ap lang final essay - grace willmarth

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Graduating college is a big step in life, it’s the move from being a young adult who still depends on parents to fully being independent and starting your life. It can be scary to take that step because no one knows what lies on the other side. Many want advice on how to survive and others just want support. Rita Dove assures students that things will work out through her wishes for the students.To do this Through her personal anecdotes and gentle tone, she appeals to the students mostly through appealing to their ' values and through emotions, making a focus on pathos.

Graduating college is a big step in life, it’s the move from being a young adult who still depends on parents to fully being independent and starting your life. It can be scary to take that step because no one knows what lies on the other side. Many want advice on how to survive and others just want support. Rita Dove assures students that things will work out through her wishes for the students. Through her personal anecdotes and gentle tone, she appeals to students' values and emotions, making a focus on pathos.

To establish her credibility from the very beginning, she mentions her experience as a professor at the same school from which her students are now graduating from, which could also make her seem more relatable since she’s part of the school and some may know her personally. She also mentions her experience with giving these kinds of speeches in the past. Overall, right off the bat, she establishes her position as why people should listen to what she has to say. She also throughout her speech continues to mention more achievements, such as in the middle of her essay (line 70-80) where she mentions being rewarded for her writing and being honored to give the inaugural speech at the White House.

Other than to establish her credibility, the main way in which she appeals to the audience is by honing in on their values and desires in life. As students graduating college, this is the time they set their lives and go out to achieve all that they’ve been preparing for. So, she appeals to them by advising them of how to get what they want. The three values she tells them are hunger (or drive), hard work, and uncertainty. By appealing to these values and telling students how to achieve their goals, she makes a really good speech that’s impactful.

And it’s impactful because it's relevant. As these students are taking a huge step in their lives, she understands that that’s what’s on their minds, how can they turn out the most successful. She gives them advice in a way that seems softer and caring, even mentioning that they should take her advice as if coming from a fairy godmother. Instead of inspiring an excitement of “go get ‘em!” she almost seems motherly, guiding them along the way.

Ultimately, her use of ethos and pathos comes together to create a very compelling and impactful message.

DMU Timestamp: December 23, 2024 22:19