During the introduction, the author sets the audience’s expectation of a speech to an entertaining presentation by purposefully failing to greet everyone properly. In the introduction, the orator uses a litotes when he jokes that it was not that much time between his early childhood and graduation day (“Awesome Funny High School Graduation Speech” 00:00:53). Immediately after this phrase, he sarcastically states that some of the graduated students’ future professions might include “Walmart executives” (“Awesome Funny High School Graduation Speech” 00:01:07). It is evident from his speech that the author relies on emotional appeal (pathos) as a way to entertain the audience.
The main body of the speech is filled with irony regarding the achievements of the author and his peers. Ethos is incorporated into the speech via the author’s personal experiences. When appealing to rationality (logos), the graduated student attempts to motivate the public to succeed in the future by comparing some of the possible awkward experiences with the lives of famous figures, such as Albert Einstein. The author’s speech ends with motivational words to encourage the listeners.
Works Cited
“Awesome Funny High School Graduation Speech.” YouTube, uploaded by JustCallMeMrRight, 2008, Web.