A speech or in this case a commencement is there to encourage an audience, the listener, with the author’s stance on an idea or a matter. In this case, the 2016 Commencement speech given by the first lady at that time, Michelle Obama, was one of these motivating commencements. Given in front to the graduate class of the City College of New York, Obama’s speech was impactful for being the last on as the first lady of our great nation to one of the oldest public college of America. An amazing moment for Mrs Obama and all the graduates. Obama’s speech was there to encourage the graduates of what they have achieved, and what more they will achieve no matter what will happen in the following years to come; they have worked too hard and to give up.
Michelle Obama, the author of this commencement, is speaking to the graduate class of 2016 and their families. Her audience is filled with family and hard workers from low-income families to high-income families. Her commencement is there to explain to her audience that she has been there. The purpose to this speech is to tell her story to show that “life will put many obstacles in your path that are far worse than bad grades” (Obama, 1), she herself comes from a middle-class family, and she understands that going to college comes at a cost, a cost worth taking. Her stance is built on the foundation that those graduates can come to the top no matter what challenges they will face. The language she is using in this speech reflects the audience she is giving it to. She isn’t only talking to graduates as previously stated, their families have all gathered their today to. Families that might be immigrants from all over the world. She keeps her language throughout the speech very formal yet understandable and easy for all. Her tone throughout the speech is cheerful and serious. She makes sure the audience understands that they build “resilience and maturity” (Obama, 1) and they are ready for the next challenges they will face.
But what prompted the author to write this speech? Well, the rhetorical situation for this speech is simple. Michelle Obama was inspired by her own challenges and education. She herself was raised by middle-class parents that sent her to college and had to pay all the bills. She understands the obstacles these young graduates had to go through and is able to relate to their experiences on a personal level. The main points she uses in this commencement to drive her point are the following: What City College really is, which she calls “a haven for brilliant, motivated students of every background”(Obama, 1), and the challenges they will face after entering the ‘real world’ after college. She is able to state multiple important graduates of City College and is thus able to inspire these graduates even more. She is trying to tell them “This will and can be you”. By doing that she is pushing them to goo past everything they have dreamt for and reach their goals if not to even surpass them.
This commencement was a plead for the graduates to reach their potential and more. Michelle Obama explained how she went from a middle-class family that struggled to get her through college to the first lady giving a commencement speech at City College of New York. She wants them to “Be great” (Obama, 1) and “Pursue your own version of happiness” (Obama, 1) which ones again serves to motivate the audience to become who they want to become in life. The medium she presented this in was her speech and the genre was a motivational speech. By providing a motivational speech as a commencement for the 2016 graduates of City College of New York, she was able to show her stance in a way she could not have done any way different and thus was able to give more purpose to her speech. She touched the audience with her personal experiences and thoughts.
Citation:
Obama, Michelle. Commencement Address by First Lady Michelle Obama. The City College of New York. Web. February 3rd 2020. <https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/commencement/commencement-address-first-lady-michelle-obama>
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