An Analysis of a Commencement Speech?with Aristotle’s Three Appeals

趙曉莉 李嘉欣

【Abstract】It is common for university in America to invite famous person to deliver a commencement speech. This study analyzes a commencement speech by Mark Zuckerberg based on Aristotles three appeals. It aims to emphasize the importance of Aristotles appeal used in our daily life.

【Key words】logos; ethos; pathos

【作者簡介】趙曉莉（1994-），女，漢族，山西介休人，西安外國語大學2017級在讀研究生，研究方向：應用語言學;李嘉欣（1995-），女，漢族，河北保定人，西安外國語大學2017級在讀研究生，研究方向：新聞英語。

1. Introduction

Mark Zuckerberg， founder of Facebook which is one of the most valuable firms in the world， was invited to deliver his commencement speech in Harvard in 2017. The topic of the speech is about purpose aiming to persuade Class 2017 to consider his opinion. He successfully resonated with graduates and distributed the power that resides in language among all of the audiences. Zuckerbergs successful speech relies heavily on some techniques within rhetoric. Therefore， this essay will analyze this speech by using Aristotles three appeals， that is， logos， ethos， and pathos， respectively.

2. Definition of three appeals

2300 years ago， Aristotle wrote down the secret to being a persuasive speaker， the secret which forms the basis for nearly every public speaking book written since then. The most important part of the secret is three appeals. Aristotles three appeals refer to arguments found in the issue itself （logos）， arguments based on the rhetors character and reputation （ethos）， and arguments that appeal to the emotions （pathos）. These are the three essential qualities that speech must have before the audience will accept the rhetors message. All of them have their own strengths. Logos refers to the logical or rational proofs that can be found by examining issues. There are four logical methods： scientific demonstration， dialectic， rhetoric， and false reasoning. Ethos refers to proofs that rely on community assessments of a rhetors character or reputation， which can be called ethical proof（亞里士多德，2005）. Aristotle recognized two kinds of ethical proof： invented and situated. Pathos addresses that rhetors can appeal to human emotion. People respond emotionally when rhetors close to them are praised or threatened; rhetorically， they also respond emotionally when their values are reinforced or threatened. For instance， any one who has suffered the loss of a loved one knows that grief becomes more intense when shared with others who are suffering. Thus， rhetorical appeals to the emotions are very effective.

3. Analysis of the speech with three appeals

For persuasive goal， Mark Zuckerberg adopted logos， ethos， and pathos methods in his speech. Here are examples of using three appeals.

I couldnt figure out why no one would talk to me——except one guy， KX Jin. We ended up doing our problem sets together， and now he runs a big part of Facebook. Class of 2017，that is why you should be nice to people.

In this part， Mark Zuckerberg attempted to convince all the graduates that they should be nice to people with the rhetorical example in logos. He mentioned that everyone doesnt care about him in the first lecture for his T-shirt is inside out—except KX Jin. And now KX Jin with Zuckerberg works together in Facebook. This example adduces some past action real which may serve to persuade Class 2017 of the point which Zuckerberg is trying to make， that is， be nice to people.

If I had to understand everything about connecting people before I began， I never would have started Facebook.

In this part， Zuckerberg has a situated ethos partly because he is founder of Facebook and owns a good reputation among youth. As we all know， Facebook is an American social networking service company. It has more than 2.2 billion monthly active users. So he has organizational authority and this is usually accompanied by a reputation built on years of success within the company. His character could be put to persuasive use.

A change in the world that seems so clear you are sure someone else will do it. But they wont. You will.

Rhetorical appeal to emotions is applied in this part （pathos）. Zuckerberg took the example of creating a renewed sense of purpose. He is emotionally close to the audience who share the same emotions by saying “A change… You will.” to appeal to audiences desire for creating a sense of purpose. Therefore， Class of 2017 would respond emotionally when their values are reinforced.

4. Conclusion

These three pillars in rhetoric are the essential qualities that a speech or presentation must have. At the same time， they also can be applied in our daily life. When you tend to persuade your families or your friends to believe your view， you can utilize them in your talking.

References：

[1]亞里士多德.修辭學[M].上海：上海人民出版社，2005.