emotional connection with the audience. During his speech, he mentions the time he was fired from his own company after he had spent years building it up. This obvious story of failure is extremely relatable to any person regardless of success. Jobs takes the audience back in time to reinstate the feelings of failure which I'm sure the audience also empathized with. This sentimental connection creates an even stronger relationship with his audience. He also tells the story of his cancer.This creates another argument for pathos. Most people can relate to cancer. Either they know someone who has cancer, has had cancer themselves, or has read about cancer somewhere. This again brings emotion back into the