JASON REYNOLDS’ 2018
LESLEY UNIVERSITY SPEECH
REAL-WORLD RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
Stand-alone lesson • Sub plan • Value of storytelling • Powerful public speaking
Rhetoric • Supplement for any literary unit on issues of equity and social justice
Suggested Lesson Procedure:
Begin by asking if any of your students have ever attended a graduation ceremony, either their own from an earlier
grade level or one on behalf of a friend or family member. What are some of the common themes presented in the
commencement speeches they’ve heard/endured? After discussing these with your class, explain that today’s lesson
is going to present a commencement address that you found to be more interesting than most. In May 2018, author
Jason Reynolds brought humor and an important message to the stage at Lesley University’s commencement ceremony
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Today, the class will listen to his short speech and analyze the rhetorical tools he uses
to deliver his message.
Play the video (10 minutes and 27 seconds) of Reynolds’ speech and allow students to sit back and listen without
worrying about taking notes. After viewing the speech as a class, hand out copies of the page 2 question sheet
and have students independently write their answers on a separate sheet of paper or work with a partner. When
everyone is done, have students meet in small groups to discuss their answers and then watch the video once again, if
desired, before leading a full-class discussion/debrief. Please note: The question set is also available as an interactive
worksheet via Google Drive. Click here to add a copy of these materials to your Google Drive:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AwJ4w2W1JfiIoROzJYlyoG9VZ0nSOmWB80byMBbrYHM/copy
Due to copyright law, I am unable to offer the Lesley University video here. You have downloaded my lesson materials
to use with Reynolds’ speech but not the speech itself. During my last product update, these two YouTube accounts
were hosting the speech. Just click on the links or copy-and-paste either of the addresses below to access materials to
use in class:
To view the video:
https://youtu.be/m3o7RJ5q0JU (Reynolds’ full 10:27 speech)
https://youtu.be/ZnKr1PZ_fLg (Advance to the 51:40 mark to begin Reynolds’ speech; it ends at 1:01:50)
A transcript of the speech with some slight modifications is hosted here:
https://www.hbook.com/2018/07/authors-illustrators/jason-reynoldss-2018-lesley-university-commencement-speech/
Thanks for downloading this lesson. I hope you and your students enjoy these materials!
Laura Randazzo
Want more lessons that will capture the attention of your students? Visit me!
Blog: https://laurarandazzo.com
Shop: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Laura-Randazzo
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkLWlURymmMmvyD6lm2qBoQ/videos
Rhetorical Analysis – Jason Reynolds’ Lesley University Speech
On a separate sheet of paper, completely and thoughtfully answer the following questions.
1. At the beginning of his speech, what bit of humor helps Jason Reynolds charm his audience?
Image credit:
Pixabay,
Public domain
2. Who was Mr. Williams? What did he look like?
3. Although the high school seniors said they were not interested in having a class pet, they grew to enjoy the fish and
even named it after Confucius, a Chinese philosopher who promoted personal and social morality. Explain how the fish’s
name could be considered an element of foreshadowing in this story.
4. As Confucius, the fish, suffers on the floor, two girls pick it up “like a live grenade” and return it to the tank of water.
A writer of Reynolds’ caliber is careful with words. Why, do you suppose, he chose this particular simile to describe this
particular moment?
5. As the two girls who rescued Confucius leave the classroom, Mr. Williams tells them to “pick your heads up...you, in
fact, did the right thing, but sometimes doing the right thing has consequences.” Relate this idea to a real-life incident or
a work of fiction you’ve read where someone had to pay a price for doing the right thing.
6. Is Mr. Williams an amazing teacher or an irrational tyrant? Explain your answer.
7. Reynolds tells the audience that this day in Mr. Williams’ class was “the single most important day in my entire
academic experience and one of the most transformative moments in my life. It has haunted me ever since.” Why, do
you suppose, Reynolds is haunted by this memory?
8. Mr. Williams taught global studies, a class designed to give students a view of life beyond the United States. Thinking
globally, what group of people might be represented by the birds flying far overhead and what group of people might
be represented by “those of us whose wings have been clipped” or “those of us
who dwell in unknown spaces, those of us who are beautiful beyond belief but
that sometimes exist in environs too deep and murky to be seen from any stable
surface.”
9. Do you think Reynolds’ story about Mr. Williams and the fish really happened
or did Reynolds invent the story to support his larger point? Give a piece of
evidence to support that it is true and give another piece of evidence to support
that it might be fiction.
10. Does the idea that the fish story might not be true change its impact on
you? Why or why not?
11. According to Reynolds, what’s the flaw in thinking of college graduates
as birds ready to spread their wings and take flight?
12. Reynolds concludes his speech by imploring the graduates to not only
spread their beautiful wings, but also stay close to the ground and “ask if
anyone could use a feather or two.” What does he mean by this?
13. Is Reynolds an effective speaker? If yes, what specific
techniques make this speech work for you? If no,
how could he improve?
Author Jason Reynolds
Photo Credit: Farrell Howe,
Flickr, Public Domain Mark 1.0.
KEY
Rhetorical Analysis – Jason Reynolds’ Lesley University Speech
1. At the beginning of his speech, what bit of humor helps Jason Reynolds charm his audience? He starts with a small
joke about folks struggling to get the graduation cap to stay atop his thick hair. He also gently mocks the repetitive
nature of traditional graduation speeches. We’ve all been to these sorts of ceremonies and listened to similar speeches;
he’s right there with us and knows his audience.
2. Who was Mr. Williams? What did he look like? Mr. Williams was Jason Reynolds’ senior-level global studies
teacher. He was “an odd gentleman, dressed in neon Oxford shirts and knitted ties and dingy Nikes.” He had a bowlcut hairstyle “which was especially funny given the fact that his hair was porcelain white.” When we review answers
in a full-class discussion, I like to follow up this question with a discussion of the value that details give to storytelling.
Here, Reynolds helps us really see this teacher; we all have known eccentric adults and the details about Mr. Williams
help bring him to life and add believability to the story. Also, given where we are heading with the “technicolored”
fish story, it’s telling that Reynolds dresses the teacher in similarly brilliantly colored shirts, like a neon tetra or betta fish.
3. Although the high school seniors said they were not interested in having a class pet, they grew to enjoy the fish and
even named it after Confucius, a Chinese philosopher who promoted personal and social morality. Explain how the
fish’s name could be considered an element of foreshadowing in this story. Confucius becomes the instrument to teach
the class about the necessity of making moral choices, even when there’s a high price to pay. This fish is not just a fish;
this fish becomes a vessel of wisdom.
4. As Confucius, the fish, suffers on the floor, two girls pick it up “like a live grenade” and return it to the tank of water.
A writer of Reynolds’ caliber is careful with words. Why, do you suppose, he chose this particular simile to describe
this particular moment? Mr. Williams’ lesson has created an explosive situation and none of the students really know
how to handle things. The fish, of course, is delicate and dying, and students are also probably afraid of their teacher
in this moment. This lesson is unlike anything these students have faced and they aren’t sure how to react.
5. As the two girls who rescued Confucius leave the classroom, Mr. Williams tells them to “pick your heads up...you, in
fact, did the right thing, but sometimes doing the right thing has consequences.” Relate this idea to a real-life incident
or a work of fiction you’ve read where someone had to pay a price for doing the right thing. Students’ answers will
vary and any reasonable answer should be awarded credit. Students may mention recent cases of police brutality
or sexual harrassment where victims and witnesses spoke up against abusers but suffered criticism from others. They
may relate this idea to the civil rights movement and the need for protest/acts of civil disobedience. They may even
relate this to characters from familiar works of fiction, such as Jack Will from Wonder who faces social isolation for
befriending and defending a social outcast or Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird who defends Tom Robinson
despite the threat to his own family. This question should make for an interesting and even heated full-class discussion.
It’s also an opportunity to use this lesson as a supplement to a larger novel unit you may be studying or have studied.
6. Is Mr. Williams an amazing teacher or an irrational tyrant? Explain your answer. Students’ answers will vary, but
it should be clear that Mr. Williams is an amazing teacher. His dramatic and unconventional lesson left a permanent
mark on Reynolds and forever influenced this young man’s work. Mr. Williams is not a tyrant; he’s trying to make a
point.
7. Reynolds tells the audience that this day in Mr. Williams’ class was “the single most important day in my entire
academic experience and one of the most transformative moments in my life. It has haunted me ever since.” Why,
do you suppose, Reynolds is haunted by this memory? Students’ answers will vary and any reasonable answer
should be awarded credit, but students should discuss some elements of the guilt the remaining seniors had to face as
they realized that they were kind of people who did nothing when faced with injustice. Those kids, including young
Reynolds, sat through the rest of the class period “wallowing in our guilt and our fear, shifting uncomfortably in our
skin.” Mr. Williams’ lesson effectively led Reynolds, if not all of the students, to deep levels of self-reflection.
8. Mr. Williams taught global studies, a class designed to give students a view of life beyond the United States.
Thinking globally, what group of people might be represented by the birds flying far overhead and what group of
people might be represented by “those of us whose wings have been clipped” or “those of us who dwell in unknown
spaces, those of us who are beautiful beyond belief but that sometimes exist in environs too deep and murky to be
seen from any stable surface.” Students’ answers will vary and any reasonable answer should be awarded credit.
Some students might relate the comparison to the wealth/power of the United States and the struggles of poverty in
third-world countries, while others might focus their comparison on issues of immigration. Depending on the class, this
question could be basis for an interesting discussion and an opportunity to expand the lesson, if you wish.
9. Do you think Reynolds’ story about Mr. Williams and the fish really happened or did Reynolds invent the story to
support his larger point? Give a piece of evidence to support that it is true and give another piece of evidence to
support that it might be fiction. Students’ answers will vary and any reasonable answer should be awarded credit. The
details of the story and Reynolds’ discussion of how the incident haunted him make it ring true. The logistics of how a
teacher could pull off such a dramatic lesson and make the two-day suspension actually stick bring the veracity of the
story into question.
10. Does the idea that the fish story might not be true change its impact on you? Why or why not? Students’ answers
will vary and any reasonable answer should be awarded credit.
11. According to Reynolds, what’s the flaw in thinking of college graduates as birds ready to spread their wings and
take flight? Students’ answers will vary and any reasonable answer should be awarded credit, but their answers will
likely focus on the idea that flying far above the problems of the world doesn’t help us fix those problems. It’s better for
us to “tether ourselves to one another,” Reynolds says.
12. Reynolds concludes his speech by imploring the graduates to not only spread their beautiful wings, but also stay
close to the ground and “ask if anyone could use a feather or two.” What does he mean by this? Students’ answers
will vary and any reasonable answer should be awarded credit, but students will likely discuss the idea of privilege
and that those who hold power and wealth should reach out to help those who are struggling.
13. Is Reynolds an effective speaker? If yes, what specific techniques make this speech work for you? If no, how could
he improve? Students’ answers will vary and any reasonable answer should be awarded credit. Obviously, I find this
speech to be incredibly effective. Here are a few of the techniques I hope students recognize:
• Use of humor (pathos) at the beginning to emotionally connect to the audience.
• Reynolds is self-aware and clearly took his audience into consideration as he built his speech.
• He masterfully uses storytelling to make this point rather than rely on flat lecturing.
• He has an important point to deliver.
• His words are poetic and employ techniques such as internal rhyme, such as when he asks, “How exactly will my
grossly distorted perspective change the world for the better? Is there a way to tether ourselves to one another?”
• He “ties the bow” by echoing the ideas and phrases from the beginning of this speech to bring the message home
at the end.
• He subtly uses a variety of literary techniques, including symbolism, foreshadowing, repetition, and simile, to support
his larger theme.