In light of the current election i have decided to do a speech by one of the candidates, Hillary Clinton. This withstanding, however, i have decided not to use a speech from the recent debates. This is because we have already analyzed them. Rather i have chosen a speech i stumbled upon while browsing the internet, Clinton's Wellesley College commencement dress.
Although today Clinton's ethos seems automatic, at the point of this speech it was far from that. Clinton was introduced before the speech by the dean of the school. She is established as both a good student and a charitable and kind girl, who the dean stated was a very obvious choice for the class speaker.
It is also interesting to consider Clinton's audience in this speech. She is both speaking for and to her classmates. She both calls them to action and conveys their mass sentiment. For this reason her wording is both familiar as well as formal. She also takes great care only to use the first person plural.
Clinton uses her speech to reflect on her class as a whole. She talks about the idea of reacting. she explains that her generation has spent years reacting to problems and aligning themselves with goals without doing much. She talks about how her generation developed themselves in people who acted for their beliefs. Clinton continues to describe the fact that in politics and history we have only thought of the possible, and no the impossible (and making it possible). She talks about this as their generation's goal. Clinton continues to talk about many people who doubt the girls of Wellesley college. She talks about devotion to the school as well as devotions to themselves. Clinton finishes, recognizing people may be afraid of change, but there is just no time for it now.
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