Name: ______________________________________________ Block: __________ Date: _________________
Nonfiction: Speeches
Selections
- Wellesley High School Commencement Speech, 2012 by David McCullough
- The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination by JK
Rowling (Harvard Commencement Speech, 2008)
- 2005 Commencement Address @ Stanford University by Steve Jobs
- President John F. Kennedy Pays Tribute to the Poet Robert Frost and All of
America’s Writers and Artists (Dartmouth, 1963)
Essential Questions
What is truth? What is the relationship between speechmaking and truth?
How does a speechmaker reinforce his/her message and impact the audience?
How are similar themes/messages made new again in each piece of writing?
Key Terms
Audience The speaker’s awareness of and connection to the audience is an
important part of speechmaking.
Purpose
Speech should have a main point that is meaningful, fresh, and
memorable.
Pun
Allusion
A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact
that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.
Ex) Kings worry about receding heir line. 
A reference to an historical or literary figure, event, or object.
Definition
Parallelism Structural balance achieved
by successive words,
phrases, and clauses having
very similar grammatical
structure.
Anaphora
The repetition of an identical
word or group of words in
successive phrases
(especially at the beginning).
*Anaphora is often
structurally parallel.
Example
“Let every nation know, whether it
wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay
any price, bear any burden, meet any
hardship, support any friend, oppose
any foe to assure the survival and the
success of liberty.” -- JFK
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall
fight on the landing grounds, we shall
fight in the fields and in the streets, we
shall fight in the hills; we shall never
surrender.” -- Winston Churchill
“It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it
was the epoch of belief, it was the
epoch of incredulity…” Dickens
Antithesis
Repetition
Two contrasting ideas are
intentionally juxtaposed (put
side by side), usually through
parallel structure.
The reiteration of a word or
phrase to provide emphasis.
“I have a dream that my four little
children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of
their character.” MLK Jr.
“We find ourselves rich in goods but
ragged in spirit, reaching with
magnificent precision for the moon but
falling into raucous discord on the
earth. We are caught in war, wanting
peace. We’re torn by division, wanting
unity.” Richard Nixon
*You will often find examples of
repetition in sentences that contain
parallel structure, anaphora, and
antithesis.
Vocabulary
Wellesley HS Commencement Speech
1. Auspicious (adj): promising success, favorable, opportune
2. Perceive (vb): to become aware of, to recognize or understand
3. Commence (vb): to begin, start
4. Cessation (n): a temporary or complete stopping
5. Specious (adj): Pleasing to the eye but deceptive
6. Carpe Diem: Seize the Day!
7. Accolades (n): an award, honor, praise
JK Rowling
8. Inadvertently (adv): Unintentionally
9. Quixotic (adj): extravagantly romantic, visionary, impractical, unpredictable
(like Don Quixote)
10. Impoverished (adj): Reduced to poverty (poor)
11. Inoculate (vb): to cause to be influenced
12. Caprice (n): Whim, unpredictability
13. Implode (vb): to burst inward (as opposed to explode)
14. Inevitable (adj): unavoidable
15. Temerity (n): reckless boldness, courage
16. Vicissitudes (n): Changes
17. Empathy (n): Identification with other people’s experience, feelings, and
thoughts
18. Apathy (n): lack of interest or concern for things that others find moving or
exciting. Lack of emotion/feeling
JFK on Robert Frost
19. Polemic (n): a controversial argument
20. Platitude (n): a trite (common place), dull, obvious remark or statement.