МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И НАУКИ
РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ
Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение
высшего образования
ОМСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ
им. Ф.М. ДОСТОЕВСКОГО
Англоязычные СМИ для студентов,
изучающих английский язык
Mass Media for Students of English
Учебное пособие
Омск
2017
УДК 811.111
ББК 81.2Англ я73
А648
CONTENTS
Рекомендовано к изданию
редакционно-издательским советом ОмГУ
Рецензенты:
канд. филол. наук, доцент кафедры английской филологии
ОмГУ им. Ф.М. Достоевского М.В. Моисеев,
доцент кафедры «Русский и иностранные языки» ОмГУПС
Н.А. Высоцкая
Составители:
О.С. Дворжец, В.В. Томкив
А648
Англоязычные СМИ для студентов, изучающих английский язык = Mass Media for Students of English : учебное пособие / [сост.: О. С. Дворжец, В. В. Томкив]. – Омск : Изд-во Ом.
гос. ун-та, 2017. – 202 с.
ISBN 978-5-7779-2100-0
Целью пособия является развитие медиакомпетенции студентов.
Используемая составителями технология предполагает не только совершенствование критического творческого мышления студентов в
процессе медиаобразования, но и развитие учебной автономии студентов, а также навыков аудирования, иноязычного говорения. Лингводидактический потенциал аутентичных материалов, выполнение предлагаемых авторами заданий будет способствовать критическому восприятию и анализу студентами медиатекстов различных жанров и видов.
Для аудиторной и внеаудиторной работы студентов факультета
иностранных языков в рамках учебных дисциплин «Практический
курс первого иностранного языка – модуль “Анализ и интерпретация
языка СМИ”», «Английский через видео», «Методика обучения иностранному языку с использованием видео». Может быть использовано
для работы со студентами неязыковых специальностей вуза.
Пособие написано на английском языке.
УДК 811.111
ББК 81.2Англ я73
ISBN 978-5-7779-2100-0
© Дворжец О.С., Томкив В.В.,
составление, 2017
© ФГБОУ ВО «ОмГУ
им. Ф.М. Достоевского», 2017
Introduction ................................................................................................ 5
Part I. What in the world .......................................................................... 7
Unit 1. On top of the media ..................................................................... 7
Unit 2. Global issues ............................................................................. 13
Unit 3. Global changes: the European Union. Brexit ............................ 19
Unit 4. Immigration ............................................................................... 24
Unit 5. Dangers of tolerance.................................................................. 30
Unit 6. Brain drain................................................................................. 35
Unit 7. Generation gap .......................................................................... 40
Unit 8. Relationships ............................................................................. 47
Unit 9. Language in the changing world ............................................... 52
Unit 10. Breaking news ......................................................................... 57
Part II. HARDtalks .................................................................................. 62
Unit 1. BBC HARDtalk with Brandon Bryant ...................................... 66
Unit 2. BBC HARDtalk with Nickolas Burns ....................................... 69
Unit 3. BBC HARDtalk with Noam Chomsky ..................................... 72
Unit 4. BBC HARDtalk with Jeremy Irons ........................................... 75
Unit 5. BBC HARDtalk with D. Peskov ............................................... 78
Unit 6. BBC HARDTalk with Flemming Rose ..................................... 81
Unit 7. BBC HARDtalk with Radek Sikorski ....................................... 85
Unit 8. BBC HARDtalk with Donald Trump ........................................ 88
Unit 9. BBC HARDtalk with Malcolm Turnbull .................................. 92
Unit 10. BBC HARDTalk with Ursula von der Leyen .......................... 95
Unit 11. BBC HARDtalk with Mikhail Zygar ...................................... 98
Part III. WORDS OF WISDOM: Commencement speeches ............ 101
Unit 1. Freedom of speech: Michael Bloomberg‟s commencement
address ................................................................................................. 101
Unit 2. Simulation theory: Matt Damon‟s commencement
address ................................................................................................. 104
Unit 3. Reaching for your destiny: Robert De Niro‟s commencement
address ................................................................................................. 106
Unit 4. A remarkable ride: Neil Gaiman‟s commencement address ... 108
Unit 5. Bill Gates‟ Harvard commencement address .......................... 110
Unit 6. President Obama‟s commencement address ........................... 112
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Unit 7. How to live before you die: Steve Jobs‟ commencement
address .................................................................................................114
Unit 8. Ten stories: admiral William H. McRaven‟s commencement
address .................................................................................................116
Unit 9. The vital question: Natalie Portman‟s commencement
address .................................................................................................118
Unit 10. The power is inside us: J.K. Rowling‟s commencement
address .................................................................................................120
Unit 11. Conscience and intuition: Steven Spielberg‟s
commencement address .......................................................................122
Unit 12. An optimistic shift: Meryl Streep‟s commencement
address .................................................................................................124
Unit 13. There is no such thing as failure: Oprah Winfrey‟s
commencement address .......................................................................126
Scripts ......................................................................................................128
Michael Bloomberg‟s commencement address ...................................128
Matt Damon‟s commencement address ...............................................135
Robert De Niro‟s commencement address ..........................................143
Neil Gaiman‟s commencement address ...............................................147
Bill Gates‟ commencement speech ...................................................... 150
President Obama‟s commencement address ........................................157
Steve Jobs‟ commencement address .................................................... 159
Admiral William H. Mcraven‟s commencement address .................... 164
Natalie Portman‟s commencement address .........................................170
J.K. Rowling‟s commencement address ..............................................177
Steven Spielberg‟s commencement address ........................................183
Meryl Streep‟s commencement address ..............................................187
Oprah Winfrey‟s commencement address ...........................................193
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INTRODUCTION
Media is everywhere. TV, Internet, computer all vie for our
attention. … But are we good viewers? Can we expect to glean information about people, places and times from mass media? Can we
be so naïve as to think we can grasp anything about what is happening from what we see on the screen?
The television in the living room, the radio in the car, the
computer at work are just a few of the media channels daily delivering advertisements, news, opinion, music, and other forms of mass
communication.
Mass media is a deceptively simple term encompassing a
countless array of institutions and individuals who differ in purpose,
scope, method, and cultural context. Mass media include all forms
of information communicated to large groups of people, from a
handmade sign to an international news network. There is no standard for how large the audience needs to be before communication
becomes "mass" communication. In this book you might be given a
chance to have a look at foreign mass-media sources such as BBC,
CNN, NBC and others.
Without the media, most people would know little of events
beyond their immediate neighborhood.
We live in the time of technology and mass-media where every day each and every one of us has to deal with huge amounts of
information. In order to successfully cope with all that “data flow” a
person needs to possess certain skills: the ability to tell main things
from secondary things, the ability to determine reputable sources
and “yellow” sources – the list can be continued…
When one studies a foreign language it is crucial to turn one's
attention to foreign mass-media, because it is a “library” where you
can find a lot of information about other language and culture. When
we watch authentic programs in a foreign language not only do we
hear “real speech”, we also see “real picture”, which can tell us a lot
about lives of people from other countries.
The authors of this book are convinced that it would be
shameful to miss such an opportunity. Information on these pages
5
can help students understand the influence media can have on us,
while offering tips on managing time spent on it, giving recommendations for watching it in the ELT classroom.
The three sections of the book cast light on some global issues
(e. g. immigration problems, brain drain, Brexit, etc.) as well as stories that made headlines over the past few years (the Syrian Civil
War, Crimea joining Russia, US presidential elections and others).
The lead stories will also give you a chance to learn more about provocative global events concerning generation gap, dangers of tolerance, languages in the changing world and others.
We hope that performing tasks of our book in a meaningful
and collaborative way will make English more accessible to you as
well as keep you in touch with the culture of other nations.
Happy viewing!
Part I
WHAT IN THE WORLD
What in the World offers you glimpses of what people are observing around the globe through the eyes of mass media. You will
be acquainted with various issues ranging from Britain leaving the
EU, migrant crisis and other provocative global events to the latest
news from around the globe.
Unit 1
On top of the media
Do you know…
– the order the things in
the box were invented?
– which of them have
been the most important
for the world / you personally / your country?
TV – newspapers
the Internet – radio – video
– the world‟s most popular reality TV show?
– the country which makes the most films?
– the most popular search engine?
– the greatest ever voted film?
– the most popular quiz show?
– which country watches most TV?
– which newspaper sells the most copies?
Lead-in
Task 1. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers.
6
7
On top of the media
You may or you may not agree with psychologist David Yandell, but most people agree that the media has one key characteristic:
it keeps growing and growing. These days, few people can remember life before television. And most of us have been influenced by
the constant flow of words and images from screens or newspapers.
Some of it is „complete rubbish‟ and some of it is wonderful. Here
are some of the „firsts‟ and „bests‟ of the media world.
The No. 1 Reality TV show: Big Brother.
Like it or not, Big Brother is the most popular show of its
kind. It was first shown in Holland in 1999 and it has been broadcast
in over twenty countries.
The No. 1 film industry: the Indian film industry (nicknamed
Bollywood). More films are made in India than in any other country.
The No. 1 search engine: Google. Lots of information can be
found by searching Google. In fact, it is used for over 250 million
searches in 182 languages every day. It was named after Googol,
which is the number represented by one + one hundred zeros.
The No. 1 film: Citizen Kane. In lists of great films it usually
comes first. It was made by Orson Welles in 1941 and tells the story
of a media tycoon.
The No. 1 quiz show of recent years: Who wants to be a millionaire? It started in the UK in 1998 but has now been broadcast all
over the world.
The No. 1 TV addicts: The US has 805 televisions per 1,000
people, the world‟s highest number, and in the US they watch TV
the most. By the age of sixty-five the average US citizen has spent
nine years in front of the TV.
The No. 1 selling newspaper: Yomiuri Shimbu. It sells ten
million copies a day in Japan.
And some firsts …
The TV was invented by John Logie Baird. He gave the first
public demonstration in 1926.
Ten years later there were still only 100 TV sets in the world.
The first TV „ad‟ was for a clock, in New York in 1941. They
paid nine dollars for the ad.
8
The first video recorder (1956) was 1.1 meters high and
weighed 665 kilograms, as much as a small car.
Task 2. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
Task 3. Check your media vocabulary. Look at the words and
phrases in the box below and find:
1) news which is just coming in;
2) an event that is staged primarily for the purpose of simply
being covered; it may also include any event that is covered in the mass media or was hosted largely with the media in mind;
3) a term used to describe a real or perceived bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media, in the selection of which events will be reported and how they are
covered;
4) a shot of a person's face talking directly to the camera;
5) a discussion or informational website published on
the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal
diary – style text entries ("posts").
6) a thorough analysis of;
7) a new expression describing the kind of journalism based
on images, audio and report sent in to news groups by ordinary members of the public who witnessed events.
blog – breaking news – citizen journalism
in-depth coverage – media bias
media event – talking head
Watching
Task 4. Watch the video Mass Media. URL: http://study.
com/academy/lesson/what-is-mass-media-definition-types-influenceexamples.html.
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Task 4 A. As you watch, complete the notes in the table below
using information from the video – the example shows you what to
do. Could you complete the last box with an idea of your own?
Functions of Mass Media
Dissemination
of information
Providing
entertainment
Bringing
people
together
Promoting
consumer
culture
??????
How information is
transmitted
within a culture: e. g.
books, TV,
movies…
Task 4 B. As you watch, answer the questions below.
1. What exactly are we talking about when we are discussing
mass media?
2. How many functions of mass media can you name?
3. What is conflict theory?
4. Do you know the term gatekeeping?
5. According to the video, can gatekeeping have more of an
effect on some media than others?
6. According to the video, how can mass media reflect dominant ideology?
7. Who are the gatekeepers?
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8. According to the video, why can some minority groups be
stereotyped?
9. Is there feminists‟ theory of mass media?
10. How can mass media shape day-to-day behavior?
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Making the most of video: silent viewing – playing
the video without sound.
Watch the video What is media? by Daniel Shepherd with no
sound and wire it for sound. URL: https://youtu.be/M89_wjcwzfY.
Use the information of Tasks 1–4.
Task 6. Watch the video Mass Media and Public Opinion.
URL: https://youtu.be/nI3K9hOxYpA.
What are the answers to the questions below from the video? /
your own ones? Consider possible differences. Join other students
and compare your ideas.
1. What is public opinion and why is it so difficult to define?
2. How do family and education shape public opinion?
3. What additional factors shape public opinion?
4. What are the challenges involved in measuring public opinion?
5. Why are opinion polls the best measure of public opinion?
6. What are the five steps in the polling process?
7. What are the challenges in evaluating polls?
8. What are the limits on the impact of public opinion in a
democracy?
9. How does the mass media fulfill its role to provide the public with political information?
10. How does the mass media influence politics?
11. What are the factors that limit the influence of the media?
Task 7. In Toddlers and Tablets Adam McCoy reports on a
new study that says some electronic device time for children under 2
may be ok. In his view, when used correctly, tablets can be good
educational tools at a very early age. A lot depends on how kids use
them. Discuss the sequence and share your opinion on „empty media
usage and enriching media usage‟ as seen by Adam McCoy. URL:
https://youtu.be/-RQhJ19AZdI.
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Task 8. Read the quotations below. Which quotations do you
agree with? Can you add any more quotations about mass media?
A. “All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that's an
alibi for my ignorance”.
– Will Rogers.
B. “People are sheep. TV is the shepherd”.
– Jess C. Scott.
C. “Seeing a murder on television... can help work off one's
antagonisms. And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials
will give you some”.
– Alfred Hitchcock.
D. “The television is 'real'. It is immediate, it has dimension.
It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right. It seems so
right. It rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind
hasn't time to protest, 'What nonsense!'”.
– Ray Bradbury.
E. “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind”.
– Jim Morrison.
Task 9. Make presentation of a video sequence on mass media.
Task 10. Role play Mini Debates on TV. Debatable topics:
pros and cons of watching TV. Does television make you smarter or
dumber? Does “the idiot box” make idiots? Provide convincing and
independent arguments of your own.
12
Unit 2
Global issues
Do you know…
– any top level issues that can be
treated as global ones?
– the difference between international affairs and global issues?
– which global issues seem to be
the most pressing ones nowadays?
– any global organizations to address global issues?
– the global issues that shaped the world in recent years?
– world initiatives to cope with global challenges?
– what can be done to help world leaders overcome global
challenges?
Lead-in
Task 1. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers.
Global issues and global challenge
When we talk about a global issue we are usually referring to
something that affects a number of countries and populations. It is an
issue that impacts upon or is important to the global community. A
global issue may describe global social, economic, political or environmental problem.
Worldwide or global organizations are generally open to nations
worldwide as long as certain criteria are met. This category includes the
United Nations (UN) and its specialized agencies, Interpol, the World
Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and some others.
Since its establishment in 1945, the United Nations has been
active in extensive areas including peace-keeping, arms control, social and human rights issues Its roles and responsibilities are being
expanded. In the area of peace-keeping, in particular, the United Nations has played an important role in Namibia achieving independence.
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– the last colony in Africa – and in the general elections held in Nicaragua in February 1990.
The Soviet Union, which had previously not been active in
U.N. activities, later shifted its position toward attaching importance
to them under the Gorbachev Administration. At the 44th session of
the General Assembly in 1989, the United States and the Soviet Union co-sponsored a resolution which called for the reinforcement of
the roles of the United Nations in international peace, security, and
international cooperation. This was the first joint proposal ever
made by the two countries in U.N. history.
The United Nations has become the foremost forum to address issues that transcend national boundaries and cannot be resolved by any one country acting alone. To its initial goals of safeguarding peace, protecting human rights, establishing the framework
for international justice and promoting economic and social progress, in the six and a half decades since its creation the United Nations has added on new challenges, such as climate change, international terrorism and AIDS.
While conflict resolution and peacekeeping continue to be
among its most visible efforts, the UN, along with its specialized
agencies, is also engaged in a wide array of activities to improve
people‟s lives around the world – from disaster relief, thorough education and advancement of women, to peaceful uses of atomic energy.
Task 2. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
Task 3. Check your global issues vocabulary.
The end of 2016 leaves many of the year's most significant issues
still very much in flux, including environmental issues, the reform
of U.S. gun control laws, the fates of thousands of Syrian refugees.
Below is the description of some of the most crucial topics facing
the world in 2017. Identify the names for these topics - headlines for
the passages below: are these poverty, illiteracy, economic inequality or…? The first one has been done for you.
14
1. THE REFUGEE CRISIS
As hundreds of thousands of people flee violence in Syria,
governments in Europe and the U.S. are grappling with how to resettle them. Many Syrians are seeking refuge in Europe and other
countries.
2. _______________________________________________
Just like 2014 before it, 2015 was the hottest year on record.
In December, after weeks of negotiation in Paris, 195 nations agreed
to a landmark deal that outlines a plan for global cooperation against
climate change. While the Paris deal is an important step, the work
of implementing it has barely begun.
3. _______________________________________________
The world has learned that no institution is safe from hackers.
It looks like an increasingly critical problem for companies, governments, and individuals.
4. _______________________________________________
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced
that all drone owners – even hobbyists – must register with the FAA
or face steep fines. While the FAA waited until drones were already
mainstream to step up regulation, the Department of Transportation
is taking a more proactive approach to another emerging technology:
self-driving cars.
5. _______________________________________________
The U.S. is confronting an epidemic of mass shootings, and
gun laws will be a major topic during the 2016 presidential election. Here's where the top candidates stand on firearm regulations.
6. _______________________________________________
The terrorist group has gained power around the world, thanks
in part to its powerful social media presence. A recent proposal
would force Facebook and Twitter to report terrorist activity.
7. _______________________________________________
Tech companies are exploring how best to serve (and exploit)
a new customer base in developing nations. Facebook and Google
are each working on the projects to make access, and Chinese electronics firm Xiaomi is bringing its cheap mobile devices into India,
which will soon pass the US to become the world's second-largest
smartphone market.
15
8. _______________________________________________
It is a major public health problem in developing countries
caused by a lack of essential vitamins and minerals (e.g. vitamin A,
zinc, iron, iodine) in the diet. Often, the signs of this form of malnutrition are „hidden‟, as individuals may „look alright‟ but suffer extremely negative impacts on health and well‐being. For example,
children may be stunted, have poor night vision or suffer frequently
from illness. Adults, too, may succumb more frequently to illness
and fatigue easily.
Watching
Task 4. Watch part of the video about UN on CNN Student
News, September 23, 2014 00:29 – 03:13. URL: https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=rkcN5ZD9a_4 .
Task 4 A. As you watch, complete the notes in the table below
(2–5) using information from the video – the example shows you
what to do. Could you complete the last box with an idea of your
own?
5 Things to know about the UN
1
UN General Assembly: started in 1946
with 51 countries represented. Today, there are 193.
2
3
4
5
16
Task 4 B. Complete the information below from the video.
Comment on it.
1. Among the issues that seemed to dominate the headlines at
the UN General Assembly were …
2. According to some diplomats, appearing at the General Assembly for a world leader is like …
3. UN general Assembly is a real hurly-burly of …
Task 5. Watch the video The United Nation – Year in Review.
URL: https://youtu.be/M0_kxsCFZOQ.
The video shows the daunting challenges the United Nations
faced in its 70th anniversary year. Does it also show a glimpse of
what can be achieved, when all work together?
Sharing ideas
Task 6. Making the most of video: silent viewing – playing
the video without sound. Choose the most striking videos describing
updated global issues from Euro news No Comment TV and wire
them for sound. URL: http://eurone.ws/yDXQ7c.
Task 7. Split up into groups. Give presentations of the video
on contemporary global issues. Which video seems to cover the
most crucial global issues? Share your ideas with a class in a debate.
Group 1. Give presentation of 8 Breakthrough Technologies
That Will Change The World in 2016. URL: https://youtu.be/
vyIBxbLimlc. Which of the global issues could be affected with the
help of these technologies?
Group 2. Give presentation of Angelina Jolie on Middle East
(Syria) – Security Council, 7433rd meeting. URL: https://youtu.be/
Pd2CdyOCvJc. Angelina Jolie Pitt, Special Envoy of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), addresses the
Security Council meeting on the continuing conflict in Syria and the
humanitarian and refugee crises. Do you find the speech inspiring?
Group 3. Give presentation of some CNN Student News addressing world issues from across the globe.
Group 4. Give presentation of the highlights of Trump – Clinton
US presidential debate. URL: https://youtu.be/Qq4rlVF3Ags. Some of
the biggest issues up for debate: climate change, terrorism, gun control,
… Can you complete the list for your presentation?
17
Task 8. Watch the video Blowin in The Wind, a song by Bob
Dylan. URL: https://youtu.be/3l4nVByCL44.
By any measure, Bob Dylan is one of the most important and
influential popular songwriters of his era. Now he's also a Nobel
laureate in literature, a choice that came as a surprise. Dylan‟s writing is supposed to help so many navigate a changing world. Although his song “Blowin‟ in the Wind‟ has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of rhetoric questions about peace, war and
freedom. The refrain „The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind”
has been described as ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it
is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind.
Comment on the pictures illustrating the song: do they help find the
answer to the rhetoric questions of the song?
Task 9. Write an essay “If I could change the world” covering
some current global issues (social justice, natural disasters, etc.).
You may borrow some ideas from the video: URL: https://youtu.be/
wuRURJ9E3iQ.
Task 10. Make presentation of an updated video sequence on
the topic “Global Issues”.
Unit 3
Global changes: the European Union. Brexit
Do you know…
– what the European Union (EU)
is and how it works?
– how the EU began?
– if Britain joined the EU?
– if the EU is a purely economic
union?
– how many countries there are in the EU?
– which countries belong to the EU?
– how the EU works?
– the single European currency?
– if there is any border control between the EU countries?
– what Brexit means?
– why Britain is leaving the European Union?
Lead-in
Task 1. Discuss the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers.
The EU in brief
The European Union is an economic and political union between 28 European countries. The EU was created in the aftermath
of the Second World War. The first steps were to foster economic
cooperateon. The European Economic Community (EEC) was created in 1958, it increased economic cooperation between 6 countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
What began as a union has evolved into an organization spanning policy areas, from climate, environment and health to external
relations and security, justice and migration. A name change from the
European Economic Community (EEC) to the European Union (EU)
18
19
in 1993 reflected this. The EU is based on the rule of law: everything
it does is founded on treaties, agreed by its member countries.
The EU is governed by the principle of repre sentative democracy, with citizens directly represented at Union level in the European Parliament and Member States represented in the European
Council and the Council of the EU. The EU has launched a single
European currency: the euro. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation,
democracy and human rights in Europe. Thanks to the abolition of
border controls between EU countries, people can travel freely
throughout most of the continent.
A referendum – a vote in which everyone (or nearly everyone) of voting age can take part – was held on Thursday 23 June, to
decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union. Leave won by 52 % to 48 %. The referendum turnout was
71.8 %, with more than 30 million people voting.
Task 2. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
Task 3. Check your knowledge of the EU main institutions.
Look at the names of the EU institutions in the box below and match
them with the description of their directions and priorities:
1) defines the EU‟s overall political direction and priorities;
2) has legislative, supervisory, and budgetary responsibilities
with 3 main roles: passing EU laws; deciding on international agreements, enlargements; reviewing the Commission's work program and asking it to propose legislation;
3) represents the member states' government; it is where national ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws
and coordinate policies;
4) is the EU's politically independent executive arm. It is
alone responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation;
5) interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same
way in all EU countries, and settles legal disputes between
national governments and EU institutions.
20
The Court of Justice – European Parliament –
The European Council – The Council of the EU –
The European Commission
Watching
Task 4. Watch the documentaries about the EU. What additional facts about the EU main institutions and its history did you
learn from them? Compare the information with your answers in
Task 3.
– What is the European Union? BBC Newsbeat. URL: https://
youtu.be/8G1cds52Ko0.
– EU: All you need to know in under 2 minutes – BBC News.
URL: https://youtu.be/ywJS7swbqeE.
Task 5. Watch the movie Brexit. URL: http://www.brexit
themovie.com.
The Movie, a feature-length documentary, is written and presented by the award winning film maker and passionate Eurosceptic
Martin Durkin, whose previous works include the Channel 4 documentaries Margaret Thatcher: Death of a Revolutionary, Nigel Farage: Who Are You? and Britain‟s Trillion Pound Horror Story. The
film highlights the undemocratic, unaccountable nature of the EU
and its drift towards extremism and long-term economic decline. It
examines the danger of becoming a prisoner in Fortress Europe and
the opportunities that may open up to Britain in case they leave –
arguing for a Britain that is independent, free-trading, confident and
global.
Task 5 A. Making the most of video: jumbled sequence. Split
up into 6 groups. As you watch your section, make notes under one
of the headings below. Then share / exchange the information with
the class.
1. Democracy: How It Works (3:34 – 8:03).
2. Accountability (8:04 – 9:50).
3. Regulations: Probable Risks (49:44 – 51:16).
4. Trade Deals (57:26 – 1:03:57).
5. Modern Perspective (1:03:58 – 1:05:50).
21
6. Shaping the Future (1:05:52 – 1:09:31).
Task 5 B. Now watch the whole video. Could you find some
information about:
1. Britain Joining the EU.
2. World Trade Organization (WTO).
3. Pioneer of Global Free Trade.
4. Brussels Gravy Train.
5. Case Study: Fishing Industry.
6. The Swiss Example.
Task 5 C. Make sure you understand the following words and
phrases in bold from the video:
1. What we see is the EU bringing up the drawbridge
(1:22).
2. The EU has become an economic basket (1:23).
3. I‟m on my way to Brussels to better understand the deal
that’s on offer (3:16).
4. But here, the EU slips its first cog (4:38).
5. This is much talked about Brussels gravy train (12:18).
6. For many in Britain, the EU sticks in the craw (19:56).
7 .For the British it seems to go against the grain (19:60).
Task 5 D. Complete the sentences, using information from the
video.
1. The EU is like heaven for the politician or the bureaucrat
because …
2. The history of democracy in Britain has been …
3. If you are an EU official, there‟s relocation allowance …
4. In the 19th century, unregulated Britain was the pioneer of
global …
5. As far as trade deals go, being part of the EU …
Sharing ideas
Task 6. Could you agree with the statements from Task 5 D?
Watch the video Brexit: A catastrophically stupid decision
with Alistair Campbell. URL: https://youtu.be/UysJY2p0p78. The
former director of communications Tony Blair Alistair Campbell
speaks about the turmoil in British politics following the public de22
cision to leave the European Union. Compare his views with the
ones expressed by the Eurosceptic Martin Durkin in the movie Brexit (Task 5). Whose side of the controversy would you take? Complete the list of advantages and disadvantages for the countries to be
members of the EU. Consider several issues: economic costs, trade,
bureaucracy, immigration, workers‟ rights.
Advantages
– an immediate cost saving
– …………
– …………
– …………
Disadvantages
– risks of losing some of the negotiating power
– …………
– …………
– …………
Task 7. Comment on the quotation. Theresa May supported
the campaign for Britain to stay in the EU but since becoming the
Prime Minister of the UK – after her fellow remain campaigner David Cameron stepped down – she has said she will respect the will
of the people and said: “Brexit means Brexit and we're going to
make a success of it.”
Task 8. Role play Mini-debate: The pros and cons of leaving
the EU: Brexiters vs Remainers.
The greatest uncertainty associated with leaving the EU is that
no country has ever done it before, so no one can predict the exact
result. Related video might be of help. Public opinion was divided
between the two camps – those in favor of leaving … and those who
wanted to remain.
The video for help:
– 4 Reasons to Vote Leave &. Remain in The UR EU Referendum URL: https://youtu.be/bvnmAjev5oE.
– David Cameron‟s Speech on Brexit: David Cameron resigns as UK votes to leave. URL: https://youtu.be/fXNV3Ad0qQ0.
Task 9. What is your interpretation of the motto of the EU
“United in diversity”?
Task 10. Make presentation of an updated video sequence on
the topic “Brexit”.
23
Unit 4
Immigration
Do you know…
– what immigration is?
– anything about people's
general attitude towards it?
– why people immigrate?
Do you know if…
– American leaders ever feared immigration?
– immigration takes away technological edge from Americans?
– immigration is an integral part of American culture?
– immigrants push Americans out of jobs?
– immigration raise supply and demand of goods?
Lead-in
Task 1. Discuss the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers.
Immigration always has been controversial in the United
States. More than two centuries ago, Benjamin Franklin worried that
too many German immigrants would swamp America‟s predominantly British culture. In the mid-1800s, Irish immigrants were
scorned as lazy drunks, not to mention Roman Catholics. At the turn
of the century a wave of “new immigrants” – Poles, Italians, Russian
Jews – were believed to be too different ever to assimilate into
American life. Today the same fears are raised about immigrants
from Latin America and Asia, but current critics of immigration are
as wrong as their counterparts were in previous eras.
Immigration is not undermining the American experiment; it
is an integral part of it. We are a nation of immigrants. Successive
waves of immigrants have kept our country demographically young,
enriched our culture and added to our productive capacity as a nation, enhancing our influence in the world.
24
Immigration gives the United States an economic edge in the
world economy. Immigrants bring innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to the U.S. economy. They provide business contacts
to other markets, enhancing America‟s ability to trade and invest
profitably in the global economy. They keep our economy flexible,
allowing U.S. producers to keep prices down and to respond to
changing consumer demands. An authoritative 1997 study by the
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concluded that immigration
delivered a “significant positive gain” to the U.S. economy. In testimony before Congress last year, Federal Reserve Board Chairman
Alan Greenspan said, “I‟ve always argued that this country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over
the world.”
Contrary to popular myth, immigrants do not push Americans
out of jobs. Immigrants tend to fill jobs that Americans cannot or
will not fill, mostly at the high and low ends of the skill spectrum.
Immigrants are disproportionately represented in such high-skilled
fields as medicine, physics and computer science, but also in lowerskilled sectors such as hotels and restaurants, domestic service, construction and light manufacturing.
Immigrants also raise demand for goods as well as the supply.
During the long boom of the 1990s, and especially in the second half
of the decade, the national unemployment rate fell below 4 percent
and real wages rose up and down the income scale during a time of
relatively high immigration.
Nowhere is the contribution of immigrants more apparent
than in the high-technology and other knowledge-based sectors. Silicon Valley and other high-tech sectors would cease to function if
we foolishly were to close our borders to skilled and educated immigrants. These immigrants represent human capital that can make
our entire economy more productive. Immigrants have developed
new products, such as the Java computer language, that have created
employment opportunities for millions of Americans.
Task 2. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
25
Task 3. Check your immigration vocabulary. Look at the
words and phrases in the box below and match them with their definitions.
illegal aliens – migrant workers –
overpopulation – influx of immigrants –
refugees
1) too many people in one place;
2) people who migrated illegally;
3) people who temporarily work in other countries;
4) people who have to leave their countries due to war or natural disasters;
5) arrival of large numbers of immigrants.
Watching
Task 4. Watch the video Immigration and Growth. URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUhAdeFBLEA.
Task 4 A. As you watch, complete the notes in the table below
using information from the video – the example shows you what to do.
Why immigrants come to America
To work
To grow the economy
13 % of population
represent 16 % of
labor force
Task 4 B. As you watch, answer the questions below. According to the video:
– what is the general stereotype about immigrants and work?
– what facts prove that immigrant actually work a lot?
– how exactly do immigrants grow the economy?
26
– how immigrants are connected with innovations?
– how many international students does the country have?
– what is so special about immigrants in science?
– are immigrants good businesspeople?
– how do immigrants create jobs?
– what state is given as an example of good immigrant policies?
– what else do immigrants do?
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Would you agree with the information from the video
in Task 4?
Making the most of video: silent viewing – playing the video
with no sound.
Watch the video Ultranationalists rally against illegal immigrants - #Focus with no sound and wire it for sound. URL:
https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=ijSRK0c2hgM. Then, watch the
video with the sound on and compare the variants.
Task 6. Watch the video Russia's Nationalists March to an
Anti-Immigrant Drum. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
SjD-WD1lD8s. After the United States, Russia has the world's second largest number of immigrant workers, officially estimated at
12 million. With 10 percent of all workers in Russia coming from
Central Asia, VOA's James Brooke reports on mounting tensions
between Russia's historically Slavic population and the newcomers.
In the video, instead of call for unity on Unity Day, you see
thousands of demonstrators who came to protest against workers of
Central Asia and Russian Cauсasus region with the slogans: “Russia‟s for Russians! Moscow‟s for Muscovites!” Which of the arguments / proposals you hear in the video would you accept – the ones
by the Cossacks, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Ludmila Alekseeva? Whose
side of the controversy would you take? What is your opinion on the
problem? Complete the notes in the table below– the example shows
you what to do.
27
Anti-Immigrant Drum: pros and cons
Cossack‟s
arguments
V. Tor‟s
arguments
V. Zhirinovsky
arguments
L. Alekseeva‟s
arguments
Your
arguments
migrants’
undercut
wages
Task 7. Watch the video 5 immigration myths debunked in
(just over) 5 minutes. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in
CUtR9RSKc. Have you ever heard the myths? Can you add any
other myths to the speaker‟s list? The speaker is quite emotional
about his story. Read an opinion of one of his viewers and say, if
you agree with it / if you disagree with mass-immigration (that
means that you're islamophobic, homophobic, unprogressive, racist,
abelist, ageist, sexist, misogynist, and all the other-ists‟).
Task 8. Role play Mini – debate: The pros and cons of immigration. The talking points are to be borrowed from the video.
The video for help:
– Professor Putnam: The pros and cons of immigration. URL:
https://youtu.be/grAAOjdvcrI.
Robert D. Putnam from Harvard University is the new Distinguished Visiting Professor of Aarhus University. He is author of the
bestselling book "Bowling Alone" and the leading authority on social capital. He believes that diversity is the key challenge of the
21st century. The best way to meet this challenge is to create "a new
us"; a new national identity rooted in shared civic engagement – not
to make the immigrants "like us" as many European countries try to
do today. Societies that manage immigration effectively will be the
winners of the 21st century. According to Putnam, a multinational
country like the US has a great advantage as opposed to a homogenetic country like Japan.
28
– The Truth About Immigration: What They Won't Tell You!
URL: https://youtu.be/QV7JILRugOg.
The Immigration Crisis in the United States has recently exploded into the headlines. But how did this all happen? What is the
truth about the immigration crisis? What won't the mainstream media tell you? Do you know the incredible reason that borders were
closed in the first place? Do you know the powerful influences
which have shaped and formed the nature of immigration law and
policy? How did the Civil Rights act impact this situation?
Republicans and Democrats have clashed on this issue with fiercely
different perspectives on this issue which has divided an entire nation. Learn about the origin of this debate, why it is so contested and
what hangs in the balance for the future.
Task 9. Comment on the quotations about immigration below.
What quotations do you agree with?
– Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I
especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
(Franklin D. Roosevelt)
– Every immigrant who comes here should be required within
five years to learn English or leave the country. (Theodore Roosevelt)
– A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.
(Ronald Reagan)
– The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than
people born here (Chuck Palahnik).
– A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how
many want in. And how many want out. (Tony Blair).
Task 10. Make presentation of an updated video sequence on
the topic „Immigration‟.
29
When some use the word tolerance, they mean the first definition you find in the dictionary: recognition of and respect for the
opinions, practices, or behavior of others. However, it is important
to understand that respect here means, not veneration, but the avoidance of interference. Without this clarification, the definition of tolerance comes to be viewed as a gushing acceptance of just about
everything someone says or does. Some even go so far as to define
tolerance as the embracing and celebration of the opinions, practices, or behaviors of others. There exist various definitions of tolerance… Based on its Latin origin, tolerance, or toleration as philosophers often refer to it, is most commonly viewed:
• willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own;
• the ability to accept, experience, or survive something harmful or unpleasant;
• a fair and objective attitude towards those whose lifestyle
differs from yours.
On average, a human brain has the capacity of producing billions of thought processes per second, of which only around 2,000
are brought into awareness. This means that humans have the capacity to act and behave differently in all areas of their lives, bringing
about upsetting and uncomfortable feelings in others.
Views on education, religion, and politics are just three of the
many areas of our lives that may differ from individual to individual, causing friction between differing viewpoints.
In recent years, educators have given an increasing amount of
attention to issues surrounding diversity and tolerance. Character
education courses, multicultural material, and even health curricula
weave the theme of tolerance through lessons.
Incidents such as the murders of people because they are gay
or Afro Americans, or the attacks on synagogues and churches
shock us into the reality that hate-motivated crime is still alive in the
world.
However, the need for tolerance is not because of an epidemic
of hate crimes, but because of the much more mundane and daily
social interactions that require treating each other with respect and
dignity. It is in these interactions where we deal with intolerance
most frequently: hallway insults, angry outbursts, and smug dismissals of others' viewpoints during discussions. Sometimes even edu-
30
31
Unit 5
Dangers of tolerance
Do you know…
– how to define tolerance?
– why we need a clear and practical definition of tolerance?
– if there are any dangers of tolerance?
– how tolerance weaves itself throughout
our society?
– if you are a tolerant person?
– how tolerance is used in many different
areas of life from a personal perspective to a national perspective?
– if tolerance has gone too far in the modern world?
Lead in
Task 1. What comes to your mind when you think about tolerance? Complete the word web below, comment on it.
religion
tolerance
clothing
Task 2. With a partner or the class, compare your word webs
and answers to questions in Task 1. Read the text below and say, if
you could confirm any of your answers.
What is tolerance?
cators may show intolerance for student clothing, hair styles, body
piercing, attitudes, morals, and behaviors.
Task 3. Which information from the text did you already
know? What definition of tolerance do you find most appropriate?
Can you supply the text with additional information? Compare with
a partner.
Watching
Task 4. Watch the video Dangers of Tolerance. URL:
https://youtu.be/_0SFZqoT9Os.
Complete the sentences below to make them true for you.
Then, watch the video and compare the variants.
1. We should be tolerant of …
2. We should not merely tolerate such things …
3. Tolerating intolerant beliefs is …
4. Being tolerant to Nazi is …
5. Nazism and Communism include the belief that some people …
6. In the world where a single person with a nuclear weapon
can eradicate millions of bystanders in a blink of an eye,
ideas about an afterlife where this is awarded …
7. Any belief that tells a person that he can get this rewards
for his actions after death, any belief that tells a person that
he is better than others because of who he is and what he
believes about the world …
8. The atheistic fights against religion is not a fight for science, reason or rationality. It is a fight for …
9. The earth is poised on the brink of nuclear war for no better
reason than some …
10. Your beliefs define …
Task 5. Making the most of video: silent viewing – playing
the video without sound. Wire the video for sound, provide your
commentary with the information of Task 1 and ideas from Task 4.
Then, watch the video with the sound on and compare the variants.
32
Task 6. Split up into two groups.
Group 1. Watch the video Arguments against tolerant societies URL: https://youtu.be/7rCWEPNbbVQ.
Group 2. Watch the video Arguments for tolerant societies
and make notes explaining reasons behind the controversial points
of view on tolerance. Exchange information: do the cons outweigh
the pros? URL: https://youtu.be/6GY6eaI3-wc.
Task 7. Watch Benefits of Religious Tolerance & Dangers of
Religious Repression. URL: https://youtu.be/v8hVqqkrHzw.
According to the video, to manage and promote freedom in a
multicultural society nowadays, one of the two basic approaches
should be applied. As you watch, make notes under the headings:
Regulatory approach, Deregulatory approach.
Which approach seems to be more preferable? Share your
ideas with the class.
Task 8. Watch the video Paradoxes of tolerance. URL:
https://youtu.be/ fbXuRqpW908.
The author of the video claims there are four paradoxes of
tolerance. He names them as follows: tolerant racist; protecting intolerant; protecting the intolerant; moral relativism. Watch the video
and say what‟s behind the idea. Do you agree with his reasoning?
Could you name another paradox to the list?
Sharing ideas
Task 9. Making the most of video. Watch the video International Day of Tolerance and wire it for sound. Then, watch the video
with the sound on and compare the variants. URL: https://youtu.
be/6dwCSGDJ2No.
„November 16 is the International Day of Tolerance. People
use this day to speak out on many aspects, including human rights
law, regarding banning, and punishing hate crimes and discriminations…‟
Task 10. Role play Mini-Debate: Tolerance vs Intolerance.
Below there‟s what viewers of the The Dangers of Tolerance wrote
about the video (A – C). What commentary seems to be the best?
You may use it as arguments in the Mini-Debate.
33
A. I can tolerate Nazis, Communists, etc., as long as they
don't get to the point of hurting others.
B. The one thing you're not addressing here is WHAT KIND
of action we should take with regard to intolerable groups or individuals. I would assume that it would be dependent upon what group
or person is advocating or in fact carrying out. I agree with most of
your examples of things that I cannot stand to tolerate, but I'm not
sure I would rather take aggressive action against anyone instead.
Can you be more specific as to what form a response should take?
C. Some ideas are dangerous? No not really. I know I am
fighting an uphill battle with this but I don't really care what someone believes. What counts is behavior and choices. How do you stop
people from thinking or believing things you think are harmful
without becoming a harmful person yourself? This is a real dilemma
for all of us.
Unit 6
Brain drain
Do you know…
– what brain drain is?
– if it is a real problem in the country
where you live?
– why people leave their countries and go
abroad?
– who benefits from brain drain? why?
– who suffers from it?
– what percentage of people live outside their place of birth?
– who usually decides to immigrate?
Lead-in
Task 1. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers.
Migration and brain drain
Brain drain is defined as the migration of skilled personnel
in search of the better standard of living and quality of life, higher
salaries, access to advanced technology and more stable political
conditions in different places worldwide. Why do talented people
leave their countries and go abroad? What are the consequences of
such migrations especially on the educational sector? What policies
can be adopted to stem such movements from developing countries
to developed countries?
Trained professionals are needed in every part of the world.
However, better standards of living and quality of life, higher salaries, access to advanced technology and more stable political conditions in the developed countries attract talent from less developed
areas. The majority of migration is from developing to developed
countries. This is of growing concern worldwide because of its impact on the systems in developing countries. These countries have
invested in the education and training of young health professionals.
This translates into a loss of considerable resources when these peo-
34
35
ple migrate, with the direct benefit accruing to the recipient states
who have not forked out the cost of educating them. The intellectuals of any country are some of the most expensive resources because
of their training in terms of material cost and time, and most importantly, because of lost opportunity.
In 2000 almost 175 million people, or 2.9 % of the world‟s
population, were living outside their country of birth for more than a
year. Of these, about 65 million were economically active.
Young, well-educated, healthy individuals are most likely to
migrate, especially in pursuit of higher education and economic improvement. Developing countries, especially South Asia, are now
the main source of migration to developed countries.
Task 2. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
Task 3. Check your brain drain vocabulary. Look at the
words and phrases in the box and match them with their definitions
(1–8):
1) to start a company;
2) work;
3) a chance to get a better life;
4) a ticket to some destination without any plans to return;
5) a limited or fixed number of people who can enter a country;
6) the grounds of a university;
7) the state of having people who are different races or who
have different cultures in a group or organization;
8) removal of a foreign national to his or her country of citizenship or permanent residency.
labor – opportunity – deportation – quota
campus – diversity – one-way ticket – found
Watching
Task 4. Watch the video America‟s Brain Drain. URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4x0_WXlC1Y.
36
Task 4 A. As you watch, complete the notes in the table below
using information from the video – the example shows you what to
do. Could you also complete the last box with your thoughts about
brain drain in Russia?
Brain drain in different countries
China
India
USA
Russia
People used to go
the U.S. and stay
there, but they are
slowly changing
their minds
Task 4 B. As you watch, answer the questions below:
1. Why is there such diversity in American universities?
2. How many people come to the U.S. to study? Are they
good students?
3. What is usually the future of such students?
4. What famous people are mentioned?
5. Has the situation changed? If yes, how?
6. What is reverse brain drain?
7. How many Chinese students want to stay permanently?
8. Why do they decide to go back to their home countries?
9. What is the solution to this problem according to the professor Frank Bayliss?
10. What people did the program by professor Bayliss help?
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Making the most of video: silent viewing – playing
the video without sound.
Watch the video US students head to Germany for free degrees? with no sound and wire it for sound. Use the information of
Tasks 1–4. Then, watch the video with the sound on and compare the
variants. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCtqHwjCPOQ.
37
Task 6. Watch the video Is Russia at risk of a 'brain drain'?
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTAFIGkbVDA.
Caroline Wyatt reports from Moscow: „…some of Russia's
educated middle-class are opting to move abroad. The number of
people leaving Russia jumped up. Those leaving include economists, scientists, journalists and IT specialists. The numbers leaving
may be small. But they are the very people Russia can ill afford to
lose‟. Is it a Russian brain drain? Join other students and compare
your ideas. Consider the opinion of various people on the issue of
immigration from the video:
– Ivan‟s / Olga‟s position;
– Russian nationalists‟ view;
– Vladimir Iontsev‟s judgement;
– Denis Ganych‟s words.
What is your answer to the question in the title of the video: Is
Russia really at risk of „a brain drain‟?
Discuss the video and grade it according to the parameters below on the scale of 1–10 where 1 is “really poor” and 10 is “perfect”:
– visuals;
– objectivity;
– polarity of information;
– relevance.
Task 7. Read the quotations about brain-drain below. Which
quotations do you agree with? Can you add any quotations on the
topic?
– The most wasteful "brain drain" in America today is the
drain in the kitchen sink. (Elizabeth Gould Davis)
– Happily there is a reversal of brain drain occurring now.
(John Dramani Mahama)
– The danger of venturing into uncharted waters is not nearly
as dangerous as staying on shore, waiting for you boat to come in.
(Charles F. Glassman)
– It is often asked, who does the 21st century belong to. Everyone agrees it's Asia's. (Narendra Modi)
38
Task 8. Complete the passage below / write an essay Should
we plug the brain drain? The pros and cons of scientist mobility.
Researchers have always been relatively mobile workers, and
it is widely accepted that international cooperation and exchanges of
ideas are essential for the advancement of science. But what happens
if the flow of researchers is one-way? ...
Task 9. Make presentation of an updated video sequence on
the topic „Brain Drain‟.
Task 10. Role-play Mini Debates on TV. Debatable topics:
– are there any benefits from brain drain?
– how can brain drain be converted into wisdom gain?
– why is brain drain of growing concern worldwide?
– what is a reverse brain drain?
– pros and cons of restricted immigration policy.
The video for help:
1. Brain Drain a National problem. URL: https://youtu.
be/kQO0WMl6WYY.
Malcolm Campbell explains that the United States is suffering
from „brain drain‟ in the sciences. Funding for biomedical research
in the U.S. is low and unpredictable, and, as a result, budding scientists are going to Europe and Asia where funding is more accessible.
2. America‟s Brain Drain. URL: https://youtu.be/t4x0_
WXlC1Y.
President Obama devoted much of his State of the Union address to education and science. For years our American universities
have attracted the best science students in the world, but as John
Blackstone reports, it's keeping them here once they graduate that's
the challenge.
3. US Trying to Stop 'Reverse Brain Drain'. URL: https://
youtu.be/qPjBHmEwpIY.
The US Congress is debating how to overhaul the nation's
immigration system in an effort to get foreign nationals who earn
advanced degrees at American universities to stay and work in the
country to help the U.S. stay globally competitive.
39
Unit 7
Generation gap
Do you know…
– what generation gap is?
– anything about Baby Boomers?
– if we can divide the lifespan
into three different levels?
– if people from different age
groups are physically isolated?
– if there is any interaction across age barriers?
– the ways in which generations separate themselves from one
another, in the home and in social situations and areas?
– if generation gap can be distinguished by the differences in
the language use? in what way?
– what a button theory is?
– anything about the analogue values and digital values?
– what a digital divide is?
– who digital natives and digital immigrants are?
– if we can talk about gender / income / marriage / achievement gap?
Lead-in
Task 1. Discuss the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers. Are there answers to all the questions?
Do age barriers exist?
Old generations often claim that they can not understand
young people; young generations often claim that they are misunderstood by older people.
This accumulation of differences, difficulties, and ideas between people born in different time periods causes conflict and
complicates communication, creating a gap.
A generation(al) gap is a difference of opinions between one
generation and another regarding beliefs, politics, or values. In to40
day's usage, generation gap often refers to a perceived gap between
younger people and their parents and/or grandparents.
The sociological theory of a generation gap first came to light
in the 1960s, when the younger generation (later known as Baby
Boomers seemed to go against everything their parents had previously believed in terms of music, values, governmental and political
views.
Sociologists have divided the lifespan into three different levels: childhood, midlife and retirement. Usually, when any of these
age groups is engaged in its primary activity, the individual members are physically isolated from people of other generations, with
little interaction across age barriers.
Sociologists have observed and studied the ways in which
generations separate themselves from one another, in the home and
in social situations and areas (such as churches, clubs, senior centers, and youth centers).
There is some difference in the language use. As new generations seek to define themselves as something apart from the old,
they adopt new lingo and slang, allowing a generation to create a
sense of division from the previous one.
There is a vast difference between generations when it comes
to technology. With the development of technology, understanding
gaps have widened between the older and younger generations. "The
term 'communication skills,' for example, might mean formal writing and speaking abilities to an older person. But it might mean email and instant-messenger savvy to a young one.
Task 2. Which information from the text did you already
know? What answers to questions in Task 1 did you find? Compare
with a partner.
Task 3. Check your generation vocabulary. Look at the words
in the box and match them with their definitions below:
1. People born approximately between the years 1946 and
1964. This includes people who are between 52 and 70
years old in 2016, The term is also used in a cultural context. These people are associated with a rejection or redefinition of traditional values.
41
2. The name given to the generation of Americans born between 1961 and 1980.
3. The name given to the generation born between 1982 and
2004. This generation is often associated with technology
and social media.
4. A loose and relatively undefined term, it's a sub-group of
younger people who already exist There are no precise
dates for when this cohort starts or ends; demographers and
researchers typically use starting birth years ranging from
the mid-1990s to mid-2000s and ending birth years ranging
from the late 2000s to mid-2020s The term is an ironic neologism based off of the product known as iPod.
Millennials – Generation X (Gen X) –
Generation Y (Gen Y) – iGeneration –
Generation Z – Baby Boomers
Watching
Task 4. Watch the video The Generation Gap. Can you sum up
what you saw? What information was NOT mentioned in the video?
1. Generations have been divided into major groups, known
traditionally as Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials
(Gen Y) and iGeneration.
2. It‟s the youth that drive change, it‟s the youth that thus
push technology.
3. Businesses focusing on technology isolate those generations that do not understand their products as much as Millennials do.
4. Fear is a limiting factor, and the older we get, the more
careful we become.
5. Generations can also be divided according to group's language, technological influences, workplace attitudes, general consciousness and way of life.
6. The difference between public information and private information is very much an issue between the different generations.
42
7. There are digital immigrants and digital natives as well as
analogue values and digital values.
8. Old people want the paper, but newspapers need to move
online to attract younger readers.
9. The older people are ready to pay for the information, the
younger ones want it for free.
10. Printed readership is down, on-line readership is up.
Task 5 A. Watch the video Bridging the Generation Gap.
URL: https://youtu.be/Qiui4llN1-U. Complete the sentences with
your own ideas in the context of generation gap. Then, watch the
video and compare the variants.
1. The Generation Gap is apparent in simple things like the
manner of dressing …
2. Some old things are difficult to overcome, as there are still
the caste system in India, pre-arranged marriages in China
…
3. Even in education, traditional schooling has hardly changed
even with clear evidence of …
4. In the field of education, a huge generation gap also exists
and it will continue to widen unless …
5. Given the speed and ICT for change, growth, innovation, it
becomes critical that teachers understand …
6. As sophisticated technology advances at a dizzying pace,
the compliancy of educators to stick to traditional education system and approaches become …
7. Much of the old technology, such as tube radio, plate records, cassettes tapes celluloid movies, antenna television,
landline phones …
8. Given the rapid emergence of digital technology, at times
referred to as communication and information technology
(ICT) , there is a need to …
9. ………….may say save the day.
10. For schools solidly adhering to the old educational system
…….. …………
43
Task 5 B. Bridging the Generation Gap to Get a Job. URL:
https://youtu.be/Tz3HH3i37kk.
Generational Guru Sherri Elliott-Yeary talks about how to
communicate across the generational divide in order to get a job.
You are going to pick up some advice about how to bridge the generation gap and have a great job interview. Watch the interview and
say, if you find the tips the presenter is trying to give the candidates
to educate them and find gainful employment useful.
Sharing ideas
Task 6. Making the most of video: silent viewing – playing
the video without sound. Watch the video. Generation Gap. URL:
https://youtu.be/RXbHpPsj1_0.
The questions below are highly controversial items which are
discussed in the video.
1. What are the main reasons for the conflicts between generations – are they different opinions, values, lack of respect, or others?
2. What reasons are there behind the generation gap?
3. Could we discuss the effects of the generation gap? Is there
any solution of the problem?
3. Which generation (Gen X or Gen Y) could be characterized
as high-cultured, lazy, conservative, patient, hard-working,
self-reliant, spoiled, dependant?
4. What is generation gap throughout history in terms of haircut, dressing, technology, music?
Share your ideas with the class and wire the video for sound.
Use the information of Tasks 1–5. Then, watch the video with the
sound on and compare the variants.
44
Task 7. Consult with your parents / grandparents and complete The Generation-Gap Guide with the missing ideas: the information from the video (Tasks 1–6) might be useful. Share with your
class.
Generation gap throughout history: The Generation-Gap Guide
GENERATION
Year of birth
Which makes
them how old?
Life-altering
event
Trusted news
source
Preferred mode
of communication
Icon
Social network
Deepest fear
BABY
BOOMERS
1946–1964
GEN X
MILLENNIALS
(Gen Y)
iGEN
0–14
Twitter
Text
Release of
the iPone 6
You Tube
snapchat
Mark
Zuckerberg
Instagram
No longer
being the
center of the
universe
Task 8. Read the quotations below. Which quotations do you
agree with? Comment on them:
1. Too often, the younger generation and older generation see
each other as rivals. (Daniel Burrus)
2. In the past few decades technological innovations have
made their way into the classroom and forever altered the
course of education. (Ashley Tutors)
3. It‟s become a type of tension. We‟ve got some parents and
teachers who live on Earth and we‟ve got our students at
school who live on Mars. (Dennis Yarrington)
45
4. Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than
the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that
comes after it. (George Orwell)
5. Each generation wants new symbols, new people, new
names. They want to divorce themselves from their predecessors. (Jim Morrison)
Task 9. Watch the video Clinton Can‟t Answer Why There Is
A Generation Gap Between Hers And Sanders‟ Supporters. URL:
https://youtu.be/cYU6vwMn4Bc.
One of the examples of the generational gap in the USA
might be the fact that young voters in Iowa favored Bernie Sanders
by a margin of six to one (Febrary 2016), while older voters went
overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton – revealing a party split along
generational lines. Whatever the motive, Bernie Sanders' appeal is
greatest to the young, particularly young men. Hillary Clinton's support is strongest among older voters, both men and women. In the
video you are going to watch, Hillary Clinton is trying to give the
reason for that. Does her answer to the student cast light on the
solution of the problem called generation gap?
Task 10. Make presentation of an updated video sequence on
the topic Generation Gap.
46
Unit 8
Relationships
Do you know…
– how many Americans are single?
– if there is a good way to start a
relationship?
– what a long-distance relationship
is?
– that 40 million Americans use
online dating services?
– there are more single men in the US than women?
– long distance relationships usually fail quickly
– that 70 % of Americans are single?
– the most important things that matter for a good relationship?
Lead-in
Task 1. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Can you find the answers to the questions in the text below?
If couples were paying any attention during the past few decades, they should be able to recite the one critical ingredient for a
healthy relationship – communication. But the latest study shows
that other skills may be almost as important for keeping couples
happy.
While expressing your needs and feelings in a positive way to
your significant other is a good foundation for resolving conflicts
and building a healthy relationship, these skills may not be as strong
a predictor of couples‟ happiness as experts once thought.
In an Internet-based study involving 2,201 participants referred by couples counselors, scientists decided to test, head to head,
seven “relationship competencies” that previous researchers and
marital therapists found to be important in promoting happiness in
romantic relationships. The idea was to rank the skills in order of
importance to start building data on which aspects of relationships
are most important to keeping them healthy. In addition to commu47
nication and conflict resolution, the researchers tested for sex or romance, stress management, life skills, knowledge of partners and
self-management to see which ones were the best predictors of relationship satisfaction. Couples were asked questions that tested their
competency in all of these areas and then queried about how satisfied they were with their relationships. The researchers correlated
each partner‟s strengths and weaknesses in each area with the person‟ relationship satisfaction.
Not surprisingly, those who reported communicating more effectively showed the highest satisfaction with their relationships.
But the next two factors – which were also the only other ones with
strong links to couple happiness – were knowledge of partner
(which included everything from knowing their pizza-topping preferences to their hopes and dreams) and life skills (being able to hold
a job, manage money, etc.).
Task 2. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
Task 3. Check your relationships vocabulary. Look at the
words and phrases in the box below and match them with their definitions:
– fall in love;
– meeting with your partner
– a legally binding relationship with your partner
– start living together
– your partner
– a legal ending of a relationship
date – marriage – divorce – significant other –
settle down – fall for someone
Watching
Task 4. Watch the video Best Friendship Day Video. URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJOk14w0cEI.
In a way, the video by Shreyas Media brings back memories
of the poem by Langston Hughes:
48
„I sat there singing her
Songs in the dark.
She said,
I do not understand the words.
I said,
There are
No words‟.
If there were words in the video, what would be the final
statement in it? Do you agree with it?
Task 5. Watch the video Stay in – or Leave – a Relationship?
Should you stay or leave a relationship? The decision whether
one should stay or leave is one of the most consequential and painful
any of us ever has to make. On any given day, many millions of
people worldwide will be secretly turning the issue in their minds as
they go about their daily lives. In the video there‟s a checklist of
questions to ask oneself before heading out too quickly.
Complete the notes in the table below using information from
the video – the example shows you what to do. URL: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGV5o6UHjxM.
Reasons to leave
– Religions no longer terrifies un into staying
…………………………..
– Society does not care
– ………………………..
– ………………………..
– ………………………..
Reasons to stay
– …………………………………………………
– …………………………………………………
– …………………………………………………
– …………………………………………………
– …………………………………………………
– …………………………………………………
– …………………………………………………
Task 6. Watch the video Reasons to Remain Single. URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=350qUmbcAZU.
The pressure to be in a relationship, and the suggestion that
anyone who isn‟t in one is weird and pitiable, has very bad consequences for us all, forcing people into choices they shouldn‟t necessarily have to make. As you watch, complete the list of the quotations from the video. Can you agree with all of them/most/any of
them?
49
– “People who stay alone and don‟t express longing to be in a
relationship are viewed pitiable and troubled”.
– …………..
– “Romantic love is a dangerous illusion”.
– ……………
– “Those who stay single should not be thought to be unromantic – we may be the most romantic of all”.
– ……………
– “We are simply no good in being happy whatever our relationship status”.
Sharing ideas
Task 7. Video Friendship & Vulnerability. URL: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n6gbpCqA5g.
Task 7 A. Making the most of video: prediction. Watch the
video: while pausing from time to time, try to predict what is going
to happen next.
Task 7 B. People often think that the best way to have friends
is to be deeply impressive and accomplished. According to the video, the route to true friendship always flows through vulnerability.
What would you say to it? Share your opinion with the class.
Task 8. Video Embracing Vulnerability. URL: https://youtu.
be/AO6n9HmG0qM.
In the video. Brene Brown comes to the conclusion that vulnerability is the center of difficult emotion. And it‟s also the center
of all positive emotion. Watch the video and say, if her research into
the problem has changed the opinion you reached in the previous
task.
Task 9. Make presentation of a video sequence on relationships.
Task 10. Role play Mini-Debates on TV. Debatable topics:
– why are so many people getting divorced?
– what is the best way to find a partner?
– what do you think about marriage?
– is it better to be single or to be in a relationship?
50
– what do you think of relationships that start on the workplace?
– your opinion on same – sex marriage.
Video for help:
– Why Your Relationships Fall Apart If You Are a Highly
Sensitive Person. URL: https://youtu.be/0wAmt-vsu5o.
The presenter of the video seems to know everything about
the reasons your relationship falls apart if you are a highly sensitive
person. She shares her experience about the relationships she had in
her own life. She considers three reasons why relationship fall apart.
– How to Save a Relationship that is Falling Apart in 3 Steps.
URL: https://youtu.be/ycKihlAYVEk.
The host of the program admits that he has compiled the list
of the things everyone needs to do to salvage and repair relationship. So whether you‟ve recently broken up, or you are afraid you
are on the brink of a break-up you can take heart, saving a relationship is possible.
– How to Stop a Break Up – Learn how to Stop a Breakup!
URL: https://youtu.be/9LZXcORPKeo.
According to the video, a high proportion of break-ups are reversible. So if you do the right thing, there is a very high probability
that you will have your ex back!
– The march of marriage equality. URL: https://youtu.be/
i2crZ4_xgKg.
The US Supreme Court struck down states' same-sex marriage
bans on June 26, 2015 effectively bringing marriage equality to the entire US. Watch it sweep the United States over the last years.
– CNN News Special – Workplace Romances and Relationships. URL: https://youtu.be/9TXnNDsGEmI.
From the video you learn about legality of relationships which
start at the workplace. There‟s also the employment attorney‟s opinion: all companies should have rules of office romances: policies
that there‟s no sexual harassment.
51
Unit 9
Language in the changing world
Do you know…
– the family of languages the Russian
language belongs to?
– what language influenced Russian a lot
in recent years?
– if the Russian pronunciation is easy or
difficult for foreigners?
– if Russian is a lyrical language?
– if Russian culture is difficult to understand?
– the best way to learn Russian?
Lead-in
Task 1. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers. Are there answers to all the questions?
The Slavic or Slavonic family of languages consists of three
branches – East Slavic (Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian), West Slavic (Czech, Slovak, Polish and others) and South Slavic (Bulgarian,
Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian). In reality, I find that
what this means is that as an English native speaker, most of the
time, if you don‟t know a word it‟s pretty difficult (read: near impossible) to guess.
Nevertheless, in recent years, English has had a growing influence on the Russian language, which is particularly noticeable in
Russian spoken in business settings, and in the Russian media. From
„стейкхолдеры‟ (stakeholder / stakeholders) to „брокеры‟ (brokeri /
brokers) there are countless examples to choose from. One of the
most bizarre examples of this has got to be the legendary Moscow
„фейсконтроль‟.
This growing influence of English might mean that, in years
to come, it will be easier for foreigners to learn Russian, but I can‟t
help feeling that that may well still be a long way off. In the meantime, there is plenty for non-native speakers of Russian to be getting
on with. Verbs of motions, verbal aspect, and anything to do with
52
numbers/dates/numerals are the dreaded cases, but it has to be said
that, although there are lots of rules, there are equally few exceptions.
Also, pronunciation is tricky and once you step into the real
world and away from your lovely Russian textbooks, predicting
where the stress falls in a word and how to pronounce it correctly
becomes a lot more complicated (unlike Spanish, for example, with
its penultimate syllable stress unless where marked). This is one area
lacking in rules when it comes to Russian, as stress is not fixed (and
can fall at the beginning, middle or end of a word). Placing the stress
on the wrong part of the word can cause all sorts of confusion, mainly resulting in blank faces or potentially laughter depending on what
you might (unintentionally) have come out with.
In spite of this, complex as it might be, Russian is an incredibly beautiful and lyrical language. It‟s no coincidence that some of
the world‟s greatest poets hailed from here. And once you have
achieved some level of proficiency, the sense of achievement makes
it all worthwhile.
As with most languages, the best way to learn Russian is
through immersion. This was my experience, although, unlike many
students who come to Russia on their year abroad at university, I
chose to live in a student dorm rather than with a host family. I will
never forget arriving at St. Petersburg, exhausted after a long journey via Germany, stepping out into the cold, gloomy Russian afternoon and wondering quite what I‟d let myself in for, as the university driver grabbed my bags and trudged off to the car park, muttering
and grumbling to himself along the way. I was fresh from a summer
in sunny Florence and had been repeatedly told that St. Petersburg
truly was 'the Venice of the North'. As it turned out, two years of
studying beginner‟s Russian at university hadn‟t quite equipped me
for the numerous encounters with angry babushkas, disgruntled
cashiers and perpetually miserable and erratic marshrutka (shared
taxi) drivers that awaited me.
Task 2. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
53
Task 3. Check your language vocabulary. Look at the words
and phrases in the box and match them with their definitions:
literally – braille – stress – consonant –
etymology – homophone
1) a history of a word;
2) in a way that uses the ordinary or primary meaning of a
term or expression;
3) a word pronounced the same with another meaning or
spelling;
4) emphasis to a word or syllable when pronouncing it;
5) a system of writing for the blind that uses characters made
up of raised dots;
6) a speech sound that is not a vowel, formed by obstructing
the flow of air as it is passed from the lungs through the
vocal tract.
Watching
Task 4. Watch the video Dying languages. URL: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB7kLNwKEVU.
As you watch, answer the questions below.
1. How many languages are expected to die out soon?
2. What is NatGeo “Enduring Voices” project about? Why
was it organized?
3. How often does a language disappear from our planet?
4. What does the endurance of a language depend on?
5. What else does the team of researchers do in connection
with language?
6. What is their way to preserve a language?
7. Where did the team go first?
8. What language did they try to preserve after that?
than we could imagine. In the video you might learn about 25 unbelievable things about language and linguistics! Here are some of them:
– The EU has 24 official languages.
– The UN has 6 official languages: Arabic, Mandarin, Russian, English, French and Spanish.
– 50 % of a child‟s education in Luxembourg is devoted to
learning a foreign language.
– There are 12 imaginary languages in The Lord of the Rings.
– In order to successfully read a newspaper in China you need
to know about 2,000 characters.
– The Chinese alphabet has about 50,000 characters in total.
Watch the video and say, if you learnt any other amazing
things about languages.
Task 6. Watch the video The Concept of Language with Noam
Chomsky. URL: https://youtu.be/hdUbIlwHRkY.
In the University of Washington the world famous linguist
Noam Chomsky discusses the ways in which language changes over
time and how the idea of a national language is a modern phenomenon. The interviewer speaks with Chomsky about how languages are
systems of communication rooted in human nature.
What Noam Chomsky‟s views about language do you find
most interesting? What can you say about the thoughts of a philosopher upon the background of other thinkers?
Sharing ideas
Task 7. Making the most of video Hidden Language Revealed: jigsaw viewing.
Split up into two groups. Watch the video. URL: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QjXGsUMD8U. One group watches
the video with no sound, the other group listens to the audio from
the video. Discuss what you heard and what you saw together.
Task 5. Watch the video 25 Unbelievable Things You Didn‟t
Know About Language and Linguistics. URL: https://youtu.be/
ceEzrjC6i0Y.
Language is one of those things that most of us take for granted,
and like most things that we take for granted it‟s actually a lot cooler
Task 8. Video The top 10 mispronounced words in English
made by foreign learners. URL: https://youtu.be/GZTJXtcOkvU.
Many English learners have problems pronouncing English
words correctly. What most mispronounced words can you recall?
Watch the video to learn about the top 10 mispronounced English
words. If you can master the differences in pronunciation between
54
55
these words, you‟ll improve your pronunciation and be able to talk
more like a native English speaker.
Task 9. Split up into groups and make presentations of the
video with David Crystal:
– Group 1: What do you most enjoy about the English language? URL: https://youtu.be/SqkIv79KBTw.
– Group 2: World Englishes. URL: https://youtu.be/2_q9b9
YqGRY.
– Group 3: The Effect of New Technologies on English. URL:
https://youtu.be/qVqcoB798Is.
– Group 4: Texts and Tweets: Myths and Realities. URL:
https://youtu.be/Boj8VYzDAy8.
– Group 5: The Biggest Challenges for Teachers. URL:
https://youtu.be/ItODnX5geCM.
Task 10. Role play Mini Debate. The debatable topic is What
is the future of language? URL: https://youtu.be/rUU8pLEk6nk.
For centuries English has dominated the world‟s languages.
Around the turn of the millennial, about the quarter of the world‟s
population could communicate in English to some degree. But with
changing world demographics and globalization, the languages we
all use are sure to change in form and popularity. So what is the future of language? There are some competing ideas about what will
become the most widely spoken language. What are your ideas
about the future of language?
What will the future English be like? Since most of us don‟t have
time machines, how can we predict the future at all? With fortune tellers and crystal balls? Or may be with physics, which predicts that if a
certain object travels a certain speed for a certain amount of time, it will
cover a certain distance – no less, no more. Video for help:
– What is the Future of Language? URL: https://youtu.
be/rUU8pLEk6nk.
– Stuff From The Future – What is the Future of the English
Language? URL: https://youtu.be/QUCIRNAR_14.
– What Will Future English Be Like? URL: https://you
tu.be/wnfhahhRupY.
– Will English Always Be the Global Language? (by David
Cristal). URL: https://youtu.be/5Kvs8SxN8mc.
56
Unit 10
Breaking news
Do you know…
– if „no news is good news‟?
– any remarkable latest news stories?
– what stories dominated the news in the
current year?
– which news mostly attract young/old
people?
– how to compile a list of the biggest
news stories through the year?
Lead-in
Task 1. Read the list of events which happened in the world in
2016. Rearrange them from the least important to most important.
– February 1 – a formal start of the UN-mediated Geneva Syria peace talks was announced by the UN; however, fighting
continues unabated.
– May 19 – Egypt Air Flight 804 crashes with 66 people on
board over the Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo.
– June 23 – The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to
leave the European Union.
– July 15 – A military coup was attempted in Turkey against
state institutions, including, but not limited to the government and President Recep Tavvip Erdogan.
– August 5–21 – The 2016 Summer Olympics are held in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil.
– September 3 – The US and China, together responsible for
40 % of the world's carbon emissions, both ratify the Paris
global climate agreement.
– September 8 – NASA launches OSIRIS – Rex, its first asteroid sample return mission. The probe will visit Bennu
and is expected to return with samples in 2023.
– September 9 – The government of North Korea conducts its
fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders con57
demn the act, with the South calling it “maniacal recklessness”.
– September 30 – Two paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, Seascape at Scheveningen and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen, stolen on December 7, 2002
from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam are recovered,
with a combined value of $ 100 million.
– October 13 – The Maldives announces its decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Nations.
– October 15 – 150 nations meeting at the UNEP summit in
Rwanda agree to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), as
an amendment to the Montreal protocol.
– November 8 – The Republican party nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and his running mate, incumbent Governor of Indiana Mike Pence, defeated the Democratic party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, and her running mate, incumbent Senator Tim
Kaine.
Task 2. What events from task 2 could be considered major
world events? Which of them could you call big events that will
make the news in the years ahead?
Task 3 A. The Syrian Civil War unmistakably provided the
top news in mass media all year round. It is an ongoing multi-sided
armed conflict in Syria in which international interventions have
taken place. What do you know about the roots of the war? Complete the text below with the latest news about the conflict.
Some facts about the Syrian civil war
The war grew out of the unrest of the 2011 Arab spring and
escalated to armed conflict after President Bashar al-Assad 's government violently repressed protests calling for his removal. The
war is now being fought among several factions:
– the Syrian Government and its various supporters Syrian –
Arab rebel groups, the Syrian Democratic Forces, Salafi jihadist
groups, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL);
58
– Syrian opposition groups formed the Free Syrian Army and
seized control of the area surrounding Aleppo and parts of southern
Syria. Over time, factions of the Syrian opposition split from their
original moderate position to pursue an Islamist vision for Syria.
Some factions receive support from outside the country, leading many to label the conflict a proxy war waged by both regional
and global powers. International organizations have accused the Syrian government, ISIL and other opposition forces of severe human
rights violations and of multiple massacres. The conflict has caused
a considerable displacement of population. On 1 February 2016, a
formal start of the UN-mediated Geneva Syria peace talks was announced by the UN; however, fighting continues unabated…
Task 3 B. Watch how the Syrian Civil War became the mess it
is today. Who‟s fighting whom in Syria? Watch the video on the
issue and say, if it correlates with the information from the previous
task. Watch the video Who‟s fighting whom in Syria? Explained in
90 seconds. URL: https://youtu.be/z_ily8CjDXc. Could you spot
any mistake(s) in the war coverage?
Task 4. Make sure you know the words and word combinations in the box. You might need them to discuss the Syrian conflict.
Use the words to fill in the gaps in the sentences borrowed from the
CNN Student News February 12, 2016 covering the situation in Syria URL: https://youtu.be/kQ8C_DcExCY?list=PLTc0nEfdp_f2mz
bm-d-B00ejDnyCPVlwc.
steadfast – world heritage site – rubble –
on the verge – kick off – ceasefire – make gains –
lay waste –be in a stalemate – hold on to power
1. First up, Bashar al-Asad is fighting to ________.
2. An international meeting of 17 countries ________ in
Germany yesterday.
3. The goal: to achieve ______ in Syria.
4. Except for the fighters themselves, some parts of the country are nothing but dust and _____________.
5. Years of urban combat have _____ to Aleppo‟s old town.
59
6. For years. this battlefield _____, the front line: right around
Aleppo‟s ancient citadel.
7. The old town of Aleppo is a UNESCO _______.
8. But now, Assad‟s troops believe they are ________ of a
decisive victory.
9. The commander warns the US not to interfere. “We are
________‟, he says.
10. The troops have ________ in the Aleppo area in recent
weeks.
Watching
Task 5. Why is Russia in Syria? Fill in the left column of the
table below using your knowledge about the conflict. Then, watch
the video sequence Why is Russia in Syria? on CNN and compare
your information with the one from the video sequence: Jill
Dougherty breaks down why Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to launch a bombing campaign in Syria. Give your arguments
in favor/against the ones of the presenter. URL: https://you
tu.be/uDF-JnnmwUM.
What I know…
1.
What I picked up from the video
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
…
…
…
…
Syrian president Bashar al Assad, a victory in Aleppo would be "a
very important springboard" to pushing "terrorists" back to Turkey.
Do his words match the current situation?
Group 2. Watch the interview of President Bashar al-Assad
for NBC Nightly News to learn more about ISIS, the war in Syria
from his point of view. URL: https://youtu.be/45odEv_1DAY. What
he says in this exclusive interview may surprise you. How does he
feel about this war personally? In your view, do his words reflect
what is going on in Syria?
Group 3. Watch the video Daily Life in Syria is „worse than
death‟ covering the events of the conflict in Syria. Does it cast a
new light on the pressing issue/on the interviews with Bashar alAssad? URL: https://youtu.be/2f4HXOJnb20.
Share the information / your commentary with the group.
Sharing ideas
Task 7. Making the most of video: silent viewing – playing
the video without sound. Who is fighting and why? URL: https://
youtu.be/NKb9GVU8bHE. Wire the video sequence for sound, update the information. Then, watch the video with the sound on and
compare the variants.
Task 8. Make presentations of the latest news on different
English speaking TV channels / TV channels in your country.
Task 9. Good News and Good News.
To counter all the bad news being reported around the world,
The Tonight Show asked local NBC news anchors across the U.S. to
report stories that make people happy. Watch Good News and Good
News on NBC (2014–2016) in The Tonight Show starring Jimmy
Fallon and say, which news (if any) made you happy:
– 2014. URL: https://youtu.be/u-BTulyEGZs;
– 2015. URL: https://youtu.be/eNsqQtw9_LI;
– 2016. URL: https://youtu.be/eCzI5SPK9X0.
Task 6. Split up into three groups.
Group 1. Watch the interview of President Al-Assad with the
correspondent of Russian Newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, October 14, 2016. URL: https://youtu.be/9KUhu1IOF_w. According to
Task 10. Role play Mini Debates: Good News and Bad News.
Debatable topics: top news stories. Provide convincing and independent arguments of your own.
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Part II
HARDtalks
Do you know…
– the genre of the programme HARDtalk?
– if it is broadcast on BBC,
CNN, or any other TV
channel?
– what days of the week
HARDtalk is broadcast?
– the running time of
HARDtalk?
– who might be HARDtalk interviewees?
– when the first HARDtalk was aired?
– anything about HARDtalk‟s history?
– any interviews on HARDtalks?
– what topics are discussed in the program HARDtalk?
Lead-in
Task 1. Discuss the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers. Are there answers to all the questions? What can you learn
about Stephen Sackur from the passages?
BBC HARDtalks present in-depth interviews with a wide
range of questions and sensitive topics being covered as famous
personalities from all walks of life talk about the highs and lows
in their lives.
HARDtalk is the hard-hitting flagship news programme
shown on BBC World News and the BBC News channel.
Hardtalk (styled as HARDtalk) is a television programme,
consisting of half-hour one-on-one interviews.
It is broadcast four days a week (Monday to Thursday) on
BBC World News and the BBC News channel. Launched in 1997,
much of its worldwide fame is due to its global reach via BBC
World. Until early 2005, the host was Tim Sebastian, whose famous,
62
and sometimes controversial, style of tough questioning brought a
huge world audience to the show. It is normally broadcast late at
night on the BBC News Channel. Until the mid-2000s, it was broadcast at around 11:30 pm, but in more recent times it has been broadcast an hour later at 12:30 am.
Hardtalk interviews newsmakers and personalities from
across the globe. Guests have included the Pakistani President
Pervez Musharraf, South African President Thabo Mbeki, popular
musician Boy George and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.
Heads of state interviewed in 2012 included Burmese President Thein Sein, who long led Burma's military junta ("the interview made
headlines around the world"); and President Teodoro Obiang of
Equatorial Guinea, who "rarely gives interviews" and whom Sackur
subsequently described as having a "bunker mentality" and as "living
in a parallel universe, a place where embarrassment does not exist". In
2010 Sackur interviewed President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who
"rarely granted extended interviews to the western media".
The half hour interview is the result of detailed research and
in-depth investigations.
HARDtalk asks the difficult questions and gets behind the
stories that make the news – from international political leaders to
entertainers; from corporate decision-makers to ordinary individuals
facing huge challenges.
HARDtalk's history
The first episode of HARDtalk aired on the 31 March, 1997.
The first ever guest on HARDtalk was the acclaimed British actor
and film director, Richard Attenborough. The late writer and theorist
Edward Said, journalist Irma Kurtz, yachtsman Pete Goss and the
late raconteur Quentin Crisp rounded out HARDtalk's first week.
HARDtalk's first presenter, Tim Sebastian, won the Royal Television Society's Interviewer of the Year award in 2000 and 2001. Tim
left HARDtalk in 2006.
HARDtalk presenter
The main presenter of HARDtalk is Stephen Sackur, one of
the BBC's most respected journalists. Stephen Sackur has been a
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journalist with BBC News since 1986.
Broadcasting across BBC World News,
BBC News Channel and BBC World Service, Stephen has interviewed many highprofile guests.
In November 2010, Stephen was
awarded the "International TV Personality
of the Year Award" by the Association of
International Broadcasters. Before taking
over HARDtalk, Stephen was based in
Brussels for three years as the BBC's Europe Correspondent. He travelled across
Europe to cover major stories around the
continent, including Europe's worst terror attack of recent times in
Madrid in 2004, and the expansion of the European Union from 15
countries to 25.
Prior to this, Stephen was the BBC's Washington Correspondent from July 1997. With a keen interest in politics, he has interviewed President George W. Bush, covered the 2000 US Presidential Elections, the Clinton scandal and impeachment trial, and the
ways and means of lawmaking, including campaign finance reform.
He also made a documentary for the BBC's current affairs programme Panorama on the topic of guns and weapon manufacturer
lawsuits in the US.
Stephen has also been the BBC Middle East Correspondent in
both Cairo (from 1992 to 1995) and Jerusalem (from 1995 to 1997),
covering the peace process, the assassination of the Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the emergence of the Palestinian Authority under the late Yasser Arafat. To prepare a documentary on
Islamic fundamentalism, he lived with Hezbollah guerrillas in south
Lebanon for two weeks.
In 1990, Stephen was appointed as a BBC Foreign Correspondent. He was part of the BBC's team of correspondents covering the Gulf War, spending eight weeks with the British Army when
the conflict began. He was the first correspondent to break the story
of the mass killing on the Basra road out of Kuwait City, marking
the end of the war. He travelled back to Iraq just after the downfall
of Saddam Hussein and filed the first television reports on Iraq's
mass graves which contained the bodies of thousands of victims of
Saddam‟s regime.
In Eastern Europe, as witness to Communism's last days, Stephen offered a unique perspective on the rocky road to democracy
and stability for this area. Serving as correspondent for BBC national radio, he reported on Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution and
Germany's reunification. He has contributed countless articles to
The Observer, The London Review of Books, New Statesman, The
Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.
Born in Lincolnshire, England, Stephen was educated at both
Cambridge and Harvard.
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65
Watching
Task 2. Watch Talk 360 with Stephen Sackur as an interviewee, the presenter is Eric Latiff. URL: https://youtu.be/prz8AaubIOI.
What additional information about Stephen Sackur did you learn
from it?
Task 3. Watch any interview on BBC HARDtalk with Tim
Sebastian. Compare the styles of both presenters. Which one seems
to be more friendly/provocative/favorable?
Sharing ideas
Task 4. What is your interpretation of Stephen Sackur‟s words
“My day job on BBC HARDtalk is focused on in-depth, interviews
with public figures. Here's where I get to give the inside track on the
good, the bad and the ugly.”?
Task 5. Make presentations of some interviews on HARDtalk.
Discuss the hot topics covered in them in your group.
3. How does he feel about his time in service?
4. What are some military operations that happened during his
time in service and how does he feel about them?
5. According to Bryant, what is the alternative to wars and
military operations?
Unit 1
BBC HARDtalk with Brandon Bryant
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U2kPuQ9TxE.
Do you know...
– who Brandon Bryant is?
– why he left American armed
forces?
– what “a drone” is?
Task 3. Fill in the gaps in the sentences from the interview below.
1. I am here to hold my country and the people I knew
___________ for their actions.
2. They saw you as highly intelligent and as a result you ended up to be a ______ ________.
3. My other job was the _______ _____ _______ _______.
4. On day one you were supposed to provide ___________
_______.
5. The _______ they had on prevented the signal from getting
in.
6. My first day on a job was a _______.
7. You see this on your big close-up screen. Do you have the
ability to ______ the missile?
8. When you cross a ________, you‟re more likely to cross
another _______.
9. Throughout the history those who are __________ witness
the most horrible things.
10. We‟re supposed to be the best country in the world. If we
cannot ____ __ to our standards, then we don‟t deserve to
be that.
Lead-in
Task 1 A. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below for additional information.
We look at how the United States uses drones in warfare, and
their impact, through the eyes of one of the first U.S. drone operators to speak out. Former U.S. Air Force pilot Brandon Bryant
served as a sensor operator for the Predator program from 2007 to
2011, manning the camera on the unmanned aerial vehicles that carried out attacks overseas. After he left the active duty in the Air
Force, he was presented with a certificate that credited his squadron
for 1,626 kills. In total, Bryant says he was involved in seven missions in which his Predator fired a missile at a human target, and
about 13 people died in those strikes – actions he says left him
traumatized. "The clinical definition of PTSD (Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder) is an anxiety disorder associated with witnessing or
experiencing a traumatic event," Bryant says. "Think how you
would feel if you were part of something that you felt violated the
Constitution."
Watching
Task 2. Watch the HARDtalk and answer the questions below.
1. Why and how did Brandon Bryant join the military?
2. What happened on his first day in service?
66
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Decide whether the following statements are true or
false.
1. Brandon Bryant is considered to be a traitor.
2. He became a sensor operator because he liked video games.
3. He was held responsible for his actions as a drone operator.
4. On his first day at work he failed to save several American
soldiers.
5. One day he managed to stop an air strike on a house with a
child in it.
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6. His colleagues were caring and kind people.
7. Drone operator's actions mainly get investigated only if he
crashes a drone or in cases of friendly fire.
8. There was a case when he killed three armed terrorists and
watched one of them die on camera.
9. According to the U.S. Constitution “even a traitor deserves
a proper trial”.
10. Brandon is angry because he feels “damaged”.
Task 5. Role play Mini-Debate on the topics discussed in the
interview. Discuss the most sensitive topics with the group. Among
others, include the following questions in the debate:
– There is a saying “The end justifies the means”. Do you
agree with it?
– Do you think that drone warfare is really the future of wars?
– What are the pluses and minuses of this type of warfare?
– Do you think the soldiers controlling such drones are more
affected by PTSD than common soldiers?
– Is it okay for a soldier to discuss his orders or to tell the
public the details of military operations even if they are
against the law or unjust?
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Unit 2
BBC HARDtalk with Nickolas Burns
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbQRIpdj070.
Do you know...
– Nickolas Burns‟ profession?
– the general opinion about the
outcome of U.S. presidential
election in 2016 ?
Lead-in
Task 1 A. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below for additional information.
R. Nicholas Burns (born January 28, 1956) is a university professor, columnist, lecturer and former American diplomat. He is currently Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a
member of the Board of Directors of the school's Belfer Center for
Science and International Affairs. At the Harvard Kennedy School,
he is Director of The Future of Diplomacy Project and Faculty Chair
for the programs on the Middle East and India and South Asia. He is
Director of the Aspen Strategy Group, Senior Counselor at the Cohen Group and serves on the Board of Directors of Entegris, Inc. He
writes a biweekly column on foreign affairs for the Boston Globe
and is a senior foreign affairs columnist for GlobalPost. He also
serves on the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, Special Olympics, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Atlantic
Council, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, the Center for the
Study of the Presidency and Congress, American Media Abroad, the
Gennadius Library and the Richard Lounsberry Foundation. He is
Vice Chairman of the American Ditchley Foundation and serves on
the Panel of Senior Advisors at Chatham House, the Royal Institute
of International Affairs. During his career in the State Department,
he was United States Under Secretary of State for Political Af69
fairs within the United States Department of State. Appointed by
President George W. Bush, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on
March 17, 2005 and was sworn into office by Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice. As Under Secretary, he oversaw the bureau's responsible for U.S. policy in each region of the world and
served in the senior career Foreign Service position at the Department. He retired on April 30, 2008. He was a Visiting Scholar at the
Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. in summer 2008. In
July 2009, Burns joined The Cohen Group, a consulting firm in
Washington D.C., as a Senior Counselor. Before entering the Foreign Service, Mr. Burns worked as Program Officer at A.T. International, a non-profit organization specializing in economic assistance
for Third World Countries.
Task 1 B. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
Watching
Task 2. Watch the HARDtalk and answer the questions below.
1. What is the position of Nickolas Burns right now?
2. Whom did he support in the presidential election of 2016?
3. What negative qualities of Trump does he mention?
4. What positive qualities of Clinton does he mention?
5. According to Burns, who supports Trump?
6. What is "Trumpism"?
7. What do Americans think about being more passive in foreign policy according to the host and the guest?
8. What do the polls show about Trump and Clinton's positions?
9. What does America want from NATO countries?
10. Why does he say that criticism of Clinton is unfair?
4. President X _________ the opposition candidate. He actually won!
5. I think his policy is too __________. It looks like he
doesn't believe in diplomacy.
Task 4. According to the interview, are the following statements true or false?
1. A letter against Trump was signed by many democrats who
demanded his resignation.
2. Burns likes Bush Senior more that Bush Junior.
3. Clinton was against the war in Iraq.
4. Trump was in favor of the war in Iraq.
5. Trump advocated for more active involvement of America
in the world.
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Role play Mini-Debate on the topics discussed in the
interview. Discuss the most sensitive topics with the group. Among
others, include the following questions in the debate:
– NATO as „a protection racket‟;
– Hillary Clinton‟s role in Iraq war;
– mass media involvement in the presidential election campaign in the US, 2016;
– Donald Trump and the US future;
– Reasons for Hillary Clinton‟s election loss.
Task 3. Fill in the gaps in the sentences below. Use the words
and word combinations from the interview.
1. I'm an _______ supporter of Hillary Clinton.
2. This newspaper is not ________. Don't read it.
3. Trump is going to try to ________ Putin.
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71
Unit 3
BBC HARDtalk with Noam Chomsky
Do you know...
– who Noam Chomsky is?
– the main contribution of Mr. Chomsky to linguistics and psychology?
– the part Mr. Chomsky plays in cultural life if the USA?
– how he is perceived by the people of
the USA?
Lead-in
Task 1. Answer the questions above. Compare your answers
with a partner or the class. Read the text below for additional information.
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, political activist, author, and lecturer. Chomsky is well known in the academic and scientific community as one of the fathers of modern linguistics. Since
the 1960s, he has become known more widely as a political dissident, an anarchist, and a libertarian socialist intellectual. Chomsky is
often viewed as a notable figure in contemporary philosophy. In the
1950s, Chomsky began developing his theory of generative grammar, which has undergone numerous revisions and has had a profound influence on linguistics. His approach to the study of language
emphasizes "an innate set of linguistic principles shared by all humans" known as universal grammar, "the initial state of the language
learner," and discovering an "account for linguistic variation via the
most general possible mechanisms”. He also established the Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages in terms of their
generative power. In 1959, Chomsky published a widely influential
review of B. F. Skinner's theoretical book “Verbal Behavior”, which
was the first attempt by a behaviorist to provide a functional, operant analysis of language. Chomsky used this review to broadly and
aggressively challenge the behaviorist approaches to studies of be72
havior dominant at the time, and contributed to the cognitive revolution in psychology. His naturalistic approach to the study of language has influenced the philosophy of language and mind.
Beginning with his opposition to the Vietnam War, Chomsky
established himself as a prominent critic of US foreign and domestic
policy. He is a self-declared adherent of libertarian socialism which
he regards as "the proper and natural extension of classical liberalism into the era of advanced industrial society”.
According to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index in 1992,
Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living
scholar during the 1980–92 period, and was the eighth most-cited
source. He is also considered a prominent cultural figure. At the
same time, his status as a leading critic of US foreign policy has
made him controversial.
Task 1 B. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information? Compare with a
partner.
Watching
Task 2. Watch the HARDtalk and answer the questions below. В Unit 1
1. According to Mr. Chomsky, why was Afghanistan attacked
by U.S. forces?
2. Mr. Chomsky has overall negative attitude to the invasion
of Afghanistan. Why?
3. According to Mr. Chomsky, should U.S. forces leave Afghanistan immediately?
Task 3. Fill in the gaps with numbers or names.
1. It was attacked because _________ demanded that the Taliban hand over _____.
2. If you look back at _____ the United States invaded Afghanistan because the ____ refused to hand over suspects
without evidence.
3. There were about ______ Afghans on the verge of starvation.
4. The estimates were that if the ______ bombed it might go
to _______ more.
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5. You said ________ might die within weeks.
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Make presentations of Noam Chomsky‟s interviews
Unit 4
BBC HARDtalk with Jeremy Irons
2016.
Do you know...
– who Jeremy Irons is?
– the movies he acted in?
– actors with very strong
opinions?
– Who rules the world now. URL: https://youtu.be/P2lsEVl
qts0_and.
– On the new Trump era – UpFront special. URL: https://
youtu.be/jB54XxbgI0E.
Task 5. Split up into two groups and conduct a debate on the
issue of just war. You can use the hints below and your own ideas
and examples.
Arguments For:
1. Just war tries to reduce the harm done in war by making
clear what is right and wrong. Some politicians and some
soldiers will behave more justly as a result.
2. A war may be said to be just when waging it prevents
something worse happening. For example, defensive intent
is necessary and sufficient in the face of a threatened invasion which could result in the loss of many innocent lives.
Arguments Against:
1. Has there ever been a war with one side at least following
fully the rules of just war? In World War II it was clear
that Hitler was violating Just War rules particularly in the
murder of 6 million Jews. However, the British bombed
German cities like Dresden, which were of no military importance, in order to terrorize the civilian population. Similarly, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed mostly civilians.
2. Who is the neutral referee reprimanding the side breaking
the Just War rules? War is not a game. Just War rules are
either completely ignored or only held by a few.
Lead-in
Task 1 A. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the class, compare your answers.
Read the text below for additional information.
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75
Jeremy John Irons (born 19 September 1948) is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre
School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since
appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the
Shrew, Godspell, Richard II and Embers. In 1984, he made his
Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing and received a
Tony Award for Best Actor.
Irons' first major film role came in the 1981 romantic drama
The French Lieutenant's Woman, for which he received a BAFTA
nomination for Best Actor. After starring in such films as Moonlighting (1982), Betrayal (1983) and The Mission (1986), he gained
critical acclaim for portraying twin gynaecologists in David
Cronenberg's psychological thriller Dead Ringers (1988). In 1990,
Irons played accused murderer Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune, and took home multiple awards including an Academy Award
for Best Actor. Other notable films have included Kafka (1991), The
House of the Spirits (1993), The Lion King (1994), Die Hard with a
Vengeance (1995), Lolita (1997), The Man in the Iron Mask (1998),
The Merchant of Venice (2004), Being Julia (2004), Kingdom of
Heaven (2005), Eragon (2006), Appaloosa (2008), and Margin Call
(2011).
Irons has also made several notable appearances on TV. He
earned his first Golden Globe Award nomination for his breakout
role in the ITV series Brideshead Revisited (1981). In 2006, Irons
starred opposite Helen Mirren in the historical miniseries Elizabeth I,
for which he received a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award
for Best Supporting Actor. Since 2011, he has been starring in the
Showtime historical series The Borgias.
Task 1 B. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information? Compare with a
partner.
Watching
Task 2. Watch the HARDtalk and complete the list of discussed topics:
– political campaigns as „a route‟ or part of life;
– the risk of poisoning the planet;
– „throw-away plastic society‟;
– consumer capitalist culture;
– ……………………………;
– ……………………………;
– ……………………………;
– ……………………………;
– ……………………………;
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Discuss the following questions with your partner or
in small groups.
1. Which Jeremy Irons is more special to you – an actor with
very strong opinions or „the Oscar winning performer best
known for his portrayal of troubled, brooding upper class
men‟?
2. Do you think films like Jeremy Irons‟ documentary about
the potentially devastating impact of the mountains of toxic
waste polluting our planet might work?
3. Do you agree with Jeremy Irons‟ definition of a libertarian?
4. Could you call the interview with the actor „a bizarre conversation‟?
5. What issues of the interview seem to be most important /
crucial / interesting / peculiar / boring ones?
Task 5. Role play an in-depth interview with some famous
personality from any walk of life covering some sensitive issues of
modern life. Among others, include the questions below in the list of
the debatable topics:
– is it possible to be a libertarian and recognize the necessity
for regulations?
– are „a libertarian‟ and „a democrat‟ related words?
Task 3. Answer the questions below.
1. Which of the films from Jeremy Irons‟ filmography listed
above were mentioned in the interview? Which of them
have you watched?
2. What does Jeremy Irons refer to by saying “It‟s my appetite”?
3. Is there any reference to the public pronouncements Jeremy
Irons makes in the interview?
4. Are there any reflections on Jeremy Irons‟ life?
5. How does Jeremy Irons refer to England?
6. It seems the life of Jeremy Irons is not driven by his job. He
says that acting takes quite a small space at his present life.
Is he going to change this situation?
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Unit 5
BBC HARDtalk with D. Peskov
URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/n3cstlkt.
Do you know...
– who this person is?
– anything about his job?
– what he is in charge of?
Lead-in
Task 1 A. Discuss the questions above.
With a partner or the class, compare
your answers. Read the text below and confirm your answers. Are
there answers to all the questions? What can you learn about Dmitri
Peskov from the passages?
A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news
management techniques, helps the employer to maintain a positive
public image and avoid negative media coverage.
They often, but not always, act as the organization's senior
spokesperson. Many governments also have press secretaries. A
deputy press secretary is typically a mid-level political staffer who
assists the press secretary and communications director with aspects
of public outreach. They often write the press releases and media
advisories for review by the press secretary and communications
director. There are usually assistant press secretaries and press officers that support the press secretary.
In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned
('attached') to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher
placed person or another service or agency. Depending on custom,
attaché may be modified to correspond to the gender (i.e., attachée).
An attaché is normally an official, under the authority of an
ambassador or other head of a diplomatic mission, who serves either
as a diplomat or as a member of the support staff. They monitor various issues related to areas of intervention. To this end, they may
undertake the planning for decisions which will be taken and make
78
all necessary arrangements, manages the agenda, conduct research
for the study of particular matters, and act as representative when
necessary.
Sometimes an attaché has special responsibilities or expertise.
Examples include a cultural attaché, labor attaché, legal attaché, military / defense attaché (or more specifically, naval attaché, air attaché), press attaché, agricultural attaché, commercial attaché, and
science attaché.
Task 1 B. What information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information? Compare with a
partner.
Watching
Task 2. BBC Hardtalk with Dmitri Peskov you are going to
watch dates back to 2014. What topics might have been discussed
during the talk? Watch the interview and check your predictions.
Complete the list of topics discussed in the interview and key words
in the table below using information from the program – the examples show you what to do.
Provide updated information on issues touched upon in the interview by reproducing the answers to the questions Stephen Sackur
asked his guest.
Topics for discussion
1. Legitimacy of the referendum
in Crimea
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Remarkable quotes / key words
A sense of triumph; annexation;
joining; haste; barrels of guns.
Sharing ideas
Task 3. Role play Mini-Debate on the topics discussed in the
interview. What would be your answers to the questions asked by
79
Me Sackur? Whose side of the controversy would you take? Share
your opinion with the group.
Task 4. Some of the issues covered in the interview with
Dmitri Peskov centered around the sensitive topics of March 2014.
Which of these issues are still vital? Discuss them in the Role Play /
Mini-Debate during the talk show on Russian TV. The topics are to
be put forth by a talk show host whose guests are a group of people
who are learned or who have great experience in relation to whatever issue is being discussed on the show.
Unit 6
BBC HARDTalk with Flemming Rose
URL: http:// www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gwz1r.
Do you know...
– who Flemming Rose is?
– what Charlie Hebdo scandals were about?
Task 5. Make presentation of HARDtalks with Dmitri Peskov
(2015–2017).
Lead-in
Task 1 A. Answer the questions below. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers.
Flemming Rose (born March 11, 1958) is a Danish journalist,
author and since 2010 a foreign affairs editor at the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. As culture editor of the same newspaper, he
was principally responsible for the September 2005 publication of
the cartoons that initiated the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons
controversy early the next year, and since then he has been an international advocate of the freedom of speech.
Rose grew up in Copenhagen. He was one of three children.
His father left the family when Rose was a small boy, and they were
out of touch for decades. After the cartoon crisis, his father wrote
him a letter suggesting that they meet and expressing his agreement
with Rose‟s position on the cartoons. As a result, they met and reconciled.
Rose is best known for commissioning a group of drawings of
Muhammad that were published in Jyllands-Posten on 30 September
2005. His reasoning was that many European creative artists had
engaged in self-censorship out of fear of Muslim violence. The immediate trigger for the commission was the case of the Danish children's book author Kåre Bluitgen, who reportedly couldn't find an
illustrator for a book about the life of Muhammad. Jyllands-Posten
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invited Danish illustrators to depict Muhammad "as you see him."
Not all of the cartoons submitted in response to his invitation featured images of Muhammed. Two of them caricatured Bluitgen, one
mocked Jyllands-Posten itself, while others caricatured Danish politicians. The most famous of the cartoons, by Kurt Westergaard, depicted Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.
In February 2006, Rose wrote an essay for the Washington
Post entitled “Why I Published Those Cartoons.” He noted that Kurt
Westergaard had previously drawn outrageous cartoons of Jesus and
the Star of David, neither of which had led to "embassy burnings or
death threats". Rose asked: “Has Jyllands-Posten insulted and disrespected Islam?.. When I visit a mosque, I show my respect by taking
off my shoes. I follow the customs, just as I do in a church, synagogue or other holy place. But if a believer demands that I, as a
nonbeliever, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission. And that is incompatible
with a secular democracy.” As for avoiding offense, Rose stated: “I
am offended by things in the paper every day: transcripts of speeches by Osama bin Laden, photos from Abu Ghraib, people insisting
that Israel should be erased from the face of the Earth, people saying
the Holocaust never happened. But that does not mean that I would
refrain from printing them as long as they fell within the limits of
the law and of the newspaper's ethical code….As a former correspondent in the Soviet Union, I am sensitive about calls for censorship on the grounds of insult. This is a popular trick of totalitarian
movements: Label any critique or call for debate as an insult and
punish the offenders… The lesson from the Cold War is: If you give
in to totalitarian impulses once, new demands follow. The West prevailed in the Cold War because we stood by our fundamental values
and did not appease totalitarian tyrants.”
Watching
Task 2. Watch the HARDtalk and answer the questions below.
1. How does Flemming feel about the Charlie Hebdo incident?
2. How is he connected with Charlie Hebdo?
3. What does Flemming say about other newspapers?
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4. How does he explain why he commissioned the cartoons?
5. What does Flemming mean by stating “Violence works, the
sword is mightier than the pen”?
6. Why didn‟t his newspaper reprint the cartoons?
7. What is his attitude towards the freedom of speech and violence?
8. Does he agree that he offended Muslims with his cartoons?
9. Does he feel responsible for the deaths of people who died
because of the cartoons he commissioned?
10. What is the attitude of his family towards the things that
he does?
Task 3. Fill in the gaps in the sentences below.
1. Watching the Danish embassies burn seemed ______ and
_____________.
2. If the reaction in 2006 was a bit _________, maybe we
wouldn‟t be in a situation we are now.
3. There is a lack of _____________ or _________ behind
making editorial decisions.
4. One thing is to publish a cartoon as an act of __________.
Another thing is to publish a cartoon because it‟s ____.
5. We are losing the ______, but we are not losing the ___.
6. I would rather die ________ than live on my _____.
7. When we talk about ______, we have to talk about
_______________ too.
8. Publication doesn‟t mean ___________.
9. We don‟t publish images ____________ intended to offend
religious sensibility.
10. Had you known that this was going to be the _______,
would you still press the “print” button?
Sharing Ideas
Task 4. Discuss the following questions in pairs/small groups.
1. Is publishing offensive cartoons in a newspaper a good
thing?
2. Do you think Flemming “fights” for the freedom of
speech?
3. Why has there been such a reaction to the cartoons and is it
a normal reaction?
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4. How can we prevent the incidents like that of Charlie Hebdo attack from happening?
5. Should we have absolute freedom of speech?
Task 5. Role-play Mini-Debate with several participants to
discuss the problems involved in the interview: freedom of speech
vs. religious / ethic norms. You may make up the setting or use that
of a talk show. You may choose the roles from the list below or
make up your own ones:
– the host;
– a pious person;
– a journalist;
– a priest;
– a politician;
– a student.
Unit 7
BBC HARDtalk with Radek Sikorski
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVR1epdvqbI.
Do you know…
– Radek Sikorski as a journalist
or a politician?
– any of his TV programs/his
books/reportages?
Lead-in
Task 1 A. Answer the questions
below. With a partner or the class, compare your answers. Read the
text below and confirm your answers.
Radosław Tomasz "Radek" Sikorski (born 23 February 1963)
is a Polish politician and journalist.
Sikorski was born in Bydgoszcz. In June 1981 he travelled to
the United Kingdom to study English. After martial law was declared
in December 1981, he was granted political asylum in Britain in 1982.
He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Pembroke College,
University of Oxford. During his time at Oxford, Sikorski was head of
the Standing Committee of the debating society, the Oxford Union
(where he organized debates on martial law), president of the Oxford
University Polish Society. He graduated in 1986. In 1987, Sikorski
was awarded British citizenship, which he renounced in 2006 on becoming Minister of Defense of Poland (2005–2007).
In 1989, he became the chief foreign correspondent for the
American conservative magazine National Review, reporting from
Afghanistan and Angola.
In 1990–91, he was the Sunday Telegraph's Warsaw correspondent. He was the author of the 'Interview of the Month' program
on Polish public TV, in which he interviewed Margaret Thatcher,
Lech Walesa, Vaclav Klaus, Otto von Hapsburg, Henry Kissinger,
Qian Qichen and others.
Sikorski was Marshal of the Seym from 2014 to 2015 and
Minister of Foreign Affairs in Donald Tusk‟s cabinet between 2007
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and 2014. He previously served as Deputy Minister of National Defense (1992), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1998–2001). On
6 November 2015 Sikorski was appointed a Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Center for European Studies. On 11 February
2016, Sikorski was elected the Chairman of the Board of the Bydgoszcz Industrial-Technological Park. He has donated his salary
to Bydgosko Care and education Institutions Unit.
Task 3. Reconstruct the situations the following words and
word combinations were used in the interview.
– „Don‟t panic course!‟
– miscalculation of gigantic historical proportions.
– European single market.
– BDI as the German equivalent of CBI.
– Trans-Atlantic relations.
Task 1 B. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
Sharing Ideas
Task 4. Comment on the following quotations from
HARDtalk with Radek Sikorski:
– You know things are bad when people are constantly telling
you not to panic.
– I don‟t speak for the current government, I didn‟t vote for
them.
Watching
Task 2. Watch HARDtalk with Radek Sikorski. As you watch,
complete the list of topics discussed in the interview as well as remarkable quotes/key words in the table below using information
from the program – the examples show you what to do.
Topics for discussion
1. The world reaction to Brexit
Remarkable quotes / key words
The whole world will gasp in disbelief if Britain votes to leave. Prediction had born fruit
2. The EU as a fragile project; unraveling the EU
3.
to take care of our/your union
4.
I wouldn’t like to be him in the European Council summit (in front of
the 27 leaders of the other nation
states)!
Horror scenario for the Western
world.
A sense of foreboding
5. Boris Jonson as the leader of
Brexit negotiations
6. Negotiating full access to the
European single market as part of
Brexit negotiations
7.
‘Disintegration of the EU is practically irreversible’
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Task 5. Role play an in-depth interview with some Brexiter or
Remainer covering sensitive issues of Britain leaving the EU.
Among others, include the questions below in the list of the debatable topics:
– Brexit negotiations;
– the world reaction to Brexit;
– „horror scenario‟ for the Western world‟;
– the EU as a fragile project;
– disintegration of the EU;
– Boris Jonson as the leader of Brexit negotiations.
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Unit 8
BBC HARDtalk with Donald Trump
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4CqF4hjCGI.
Do you know...
– what the career of Donald Trump was like
before he was elected president?
– why he was elected?
– what the pluses and minuses of being a
wealthy person like Mr. Trump are?
Lead-in
Task 1 A. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below for additional information.
in the world, and 156th in the United States, with a net worth of
$ 3.7 billion in October 2016.
In June 2015, Trump announced his candidacy for president
as a Republican and quickly emerged as the front-runner for his party's nomination. Trump's campaign received unprecedented media
coverage and international attention. Trump won the general election on November 8, 2016, in a surprise victory against Democratic
opponent Hillary Clinton. He became the oldest and wealthiest person to assume the presidency, the first without prior military or government service, and the fifth elected with less than a plurality of
the national popular vote. His political positions have been described by scholars and commentators as populist, protectionist, and
nationalist.
On November 8, 2016 Donald Trump was elected president of
the United States of America.
Donald John Trump is an American businessman, reality television personality, politician, and President of the United States.
Since 1971 he has chaired The Trump Organization, the principal
holding company for his real estate ventures and other business interests. During his business career, Trump has built office towers,
hotels, casinos, golf courses, and other branded facilities worldwide.
He was elected as the 45th U.S. president in the 2016 election on the
Republican ticket, defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
At 70 years old, Trump will be the oldest person to assume the presidency.
Trump was born and raised in New York City and received a
bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania in 1968. In 1971, he took control of his
father Fred Trump's real estate and construction firm. Trump has
appeared at the Miss USA pageants, which he owned from 1996 to
2015, and has made cameo appearances in films and television series. He sought the Reform Party presidential nomination in 2000,
but withdrew before voting began. He hosted and co-produced The
Apprentice, a reality television series on NBC, from 2004 to 2015.
As of 2016, he was listed by Forbes as the 324th wealthiest person
Task 1 B. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information? Compare with a
partner.
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Watching
Task 2. Watch HARDtalk with Donald Trump (1998) and answer the questions below.
1. What does Donald Trump think about doing business in
New York?
2. According to Donald Trump, what are the main personal
qualities for a businessman?
3. What is it that drives Donald Trump?
4. What does Donald Trump think about greed?
5. What is the importance of getting even according to Donald
Trump?
6. Why did he almost lose everything, but then got it all back
again?
7. What was the most depressing time in his life?
8. What is the role of women in his life?
9. What is a prenuptial agreement and what does he think
about it?
10. What are the negative sides of success according to Donald Trump?
11. What famous friends does he have?
19. What is easier for Donald Trump – business or relationships?
20. What is his relationship with his children and parents?
21. What are his relations with the press?
22. What is it like to have all the money Donald Trump has?
Task 3. Fill in the gaps in the sentences from the interview
with D. Trump below.
1. Generally you have to _________________ in order to do
something of consequence.
2. Every time you have a great business you always have
____________.
3. It's good to always know that people are out there looking
to ___________.
4. I think greed is ______.
5. If somebody went out of their way to hurt you, you should
_____________.
6. Who are the _______ and the _______ in the society?
7. New York has _______, New York has unbelievable
________ and everyone wants to come here.
8. I faced the possibility of ___________, but I went to work
and focused my energy.
9. I didn't stop, I did _______ and I went against a lot of
_______.
10. I blamed myself a little bit, because I was always able to
________ and I really wasn't ________ towards the end of
the eighties, because I was having ____________, I was
enjoying my life too much.
2. If you enjoy what you are doing, it is going to be successful
generally. If you don't enjoy what you're it's almost never
going to be a success.
3. There is no such thing as weaker sex.
Task 5. Role play Mini Debate on the topics covered in the interview. Since HARDtalk with Donald Trump dates back to 1998,
discuss the topics from modern perspective. Share your opinion on
the most sensitive topics asked by the interviewer. Among others,
include the following in the debate:
– Trump believes in importance of getting even. Do you?
– What qualities are important for success?
– Why do so many people fail in business?
– Do you agree with Trump's idea that women are more aggressive than men?
– Compare the views Trump expressed in HARDtalk of 1998
with the ones he made public throughout his presidential
race 2016.
– Compare the style of the HARDtalk presenter 1998 with the
one of modern presenter.
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Comment on the following quotations from
HARDtalk with Donald Trump.
1. There is a certain advantage to having a certain degree of
paranoia in business.
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Unit 9
BBC HARDtalk with Malcolm Turnbull
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6J_z-wKk4s.
Do you know...
– who Malcolm Turnbull is?
– his position on same-sex
marriage and abortion?
– how he obtained his current position?
– what changes he introduced to the government?
Lead-in
Task 1 A. Answer the questions below. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers.
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is the 29th
and current Prime Minister of Australia. Turnbull became Prime
Minister and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia after he defeated the incumbent Tony Abbott at the September 2015 Liberal leadership ballot. He is leading the incumbent Liberal / National Coalition government against the Shorten Labor Opposition at the 2016
federal election on Saturday 2 July. Following persistent leadership
tensions, the 2015 Liberal leadership spill motion on 9 February was
moved against incumbent Tony Abbott.
On 14 September 2015, after 30 consecutive News polls had
put the Liberals far behind Labor, Turnbull resigned from the Cabinet and announced he would challenge Abbott for the leadership of
the Liberal Party. Turnbull stated that Abbott "was not capable of
providing the economic leadership we need" and that the Liberal
Party needs a "style of leadership that respects the people's intelligence. "Turnbull defeated Abbott by 54 votes to 44 at the 2015 Liberal leadership ballot on 14 September. He was sworn in as the 29th
Prime Minister of Australia the following day.
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On Turnbull's key policy differences with Abbott, particularly
climate change, republicanism and same-sex marriage, he stated that
there would be no immediate change before any election. The Nationals successfully negotiated a total of $4 billion worth of deals
from Turnbull, as well as control of the water portfolio, in exchange
for a continued Coalition agreement.
Task 1 B. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information? Compare with a
partner.
Watching
Task 2. Watch the HARDtalk and answer the following questions.
1. Are there any differences between Turnbull‟s views and the
official position of his party?
2. What is Turnbull‟s attitude to same-sex marriage?
3. Can you define his position concerning immigration?
4. How can you define his position on global warming?
5. What is his view of Edward Snowden and the intelligence
scandals?
Sharing Ideas
Task 3. Comment on the quotes from the BBC HARDtalk
with Malcolm Turnbull.
1. The only poll that matters is the one on election day.
2. We serve the Australian people. The Prime-minister is first
among equals, it's a collective leadership.
3. The liberal party is a broad church.
4. The differences are often highlighted and people often
overlook that between two parties or two people there is a
lot of commonality.
5. Abortion is an easy way out.
6. One thing we want to stop is this appalling business of
people-smuggling and the only way to do that is to deprive
them of a product to sell.
7. Australia failed to respect the rights of the most vulnerable
people
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8. You said that all Australians should take seriously what
Edward Snowden has revealed.
9. Snowden has done a lot of damage because he revealed a
massive amount of very current intelligence information.
Task 4. Find additional information about the people mentioned in the video and match the names with the facts.
Kevin Rudd – Julia Gillard –
Tony – Abbot
– 28th prime-minister of Australia; pro-gay marriage; was replaced by Malcolm Turnbull because lost the trust of the
party;
– 27th prime-minister of Australia; represented Labor party;
introduced a tax to fight global warming; against gay marriage; replaced Kevin Rudd because lost the trust of the party;
– the prime-minister of Australia twice; was against gay marriage; stood down as prime-minister in 2010; replaced Julia
Gillard because lost the trust of the party.
Task 5. Role play Mini-Debate on the topics discussed in the
interview. Discuss the most sensitive topics with the group. Among
others, include the following questions in the debate:
1. Should Russia have immigration laws that are as strict as in
Australia?
2. What qualities should a person have to be a good politician?
3. Why do so many people dislike politicians?
4. Are you personally interested in politics? why / why not?
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Unit 10
BBC HARDTalk with Ursula von der Leyen
URL: https://youtu.be/pTZuvAT8oxg.
Do you know…
– the position of Ursula von der
Leyen?
– her profession?
– anything about her activities as
the Minister of Defence?
– her political views?
Lead in
Task 1 A. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below for additional information.
Ursula von der Leyen (born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been the Minister of Defence since 2013. She is the
first woman in German history to hold that office, A doctor by profession, she previously also served as the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs from 2009–2013 and as the Minister of Senior Citizens,
Women and Youth from 2005 and 2009. She has sometimes been
suggested as a possible future successor of Angela Merkel due to
personal loyalty to the Chancellor and her political instinct.
In 2013, Ursula von der Leyen was appointed as Germany's
first female defence minister. By placing a major party figure such
as von der Leyen at the head of the Defence Ministry, Merkel was
widely seen as reinvigorating the scandal-ridden ministry‟s morale
and prestige. Along with Finance Minister and Interior Minister, von
der Leyen is one of only three ministers to remain with Merkel since
she became chancellor in 2005.
Within her first year in office, von der Leyen visited the Bundeswehr troops stationed in Afghanistan three times and oversaw
the gradual withdrawal of German soldiers from the country as
NATO was winding down its 13-year combat mission ISAF. In
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summer 2014, she was instrumental in Germany‟s decision to resupply the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters with lethal assistance.
At the Munich Security Conference in 2015, von der Leyen
publicly defended the German refusal to supply Ukraine with weapons. Stressing that it was important to remain united in Europe over
Ukraine, she argued that negotiations with Russia, unlike with Islamic State jihadists, were possible. Germany sees Ukraine and Russia as a chance to prove that in the 21st century, developed nations
should solve disputes at the negotiating table, not with weapons, she
said. Von der Leyen said giving the Ukrainians arms to help them
defend themselves could have unintended and fateful consequences.
Von der Leyen has in the past voted in favor of German participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions as well as in
United Nations-mandated European Union peacekeeping missions
on the African continent.
Task 1 B. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any facts from the text? Compare
with a partner.
Watching
Task 2. Watch the Hardtalk and identify the topics which
were not discussed during the talk.
– the current situation in Syria;
– Germany-Moscow relations;
– ISIS as the real danger;
– oil prices;
– the problem of consensus;
– need for decisive actions in Syria and Iraq;
– building alliance against terror;
– strategy to fight ISIS;
– the Holocaust;
– modernization of the German army;
– solution of the situation in Ukraine;
– securing Europe‟s borders: migrant crisis;
– Britain leaving the EU.
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Task 3. According to Ursula von der Leyen, are the statements
true or false?
1. The Europeans were taken by surprise when Russia got involved in the Syria war.
2. The achievements of Europe in solving the conflict in Syria
is overestimated.
3. There‟s a strong need for consensus as to „whom to fight
and whom to protect‟.
4. Active involvement of Germany in the Ukrainian conflict
would have raised the bloodshed.
5. Germany is against having Great Britain in the European
Union.
Task 4. Comment on the quotations from the interview:
1. In the eastern Ukraine we saw the choreography of the hybrid warfare.
2. We should not lose focus together that all of us have an interest to fight ISIS.
3. V. Putin is running rings around the Western powers including NATO members, including the US, including
Germany.
4. We were able to stabilize the Peshmerga.
5. We really want you in Europe and we are willing to offer
and to share a lot with you – what your concerns are and
find solutions to keep the British in Europe. This is something which is a good and old European tradition.
Task 5. Role play Mini Debate on the topics discussed in the
interview. What topics discussed in the interview of 2015 seem to be
outdated? Share your opinion on the most important topics with the
group. Among others, include the following in the interview:
– strategy to fight ISIS;
– need for decisive actions in Syria and Iraq;
– securing Europe‟s borders: migrant crisis;
– building alliance against terror;
– „frozen conflict in Ukraine‟ because of having „much bigger
issues to worry about‟.
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Unit 11
BBC HARDtalk with Mikhail Zygar
URL: https://youtu.be/3jjYJlcHlFs.
Do you know…
– Mikhail Zygar as a writer or
a movie director?
– him as a political journalist
or a war correspondent?
– that he is the founding editorin-chief of TV channel Dozhd?
– the book by M. Zygar that became a best seller in Russia
and caused „a stir‟ in the West?
Lead-in
Task 1 A. Answer the questions above. With a partner or the
class, compare your answers. Read the text below and confirm your
answers.
Mikhail Zygar (born 31 January 1981) is a Russian journalist,
writer and filmmaker, and the founding editor-in-chief of the Russian independent news TV-channel, Dozhd (2010–2015). Under
Zygar's leadership, the channel's coverage of politically sensitive
issues, like the Moscow street protests in 2011 and 2012 as well as
the conflict in Ukraine, has been dramatically different from the official coverage by Russia's national television stations. Zygar is also
the author of the book 'All the Kremlin's Men' based on interviews
with Russian politicians from Putin's inner circle. The book has become an outstanding best-seller in Russia.
Zygar was born in Moscow, 31 January 1981. He became
known as a war correspondent of Kommersant, covering wars in
Iraq and Lebanon, genocide in Darfur, and revolution in Kyrgyzstan.
In May 2005 Zygar was the only international journalist to report
from Uzbekistan‟s Andijan (Andijan Massacre).
In 2010 Zygar became the first (founding) editor in chief of
Dozhd, the first independent TV-channel in Russia in 10 years.
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In 2015 Zygar announced he would leave the post of chief editor. He told “Kommersant” that he intends to engage in his own
multimedia project “The History of Free Russia”.
Zygar‟s books: War in Myth (2007); Gazprom. New Russian
Weapon (2008); All the Kremlin‟s Men (2015).
Zygar‟s films: To Bury Stalin (2013); Who‟s the Power
(2013); Past and Duma (2013).
Task 1 B. Which information from the text did you already
know? Were you surprised by any information from the text? Compare with a partner.
Watching
Task 2. Watch the HARDtalk and complete the list of discussed topics:
– the question of liberalism in Russia;
– independent journalism in Russia;
– ……………………………………;
– ……………………………………;
– ……………………………………;
Task 3. According to Mikhail Zygar, are the statements true or
false?
1. There was no pressure on the TV station Dozhd.
2. Independent journalism in Russia exists, it‟s not North Korea.
3. The West was not going to welcome Russia to NATO.
4. During the first decade of this century Russian people were
really prosperous.
5. We see Russia accused of using cyber security operators to
hack the Republican headquarters and play a role in the US
election.
6. The West was not going to welcome Russia to NATO.
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Comment on the quotations from the interview:
1. The language of destiny – the Russian values-based destiny. etc.
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2. There is a social pact between Russian authorities and Russian society.
3. If you want to be really a decent journalist, you have to understand that you can be either independent or prosperous,
you cannot earn a lot.
Task 5. Role play Mini-Debate on the topics discussed in the
interview. Can you think of a program on Russian TV Hardtalk resembles? What would be your answers to the questions asked by
Stephen Sackur? Share your opinion on the most sensitive topics
with the group. Among others, include the following in the debate:
– the message of propaganda;
– independent media in Russia;
– the book that became „a stir in the West‟.
Part III
WORDS OF WISDOM:
COMMENCEMENT SPEECHES
A commencement speech or commencement address is a
speech given to graduating students, generally at university or colleges in the United States. The "commencement" is a ceremony in
which degrees (or diplomas) are conferred upon graduating students.
A commencement speech is typically given by a notable figure in
the community. Very commonly, colleges or universities will invite
politicians, important citizens, or other noted speakers to come and
address the graduating class. Since a commencement speech is less
bound by the structure found in other forms of public address, the
speaker enjoys a unique freedom to express himself or herself.
The probable question to ask about commencement speeches
is, Why bother to watch them not during the graduation ceremony?
The eternal answers to this question are two: enjoyment and understanding. It is an opportunity to learn values and advice from experience. Amazing, unlimited things you can hear in the commencement
speeches is what we call words of wisdom.
Unit 1
Freedom of speech: Michael Bloomberg’s
commencement address
Harvard University. 2014. URL: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Zhfn2zgFFJ8.
Do you know...
– who Michael Bloomberg is?
– what was his political career like?
Task 1. Compare your answers with a
partner or the class. Read the text below
for additional information.
Michael Rubens "Mike" Bloomberg (born
February 14, 1942) is an Ameri100
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can business magnate, politician, and philanthropist. His net worth is
estimated at US $ 42.7 billion, as of October 2016, ranking him as
the 6th richest person in the United States and the 8th richest person
in the world.
Bloomberg is the founder, CEO, and owner of Bloomberg
L.P., the global financial data and media company that bears his
name, and is notable for its Bloomberg Terminal, which is widely
used by investment professionals around the world. He began his
career at the securities brokerage Salomon Brothers, before forming
his own company in 1981 and spending the next twenty years as its
Chairman and CEO. Bloomberg also served as Chairman of the
Board of Trustees at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University,
from 1996 to 2002.
Bloomberg served as the 108th Mayor of New York City,
holding office for three consecutive terms, beginning with his first
election in 2001.
Watching
Task 2. Watch the commencement and give the Russian
equivalents to the following from M. Bloomberg's address.
1. Кто бы мог подумать! 2. Вы наверное задаетесь вопросом: "Как это он попал в Бизнес-Школу?" 3. Моих преподавателей я удивил сильнее, чем самого себя. 4. Вас не раздражает,
что выпускники повсюду норовят впихнуть свое имя? 5. Наша
цель не просто продвигать знание, а продвигать идеалы нашей
нации. 6. Однако такое доверие постоянно под ударом. 7. Как
Гарвард, так и мой родной город – Нью-Йорк стали свидетелями этого тренда. 8. Опросы показали, что две трети американцев были против строительства мечети на этом месте. 9. Они
еще никогда так не ошибались. 10. Мы не поддались / не сдались.
– ……………………;
– …………………….
Task 4. Watch the video sequence and answer the questions
below.
1. What examples of censorship does the speaker mention?
2. According to the speaker, what should we do when someone disagrees with us?
3. What tips does Michael Bloomberg mention during his address?
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Comment on the quotations from the address below.
1. The University's obligation is not to teach students what to
think, but to teach them how to think .
2. People don't listen to facts that run counter to their ideology. They fear them.
3. There is no easy time to say hard things.
4. Attempting to restrict my freedoms in ways you'd not restrict your own freedoms leads only to injustice.
Task 3. Watch the video sequence and add to the list of topics
Michael Bloomberg covered:
– freedom of speech;
– ……………………;
– ……………………;
– ……………………;
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103
Unit 2
Simulation theory: Matt Damon’s
commencement address
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2016. URL: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFNgoZ5-qAM.
Do you know...
– who Matt Damon is?
– in what films he starred?
– if he has a family?
Task 1. Compare your answers with a partner or the class. Read the text below for additional information.
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon (born October 8, 1970) is an
American actor, film producer and screenwriter. He is ranked among
Forbes magazine's most bankable stars and is one of the highestgrossing actors of all time. Damon has received several accolades,
including an Academy Award from four nominations, two Golden
Globe Awards from seven nominations, and has been nominated for
two British Academy Film Awards and six Emmy Awards.
Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Damon began
his acting career by appearing in high school theater productions and
he made his professional acting debut in the film Mystic Pizza
(1988). He came to prominence in 1997 when he wrote and starred
in Good Will Hunting alongside Ben Affleck, which won them the
Academy and Golden Globe awards for Best Screenplay, and earned
Damon a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He
continued to garner praise from critics for his roles as the eponymous character in Saving Private Ryan (1998), the antihero in The
Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), a fallen angel in Dogma (1999), an energy analyst in Syriana (2005), and an Irish-American criminal in
The Departed (2006).
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Task 2. Make sure you know what the following words and
expressions mentioned during the address stand for.
imposing, rocky marriage, fake, fly out the window, shift, by
and large, work overtime, get away with, natural response, frame of
reference, get hooked, blind spot, game over.
Watching
Task 3. Watch the video sequence and add to the list of topics
Matt Damon covered:
simulation theory;
lack of clean water;
……………………;
……………………;
……………………
Task 4. Watch the video sequence and answer the questions
below.
1. How many college degrees does Matt Damon have?
2. What world problems does he mention?
3. In what humanitarian projects did he participate?
4. What is Damon‟s advice to the alumni?
5. What does the expression "to be okay-thanksed" mean, according to Matt Damon?
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Comment on the quotations from the address below.
1. Judge me by how good my good ideas are, not how bad my
bad ideas are.
2. Democracy requires compromise even when you are 100 %
right.
3. What if this, all of this is just a simulation?
4. Turn towards the problems you see and engage them.
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Task 4. Watch the video sequence and choose the correct var-
Unit 3
Reaching for your destiny: Robert De Niro’s
commencement address
Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. 2015. URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE_9yXAJlxs.
Do you know...
– who Robert de Niro is?
– in what films he starred?
Task 1. Compare your answers with
a partner or the class. Read the text
below for additional information.
Robert Anthony De Niro (born August 17, 1943) is an American actor and producer who has both Italian and American citizenship. He was cast as the young Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The
Godfather Part II, for which he won the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor. His longtime collaboration with director Martin
Scorsese earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake La Motta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He received
the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Golden Globe Cecil
B. DeMille Award in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom
from President Barack Obama in 2016.
Task 2. Make sure you know what the following words and
expressions mentioned during the address stand for.
iant.
1. De Niro is listing all the colleges in the University because:
– he wants students to get one more degree;
– he studied there;
– he means that their students are more likely to get a job.
2. What is the main piece of advice from De Niro?
– acting is a bad profession;
– keep trying, failure is OK;
– having good relations with a director is vital for success.
3. According to the speaker, what should you do when you
have disagreements with directors?
– try to show your point of view, let the director decide;
– don't show your point of view, let the director decide;
– try to show your point of view, do it your way in the end.
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Comment on the quotations from the address below.
1. When it comes to the arts, passion should always trump
common sense.
2. On this day a new door is opening for you – a door to a
lifetime of rejection. It's inevitable, it's what graduates call
the real world.
3. The power doesn't come from the title, the power comes
from trust, respect, vision, work and collaboration.
make it – lousy – reason – trump –
succumb to – rejection – common sense
Watching
Task 3. Watch the commencement and add to the list of topics Robert de Niro covered:
choosing a profession……………………………..;
……………………………………………………..;
……………………………………………………..
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107
Unit 4
A remarkable ride: Neil Gaiman’s
commencement address
The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
2012. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikAb-NYkseI.
Do you know...
– who Neil Gaiman is?
– what he is famous for?
Task 1. Compare your answers with a partner or the class. Read the text below for
additional information.
Neil Gaiman (born 10 November 1960) is
an English author of short fiction, novels,
comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre,
and films. His notable works include the
comic book series The Sandman and novels
Stardust, American Gods, Coralline, and The Graveyard Book. He
has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram
Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is
the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals
for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008). In 2013, The Ocean
at the End of the Lane was voted Book of the Year in the British
National Book Awards.
Watching
Task 2. Watch the commencement and choose the correct variant.
1. Neil Gaiman:
– told the graduates about his students‟ days at the University of New York;
– liked the years of enforced learning;
– mentioned taking a course at the State University of New
York;
– confessed that he never graduated from an establishment
of higher education.
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2. The best piece of advice Neil Gaiman ever got was:
– never followed;
– to start out a career in the arts;
– to learn the rules of making a career;
– to know what is possible and what is impossible.
3. The following was stated in Neil Gaiman‟s Address:
– Luck is useful.
– Art is honor.
– You can be as creative as you need to be to get your
work seen.
– The harder you work, and the more wisely you work, the
luckier you get.
Task 3. Complete the list of advice Neil Gaiman gave to students in his commencement.
1. First of all: when you start a career in the arts you …
2. Secondly, if you have an idea …
3. Thirdly, when you start off …
4. Fourthly, I hope …
5. Fifthly, …
6. Sixthly, I will pass on …
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Answer the questions below.
1. What problems seem to be harder for Neil Gaiman – the
problems of success or the problems of failure?
2. What problems seem to be harder for you – the problems of
success or the problems of failure? Give your reason.
Task 5. What is your interpretation of the quotation from the
speech “I‟ve had a remarkable ride.”? Do you think the commencement speaker really had “a remarkable ride”?
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Unit 5
Bill Gates’ Harvard commencement address
Bill Gates addresses the Harvard Alumni Association in Tecentenary Theater at Harvard University's. 2007. URL: https://
youtu.be/f9aaxYGvjwQ.
Do you know...
– when Bill Gates entered
Harvard?
– what he is sometimes
referred to as Harvard
drop out?
– if he received his doctorate degree from Harvard?
Task 1. Answer the questions above. Compare your answers with a partner or the class. Read
the text below for additional information.
William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is a
technology entrepreneur, American business magnate, investor, author and philanthropist. In 1975, Gates and fellow visionary Paul
Allen co-founded the Microsoft Corporation, which became the
world's largest PC software company. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, CEO and chief software architect, and was the largest individual shareholder until May
2014. Gates has authored and co-authored several books.
Bill Gates is called "Harvard's most successful dropout" – the
rest of the world just calls him ridiculously rich. For more than a
decade, Bill Gates has been one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, men in the world. The son of an attorney and a schoolteacher,
Gates entered Harvard in the fall of 1973, only to drop out two years
later to found Microsoft with childhood friend Paul Allen. In 2007,
more than thirty years after he left Harvard, the co-founder of Microsoft would finally receive his degree (an honorary doctorate)
from his alma mater. At the commencement, Gates said, "I'm a bad
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influence. That's why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I
had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today."
Watching
Task 2. Watch the commencement and identify:
– the key messages;
– the values the speaker is trying to put forward;
– the key learning points for you.
Task 3. According to Bill Gates, are the statements true or
false?
– Harvard was a phenomenal experience for him.
– Radcliffe was a great place to live. Most of the guys were
science-math types.
– He left Harvard with real awareness of the awful inequities
in the world – the appalling disparities of health, and
wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to
lives of despair.
– He learned a lot at Harvard about new ideas in economics
and history.
– Harvard graduates nowadays know more about the world‟s
inequities than the classes that came before.
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Bill Gates is one of the most successful people to never receive their sheepskins. Top ten college dropouts list includes
Steve Jobs, James Cameron, Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Lady Gaga… Do you know any others? Why do you think
they failed to graduate?
Task 5. Make presentation of any other „top ten college dropouts‟ commencement addresses who never received their sheepskins.
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Unit 6
President Obama’s commencement address
Howard University. May 2016. URL: https://youtu.be/_
K4MctEmkmI.
Do you know...
– if Howard is a private or
state university?
– anything about its history?
– if Howard open to all genders and races?
– any other president Obama‟s commencements?
Task 1. Answer the questions above. Compare your answers
with a partner or the class. Read the text below for additional information.
Howard University is a federally chartered, private, coeducational, historically black university (HBCU) in Washington, D.C. It
is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university
with high research activity. Howard University is almost exclusively
(91.2 %) African-American.
U.S. Congress chartered Howard on March 2, 1867, and much
of its early funding came from endowment, private benefaction, and
tuition.
In addition to the undergraduate program, Howard has graduate
schools in business, nursing, engineering, pharmacy, law, social work,
education, communications, art, science, divinity, dentistry, and medicine. Howard is the most comprehensive HBCU in the country and
produces the most black doctorate recipients of any university.
The 256-acre (1.04 km2; 0.400 sq mi) campus often referred
to as "The Mecca" is located in northwest Washington.
– creation of Howard,
– Howard as a centerpiece of African-American intellectual life,
– ………………………………….……….,
– …………………………………………..
Task 3. Which statements from the commencement are True /
False? Correct the false statements.
1. Howard has been the home of numerous scholars, professionals, artists, and leaders from every field.
2. The seeds of change for Afro – Americans were sown in
Howard.
3. America has hardly changed since the time President
Obama graduated from college.
4. The fact that Obama was elected the US president created a
post – racial society.
5. Seeing the Howard class of 2016 gave President Obama
gave him some perspective.
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Comment on the quotations from President Obama‟s
commencement:
1. They created this university with a vision – a vision of uplift.
2. America is by almost every measure better than it was
when I graduated from college.
3. Our nation had gone through years of economic stagnation,
the stranglehold of foreign oil, a recession where unemployment nearly scraped 11 %.
4. The auto industry was getting its clock cleaned by foreign
competition.
5. Just 60 years earlier, my father might not have been served
in a D.C. restaurant.
6. I am not saying gaps do not persist.
Watching
Task 2. Watch President Obama‟s commencement and complete the list of topics the speaker covered:
– the way „on top‟ – the way to graduation,
Task 5. Role play Mini Debate „Seeds of Change‟ based on
the topics covered in the commencement. Among others, include the
following in the debate:
– creation of a post – racial society;
– the moment the graduates of 2016 live in;
– people living in democracies.
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Unit 7
How to live before you die:
Steve Jobs’ commencement address
Stanford University June 12, 2005. URL: https://www.you
tube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc.
Do you know...
– what Steve Jobs is famous for?
– his great achievements?
– his life story?
Task 1. Answer the questions above.
Compare your answers with a partner
or the class. Read the text below for
additional information.
Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (1955–2011) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, inventor, and industrial designer. He was
the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc; CEO and majority
shareholder of Pixar; a member of The Walt Disney Company's
board of directors following its acquisition of Pixar; and founder,
chairman, and CEO of NeXT. Jobs and Apple co-founder Steve
Wozniakare are widely recognized as pioneers of the microcomputer
revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. Following a long power struggle,
Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985.
After leaving Apple, Jobs took a few of its members with him
to found NeXT, a computer-platform development company specializing in state-of-the-art computers for higher-education and business
markets.
In 1997, Apple merged with NeXT. Within a few months of
the merger, Jobs became CEO of his former company, reviving
Apple at the verge of bankruptcy. Beginning in 1997 with the
"Think different" advertising campaign, Jobs worked closely with
designer Jonathan Ive to develop a line of products that would have
larger cultural ramifications: theiMac, iTunes and iTunes Store, Apple Store, iPod, iPhone, App Store, and the iPad. MacOS was also
revamped intoOS X (renamed “macOS” in 2016), based onNeXT‟s
NeXTSEP platform.
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Watching
Task 2. Wearing jeans and sandals under his black robe, Jobs
delivered a keynote address telling graduates three stories of his life.
Watch the sequence and answer the questions below.
1. Where did Steve Jobs deliver his keynote address?
2. What was Steve Jobs wearing?
3. What are the three stories of Steve Jobs about?
4. What lesson did Steve. Jobs glean from his high-profile
ousting in 1985?
5. What are the pivotal points of the speaker‟s life?
Task 3. Give the Russian equivalents to the following from
S. Jobs‟ address.
1. Три истории. Только и всего. 2. Я бросил учебу в колледже. 3. Я продолжал ходить на лекции и жить в студенческом
городке, пока не забросил это дело окончательно. 4. Мы разошлись; окончательно разругались. 5. Совет Директоров принял
его сторону. 6. Меня с шумом уволили. 7. Я чувствовал опустошенность. 8. Я подвел предыдущее поколение предпринимателей. 9. Они передали мне эстафетную палочку, а я ее выронил. 10. Тяжкое бремя успеха сменилось чувством легкости.
Task 4. Complete the sentences to give the gist of Steve Jobs‟
address.
1. Steve Jobs delivered his keynote address that spanned his
adoption at birth to …
2. In plainspoken terms the commencement speaker urged
graduates to ...
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Comment on the quotation from the commencement
speech: “Stay hungry! Stay foolish”.
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Unit 8
Ten stories: admiral William H. McRaven’s
commencement address
University of Texas at Austin. 2014. URL: https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=pxBQLFLei70.
Do you know...
– who William H. McRaven is?
– what his achievements are?
Task 1. Compare your answers with a
partner or the class. Read the text
below for additional information.
William Harry McRaven (born November 6, 1955) is a former United States Navy admiral who last served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command from August 8, 2011, to August 28, 2014. Since January 2015, he has served
as the chancellor of The University of Texas System.
McRaven previously served from June 13, 2008, to August
2011 as Commander, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)
and from June 2006 to March 2008 as Commander, Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). In addition to his duties as
COMSOCEUR, he was designated as the first director of the NATO
Special Operations Forces Coordination Centre (NSCC), where he
was charged with enhancing the capabilities and inter-operability of
all NATO Special Operations Forces. Admiral McRaven retired
from the Navy on August 28, 2014, after more than 37 years of service.
Watching
Task 3. Watch the video sequence and make a list of 10 tips
by Admiral McRaven.
1. If you want to change the world, start off by making your
bed.
2. If you want to change the world, …
3. …
Task 4. Watch the video sequence and answer the questions
below.
1. According to McRaven, how difficult is it to change the
world?
2. What is “a sugar cookie”?
3. What is “a circus”?
4. What examples of life-changing events does the speaker
provide?
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Comment on the quotations from the address below.
A. If you can‟t do the little things right, you‟ll never be able
to do the big things right.
B. Sometimes no matter how hard you prepare, you will still
end up "a sugar cookie".
C. There are lots of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim, you‟ll have to deal with them.
D. Generations can be saved by one decision, one person.
E. You can't change the world alone, you will need some
help.
Task 2. Make sure you know what the following words and
expressions mentioned during the address stand for.
Throbbing headache, paragon, get commissioned, folks, ambush, navy seal, crammed, mundane, battle-hardened, reinforce, exert, munchkin, have the last laugh, measure up, bring to bear.
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117
Unit 9
The vital question: Natalie Portman’s
commencement address
Harvard University. 2015. URL: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=jDaZu_KEMCY.
Do you know...
– who Natalie Portman is?
– in what films she starred?
Task 1. Compare your answers
with a partner or the class.
Read the text below for additional information.
Natalie Portman (born June 9, 1981) is an actress, producer
and director with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first
role was in the 1994 action thriller Léon: The Professional, opposite
Jean Reno. She was later cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars
prequel trilogy (released in 1999, 2002 and 2005).
Portman won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an
Academy Award for starring in the 2004 drama Closer, appeared in
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith the following year, and
won a Constellation Award for Best Female Performance and the
Saturn Award for Best Actress for her starring role in the political
thriller V for Vendetta (2006). She played leading roles in the historical dramas Goya's Ghosts (2006) and The Other Boleyn Girl
(2008), and also appeared in Thor (2011) and its 2013 sequel. In
2010, Portman starred in the psychological horror film Black Swan.
Her performance received widespread critical acclaim and she
earned her first Academy Award for Best Actress, her second Golden Globe Award, the SAG Award, the BAFTA Award and the
BFCA Award in 2011.
A. she wanted to be taken seriously;
B. her parents made her do it;
C. she liked neurobiology and ancient Hebrew literature.
2. What did Harvard give her?
A. credentials and respect;
B. knowledge of Hebrew;
C. good friends and experience.
3. What was her first film?
A. Leon: the professional;
B. Star Wars series;
C. V for Vendetta.
Task 3. Watch the video sequence and add to the list of topics
Natalie Portman covered:
fear of failure, happiness …
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Comment on the quotations from the address below.
1. Achievement is wonderful when you know why you're doing it. When you don't know – it can be a terrible trap.
2. Seriousness for seriousness' sake is a dubious kind of trophy.
3. One of your biggest strengths is not knowing how things
are supposed to be.
4. To be or not to be is not the question. The vital question is
how to be and how not to be.
Task 5. Natalie Portman gives several tips to the alumni.
Which tip do you find most interesting and useful? Will you follow
any piece of advice she gives?
Watching
Task 2. Watch the commencement address and choose the
correct variant.
1. Natalie Portman went to Harvard because:
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119
Unit 10
The power is inside us: J.K. Rowling’s
commencement address
Harvard University. 2008. URL: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=wHGqp8lz36c.
Do you know...
– who J.K. Rowling is?
– any books by her?
Task 1. Compare your answers with a partner or the class. Read the text below for
additional information.
Joanne "Jo" Rowling, (born 31 July 1965), pen names
J.K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a British novelist, screenwriter and film producer best known as the author of the Harry Potter
fantasy series. The books have gained worldwide attention, won
multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies. They have
become the best-selling book series in history and been the basis for
a series of films over which Rowling had overall approval on the
scripts and maintained creative control by serving as a producer on
the final installment.
Rowling has lived a "rags to riches" life story, in which she
progressed from living on state benefits to multi-millionaire status
within five years. She is the United Kingdom's best-selling living
author, with sales in excess of £238M. The 2016 Sunday Times Rich
List estimated Rowling's fortune at £600 million, ranking her as the
joint 197th richest person in the UK. Time magazine named her as a
runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral,
and political inspiration she has given her fans. In October 2010,
Rowling was named the "Most Influential Woman in Britain" by
leading magazine editors. She has supported charities including
Comic Relief, One Parent Families, Multiple Sclerosis Society of
Great Britain and Lumos (formerly the Children's High Level
Group).
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Task 2. Make sure you know what the following words and
expressions mentioned during the address stand for:
a win-win situation, distinguished, reflect on, crucial, strike a
balance between, impoverished, mortgage, vocational degree, expiry
date, entail, have a knack for, implode, cautiously, by default, adversity, to the last gasp.
Watching
Task 3. Watch the video sequence and add to the list of topics
J.K. Rowling covered:
benefits of failure, imagination …
Task 4. Watch the video sequence and answer the following
questions.
1. What situations from personal life does she mention?
2. What allusions to her works does she mention?
3. What is her final advice to the alumni?
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Comment on the quotations from the address below.
1. You will never know yourself or the strength of your relations until both have been tested by adversity.
2. Personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a checklist of acquisition or achievement.
3. The willfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are
often more afraid.
4. What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.
5. We do not need magic to transform our world, we carry all
the power we need inside of us already.
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Unit 11
Conscience and intuition: Steven Spielberg’s commencement address
Harvard University. 2016. URL: https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=TYtoDunfu00.
Do you know...
– who Steven Spielberg is?
– what films he directed?
Task 1. Compare your answers with a
partner or the class. Read the text below for additional information.
Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the founding pioneers of the New Hollywood era, as well as being viewed as one of the most popular directors and producers in film history. He is also one of the co-founders
of DreamWorks Studios.
Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for
Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, as well as receiving five
other nominations. Three of Spielberg's films – Jaws, E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial, and Jurassic Park – achieved box office records, originated and came to epitomize the blockbuster film. The unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $9 billion worldwide, making him the highest-grossing director in history. His personal net worth is estimated to be more than $3 billion. He is also
known for his long-standing associations with several actors, producers, and technicians, most notably composer John Williams, who
has composed music for all but two of Spielberg's feature films.
Watching
Task 3. Watch the video sequence and answer the following
questions.
1. Why did Steven return to Harvard?
2. Why did he drop out?
3. What is "a character defining moment"?
4. What is the difference between intuition and conscience?
5. What film opened his eyes?
Task 4. Watch the video sequence and add to the list of topics
Steven Spielberg covered:
friendship, uncertainty, immigration ...
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Comment on the quotations from the address below.
A. My job is to create the world that lasts two hours. Your job
is to create the world that lasts forever.
B. If you don't know history, you don't know anything. You're
a leaf that doesn't know it's a part of a tree.
C. We're a nation of immigrants. At least for now.
D. No man is a failure who has friends.
E. Everybody was talking at me, so I couldn't hear the echoes
of my mind.
Task 2. Make sure you know what the following words and
expressions mentioned in the address stand for:
make sense, walk the walk, go along, audible, kick in, gut, be
swayed, lucky charm, vanquish, tame, inconceivable, atrocities.
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Unit 12
An optimistic shift: Meryl Streep’s
commencement address
Barnard College, Columbia University. 2010. URL: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-a8QXUAe2g.
Do you know...
– who Meryl Streep is?
– in what films she starred?
Task 1. Compare your answers with a partner or the class. Read the text below for additional information.
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22,
1949) is an American actress and singer.
Cited in the media as the "best actress of her
generation", – a designation she objects to –
Streep is particularly known for her versatility in her roles, transformation into the characters she plays, and her accent adaptation.
She made her professional stage debut in The Playboy of Seville in
1971, and went on to receive a 1976 Tony Award nomination for
Best Featured Actress in a Play for A Memory of Two Mondays /
27 Wagons Full of Cotton. She made her screen debut in the 1977
television film The Deadliest Season, and made her film debut later
that same year in Julia. In 1978, she won an Emmy Award for her
role in the miniseries Holocaust, and received her first Academy
Award nomination for The Deer Hunter. Nominated for 20 Academy Awards in total, Streep has more nominations than any other
actor or actress; she won Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs.
Kramer (1979), and Best Actress for Sophie's Choice (1982) and for
The Iron Lady (2011).
Turning attention away from her and toward Donald J. Trump
(January 2017), Meryl Streep used her acceptance speech for the
Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes to call out the president-elect for appearing to mock a disabled New York Times re124
porter , and warned that a free press would need to be defended. Ms.
Streep campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Task 2. Make sure you know what the following names mentioned during the address stand for.
Barnard School; Vassar College; Vogue; Sundance; Ivy
League
Watching
Task 3. Watch the video sequence and add to the list of topics
Meryl Streep covered:
education; feminism …
Sharing ideas
Task 4. Can you refer to the context the movies and characters
below were mentioned in the address?
Dear Hunter; Devil Wears Prada; The Velveteen Rabbit;
Melinda; Linda.
Task 5. Comment on the quotations from the address below.
1. Your own sweet anonymity, a treasure you don‟t even
know you have until it‟s gone.
2. Being a celebrity has taught me to hide, but being an actress has opened my soul.
3. You know you don‟t have to be famous. You just have to
make your mother and father be proud of you.
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Unit 13
There is no such thing as failure: Oprah Winfrey’s
commencement address
Harvard University. 2013. URL: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=GMWFieBGR7c.
Do you know...
– who Oprah Winfrey is?
– why she started her own network?
Task 1. Compare your answers
with a partner or the class. Read
the text below for additional information.
Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American
media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show,
which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history
and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the
"Queen of All Media", she has been ranked the richest AfricanAmerican of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in
American history, and is currently North America's first and only
multi-billionaire black person. Several assessments rank her as the
most influential woman in the world. In 2013, she was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama and
honorary doctorate degrees from Duke and Harvard. Winfrey was
born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and
later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She has stated
that she was molested during her childhood and early teens and became pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. Sent to live with the
man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a
job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the
local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery
eventually got her transferred to the daytime-talk-show arena, and
after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first
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place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.
Task 2. Make sure you know what the following words and
expressions mentioned during the address stand for:
milestone, break new ground, flop, stuck in a hole, raise the
bar, spoon-feed, mourn, internal GPS, banish, enforce our laws, impervious, pundits, phony, encounter, common denominator, stand in
somebody else's shoes, massacre, make a difference.
Watching
Task 3. Watch the commencement address and add to the list
of topics Oprah Winfrey covered:
selflessness, achievement …
Task 4. Watch the video sequence and answer the questions
below.
1. What situations from personal life does she mention?
2. Why did she found her own network?
3. What issues of American politics does she discuss?
4. What selfless people who did good things to others does
she mention?
5. What difficulties will these alumni face, according to
Oprah?
Sharing ideas
Task 5. Comment on the quotations from the address below.
1. This too shall pass.
2. It doesn't matter how high you will rise, you're bound to
stumble.
3. Learn from your every mistake.
4. I was here to use television to help me change the world
and not to be used by it.
5. What you learn – teach. What you get – give.
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SCRIPTS
Michael Bloomberg’s commencement address
Let me begin with the most important order of business: Let‟s have
a big round of applause for the Class of 2014! They‟ve earned it!
As excited as the graduates are, they are probably even more exhausted after the past few weeks. And parents: I‟m not referring to their
final exams. I‟m talking about the Senior Olympics, the Last Chance
Dance, and the Booze Cruise – I mean, the moonlight cruise.
The entire year has been exciting on campus: Harvard beat Yale for
the seventh straight time in football. The men‟s basketball team went to the
second round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. And
the Men‟s Squash team won national championship.
Who woulda thunk it: Harvard, an athletic powerhouse! Pretty soon
they‟ll be asking whether you have academics to go along with your athletic programs.
My personal connection to Harvard began in 1964, when I graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and matriculated here at
the B-School.
You‟re probably asking: How did I ever get into Harvard Business
School, given my stellar academic record, where I always made the top half
of the class possible? I have no idea. And the only people more surprised
than me were my professors.
Anyway, here I am again back in Cambridge. And I have noticed
that a few things have changed since I was a student here. Elsie‟s – a sandwich spot I used to love near the Square – is now a burrito shop. The
Wursthaus – which had great beer and sausage – is now an artisanal gastropub, whatever the heck that is. And the old Holyoke Center is now named
the Smith Campus Center.
Don‟t you just hate it when alumni put their names all over everything? I was thinking about that this morning as I walked into the Bloomberg Center on the Harvard Business School campus across the river.
But the good news is, Harvard remains what it was when I first arrived on campus 50 years ago: America‟s most prestigious university. And,
like other great universities, it lies at the heart of the American experiment
in democracy.
Their purpose is not only to advance knowledge, but to advance the
ideals of our nation. Great universities are places where people of all back128
grounds, holding all beliefs, pursuing all questions, can come to study and
debate their ideas – freely and openly.
Today, I‟d like to talk with you about how important it is for that
freedom to exist for everyone, no matter how strongly we may disagree
with another‟s viewpoint.
Tolerance for other people‟s ideas, and the freedom to express your
own, are inseparable values at great universities. Joined together, they form
a sacred trust that holds the basis of our democratic society.
But that trust is perpetually vulnerable to the tyrannical tendencies
of monarchs, mobs, and majorities. And lately, we have seen those tendencies manifest themselves too often, both on college campuses and in our
society.
That‟s the bad news – and unfortunately, I think both Harvard, and
my own city of New York, have been witnesses to this trend.
First, for New York City. Several years ago, as you may remember,
some people tried to stop the development of a mosque a few blocks from
the World Trade Center site.
It was an emotional issue, and polls showed that two-thirds of
Americans were against a mosque being built there. Even the AntiDefamation League – widely regarded as the country‟s most ardent defender of religious freedom – declared its opposition to the project.
The opponents held rallies and demonstrations. They denounced the
developers. And they demanded that city government stop its construction.
That was their right – and we protected their right to protest. But they could
not have been more wrong. And we refused to cave in to their demands.
The idea that government would single out a particular religion, and
block its believers – and only its believers – from building a house of worship in a particular area is diametrically opposed to the moral principles
that gave rise to our great nation and the constitutional protections that
have sustained it.
Our union of 50 states rests on the union of two values: freedom and
tolerance. And it is that union of values that the terrorists who attacked us
on September 11th, 2001 – and on April 15th, 2013 – found most threatening.
To them, we were a God-less country.
But in fact, there is no country that protects the core of every faith
and philosophy known to human kind – free will – more than the United
States of America. That protection, however, rests upon our constant vigilance.
We like to think that the principle of separation of church and state
is settled. It is not. And it never will be. It is up to us to guard it fiercely –
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and to ensure that equality under the law means equality under the law for
everyone.
If you want the freedom to worship as you wish, to speak as you
wish, and to marry whom you wish, you must tolerate my freedom to do so
– or not do so – as well.
What I do may offend you. You may find my actions immoral or
unjust. But attempting to restrict my freedoms – in ways that you would not
restrict your own – leads only to injustice.
We cannot deny others the rights and privileges that we demand for
ourselves. And that is true in cities – and it is no less true at universities,
where the forces of repression appear to be stronger now than they have
been since the 1950s.
When I was growing up, U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy was asking:
„Are you now or have you ever been?‟ He was attempting to repress and
criminalize those who sympathized with an economic system that was,
even then, failing.
McCarthy‟s Red Scare destroyed thousands of lives, but what was
he so afraid of? An idea – in this case, communism – that he and others
deemed dangerous.
But he was right about one thing: Ideas can be dangerous. They can
change society. They can upend traditions. They can start revolutions.
That‟s why throughout history, those in authority have tried to repress ideas
that threaten their power, their religion, their ideology, or their reelection
chances.
That was true for Socrates and Galileo, it was true for Nelson Mandela and Václav Havel, and it has been true for Ai Wei Wei, Pussy Riot,
and the kids who made the „Happy‟ video in Iran.
Repressing free expression is a natural human weakness, and it is up
to us to fight it at every turn. Intolerance of ideas – whether liberal or conservative – is antithetical to individual rights and free societies, and it is no
less antithetical to great universities and first-rate scholarship.
There is an idea floating around college campuses – including here
at Harvard – that scholars should be funded only if their work conforms to
a particular view of justice. There‟s a word for that idea: censorship. And it
is just a modern-day form of McCarthyism.
Think about the irony: In the 1950s, the right wing was attempting
to repress left wing ideas. Today, on many college campuses, it is liberals
trying to repress conservative ideas, even as conservative faculty members
are at risk of becoming an endangered species. And perhaps nowhere is
that more true than here in the Ivy League.
In the 2012 presidential race, according to Federal Election Commission data, 96 percent of all campaign contributions from Ivy League
faculty and employees went to Barack Obama.
Ninety-six percent. There was more disagreement among the old
Soviet Politburo than there is among Ivy League donors.
That statistic should give us pause – and I say that as someone who
endorsed President Obama for reelection – because let me tell you, neither
party has a monopoly on truth or God on its side.
When 96 percent of Ivy League donors prefer one candidate to another, you have to wonder whether students are being exposed to the diversity of views that a great university should offer.
Diversity of gender, ethnicity, and orientation is important. But a
university cannot be great if its faculty is politically homogenous. In fact,
the whole purpose of granting tenure to professors is to ensure that they
feel free to conduct research on ideas that run afoul of university politics
and societal norms.
When tenure was created, it mostly protected liberals whose ideas
ran up against conservative norms.
Today, if tenure is going to continue to exist, it must also protect
conservatives whose ideas run up against liberal norms. Otherwise, university research – and the professors who conduct it – will lose credibility.
Great universities must not become predictably partisan. And a liberal arts education must not be an education in the art of liberalism.
The role of universities is not to promote an ideology. It is to provide scholars and students with a neutral forum for researching and debating issues – without tipping the scales in one direction, or repressing unpopular views.
Requiring scholars – and commencement speakers, for that matter –
to conform to certain political standards undermines the whole purpose of a
university.
This spring, it has been disturbing to see a number of college commencement speakers withdraw – or have their invitations rescinded – after
protests from students and – to me, shockingly – from senior faculty and
administrators who should know better.
It happened at Brandeis, Haverford, Rutgers, and Smith. Last year,
it happened at Swarthmore and Johns Hopkins, I‟m sorry to say.
In each case, liberals silenced a voice – and denied an honorary degree – to individuals they deemed politically objectionable. That is an outrage and we must not let it continue.
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If a university thinks twice before inviting a commencement speaker
because of his or her politics censorship and conformity – the mortal enemies of freedom – win out.
And sadly, it is not just commencement season when speakers are
censored.
Last fall, when I was still in City Hall, our Police Commissioner
was invited to deliver a lecture at another Ivy League institution – but he
was unable to do so because students shouted him down.
Isn‟t the purpose of a university to stir discussion, not silence it?
What were the students afraid of hearing? Why did administrators not step
in to prevent the mob from silencing speech? And did anyone consider that
it is morally and pedagogically wrong to deprive other students the chance
to hear the speech?
I‟m sure all of today‟s graduates have read John Stuart Mill‟s On
Liberty. But allow me to read a short passage from it: „The peculiar evil of
silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race;
posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the
opinion, still more than those who hold it.‟
He continued: „If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost
as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth,
produced by its collision with error.‟
Mill would have been horrified to learn of university students silencing the opinions of others. He would have been even more horrified
that faculty members were often part of the commencement censorship
campaigns.
For tenured faculty members to silence speakers whose views they
disagree with is the height of hypocrisy, especially when these protests
happen in the northeast – a bastion of self-professed liberal tolerance.
I‟m glad to say, however, that Harvard has not caved in to these
commencement censorship campaigns. If it had, Colorado State Senator
Michael Johnston would not have had the chance to address the Education
School yesterday.
Some students called on the administration to rescind the invitation
to Johnston because they opposed some of his education policies. But to
their great credit, President Faust and Dean Ryan stood firm.
As Dean Ryan wrote to students: „I have encountered many people
of good faith who share my basic goals but disagree with my own views
when it comes to the question of how best to improve education. In my
view, those differences should be explored, debated, challenged, and questioned. But they should also be respected and, indeed, celebrated.‟
He could not have been more correct, and he could not have provided a more valuable final lesson to the class of 2014.
As a former chairman of Johns Hopkins, I strongly believe that a
university‟s obligation is not to teach students what to think but to teach
students how to think. And that requires listening to the other side, weighing arguments without prejudging them, and determining whether the other
side might actually make some fair points.
If the faculty fails to do this, then it is the responsibility of the administration and governing body to step in and make it a priority. If they do
not, if students graduate with ears and minds closed, the university has
failed both the student and society.
And if you want to know where that leads, look no further than
Washington, D.C.
Down in Washington, every major question facing our country – involving our security, our economy, our environment, and our health – is
decided.
Yet the two parties decide these questions not by engaging with one
another, but by trying to shout each other down, and by trying to repress
and undermine research that runs counter to their ideology. The more our
universities emulate that model, the worse off we will be as a society.
And let me give you an example: For decades, Congress has barred
the Centers for Disease Control from conducting studies of gun violence,
and recently Congress also placed that prohibition on the National Institute
of Health. You have to ask yourself: What are they afraid of?
This year, the Senate has delayed a vote on President Obama‟s nominee for Surgeon General – Dr. Vivek Murthy, a Harvard physician – because he had the audacity to say that gun violence is a public health crisis
that should be tackled. The gall of him!
Let‟s get serious: When 86 Americans are killed with guns every
single day, and shootings regularly occur at our schools and universities –
including last week‟s tragedy at Santa Barbara – it would be almost medical malpractice to say anything else.
But in politics – as it is on too many college campuses – people
don‟t listen to facts that run counter to their ideology. They fear them. And
nothing is more frightening to them than scientific evidence.
Earlier this year, the State of South Carolina adopted new science
standards for its public schools – but the state legislature blocked any mention of natural selection. That‟s like teaching economics – without mentioning supply and demand.
Again, you have to ask: What are they afraid of?
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The answer, of course, is obvious: Just as members of Congress fear
data that undermines their ideological beliefs, these state legislators fear
scientific evidence that undermines their religious beliefs.
And if you want proof of that, consider this: An 8-year old girl in
South Carolina wrote to members of the state legislature urging them to
make the Woolly Mammoth the official state fossil. The legislators thought
it was a great idea, because a Woolly Mammoth fossil was found in the
state way back in 1725. But the state senate passed a bill defining the
Woolly Mammoth as having been „created on the 6th day with the beasts of
the field.‟
You can‟t make this stuff up.
Here in 21st century America, the wall between church and state
remains under attack – and it‟s up to all of us to man the barricades.
Unfortunately, the same elected officials who put ideology and religion over data and science when it comes to guns and evolution are often
the most unwilling to accept the scientific data on climate change.
Now, don‟t get me wrong: scientific skepticism is healthy. But there
is a world of difference between scientific skepticism that seeks out more
evidence and ideological stubbornness that shuts it out.
Given the general attitude of many elected officials toward science
it‟s no wonder that the federal government has abdicated its responsibility
to invest in scientific research, much of which occurs at our universities.
Today, federal spending on research and development as a percentage of GDP is lower than it has been in more than 50 years which is allowing the rest of the world to catch up – and even surpass – the U.S. in scientific research.
The federal government is flunking science, just as many state governments are.
We must not become a country that turns our back on science, or on
each other. And you graduates must help lead the way.
On every issue, we must follow the evidence where it leads and listen to people where they are. If we do that, there is no problem we cannot
solve. No gridlock we cannot break. No compromise we cannot broker.
The more we embrace a free exchange of ideas, and the more we
accept that political diversity is healthy, the stronger our society will be.
Now, I know this has not been a traditional commencement speech,
and it may keep me from passing a dissertation defense in the humanities
department, but there is no easy time to say hard things.
Graduates: Throughout your lives, do not be afraid of saying what
you believe is right, no matter how unpopular it may be, especially when it
comes to defending the rights of others.
Standing up for the rights of others is in some ways even more important than standing up for your own rights. Because when people seek to
repress freedom for some, and you remain silent, you are complicit in that
repression and you may well become its victim.
Do not be complicit, and do not follow the crowd. Speak up, and
fight back.
You will take your lumps, I can assure you of that. You will lose
some friends and make some enemies. But the arc of history will be on
your side, and our nation will be stronger for it.
Now, all of you graduates have earned today‟s celebration, and you
have a lot to be proud of and a lot to be grateful for. So tonight, as you
leave this great university behind, have one last Scorpion Bowl at the Kong
– on second thought, don‟t – and tomorrow, get to work making our country and our world freer than ever, for everyone.
Good luck and God bless.
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Matt Damon’s commencement address
It‟s an honor to be here with you, with your friends, your professors
and your parents. But let‟s be honest this is an honor I didn‟t really earn.
I‟m just going to put that out there. I mean, I‟ve seen the list of previous
commencement speakers, Nobel Prize winners, the U.N. secretary general,
president of the World Bank, president of the United States – and who did
you get? The guy who did the voice for a cartoon horse. If you‟re wondering which cartoon horse, that‟s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, a movie
some of you might have grown up watching. It‟s definitely one of my best
performances as a cartoon horse.
Well, look, I don‟t even have a college degree. As you might have
heard I went to Harvard, I just didn‟t graduate from Harvard. I got pretty
close but I started to get movie roles and I didn‟t finish all my courses. But
I put on a cap and gown and I walked with my class. My mom and dad and
brother were there and everything, I just never got an actual degree. So you
could say I kind of fake graduated.
So you can imagine how excited I was when President Reif called to
invite me to speak at the MIT commencement. And then you can imagine
how sorry I was to learn that the MIT commencement speaker does not get
to go home with a degree. So yes, for the second time in my life, I am fake
graduating from a college in my hometown. And my mom and my dad and
my brother are here again. And this time I brought my wife and my four
kids. So welcome kids to your dad‟s second fake graduation. You must be
so proud.
So as I said, my mom is here. She is a professor, so she knows the
value of an MIT degree. She also knows that I couldn‟t have gotten in here.
I mean Harvard, you know, barely or a safety school like Yale. Look, I‟m
not running for any kind of office, I can say pretty much whatever I want.
No, I couldn‟t have gotten in here but I did grow up here. I grew up
in the neighborhood in the shadow of this imposing place. My brother Kyle
and I and my friend Ben Affleck, brilliant guy, good guy never really
amounted too much. We all grew up right here in Central Square, the children of this sometimes rocky marriage between this city and its great institutions.
To us, MIT was kind of like the man, this big impressive impersonal
force, at least that was our provincial kneejerk teenage reaction anyway.
And then Ben and I shot a movie here and one of the scenes in Good Will
Hunting was based on something that actually happened to my brother
Kyle. He was visiting a physicist that we knew at MIT and he was walking
down the infinite corridor. He saw those blackboards that lined the halls.
And so my brother who‟s an artist picked up some chalk and wrote an incredibly elaborate totally fake version of an equation. And it was so cool
and completely insane that no one raised it for months. This is a true story.
Anyway, Kyle came back and he said, “You guys, listen to this.
They‟ve got blackboards running down the hall, because these kids are so
smart they just need to drop everything and solve problems”. And it was
then we knew for sure we could never have gotten in. But like I said, we
later made a movie here which did not go unnoticed on campus. In fact, I‟d
like to read you some actual lines, some selected passages from the review
of Good Will Hunting in the MIT school paper. If you haven‟t seen, Will
was me and Sean is played by the late Robin Williams, a man I miss a hell
of a lot.
So I‟m quoting here. “Good Will Hunting is very entertaining but
then again any movie partially set at MIT has to be”. But there‟s more, in
the end the reviewer writes, “The actual character development flies out the
window. Will and Sean talk, bond, solve each other‟s problems and then
cry and hug each other, after sad crying and hugging, the movie ends. Such
feel good pretentiousness is definitely not my mug of eggnog”. Well that
kind of hurts.
But don‟t worry, I know now better than to cry at MIT. But look,
I‟m happy to be here anyway. I might still be a kneejerk teenager in key
respects but I know an amazing school when I see it. We‟re lucky to have
MIT in Boston, and we‟re lucky it draws the people that it does, people like
you from around the world. I mean, you‟re working on some crazy stuff in
these buildings, stuff that would freak me out if I actually understood it –
theories, models, paradigm shifts.
I am going to tell you about one that‟s been on my mind: simulation
theory. Most of you‟ve probably heard of this, maybe even took a class
with Max Tegmark. But for the uninitiated, there‟s a philosopher named
Nick Bostrom at Oxford. And he has postulated if there is a truly advanced
form of intelligence out there in the universe, it‟s probably advanced
enough to run simulations of entire worlds, maybe trillions of them, maybe
even our own. So the basic idea as I understand it is that we could be living
in a massive simulation run by a far smarter civilization like a giant computer game and we don‟t even know it.
And here is the thing. A lot of physicists, a lot of cosmologists, they
won‟t rule it out. I just watched a discussion online a few weeks back, it
was moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson of the Hayden Planetarium. And
by and large the panel couldn‟t and wouldn‟t give a definitive answer. Tyson himself put the odds at 50:50. And I‟m not sure how scientific that was
but it had numbers in it, so I was impressed. But it got me to thinking.
What if this, all of this is a simulation. I mean it‟s a crazy idea but what if it
is. And if there are multiple simulations, how come we have to be in the
one where Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee for president?
Can we like transfer to a different one?
Well, Professor Tegmark has an excellent take on all of this. My advice, he said recently, is to go out and do really interesting things, so the
simulators don‟t shut you down. Now then again what if it isn‟t a simulation. Either way, my answer is the same. Either way what we do matters,
what we do affects the outcome.
So either way, MIT, you‟ve got to go out and do really interesting
things, important things, inventive things, because this world, real or imagined, this world has some problems that we need you to drop everything
and solve. So go ahead and take your pick from the world‟s worst buffet.
Economic inequality, that‟s a problem. How about the refugee crisis? Massive global insecurity, climate change, pandemics, institutional racism, a
pull to nativism, fear-driven brains working overtime, here in America and
in places like Austria, where a far-right candidate nearly won the presidential election for the first time since World War II.
Or the Brexit, for God‟s sakes, that insane idea that the best path for
Britain is to cut loose from Europe and drift out to sea. I mean, what is Europe even going to look like in 25 years? And add to that an American political system that‟s failing. We‟ve got congressmen on a two-year election
cycle who are only incentivized to think short term, and simply do not engage with long-term problems.
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And add to that a media that thrives on scandal and people with
their pants down , anything to get you to tune in so they can hawk you
products that you don‟t need. And add to that a banking system that steals
people‟s money. It‟s all right. I‟m not running for office.
By the way while I‟m on this, let me just say this to the bankers,
specifically the ones who brought you the biggest heist in history: It was
theft and you knew it. It was fraud and you knew it. And you know what
else? We know that you knew it. So yeah, you sort of got away with it. You
got that house in the Hamptons that other people paid for, as their own
mortgages went underwater. And you might have their money, but you
don‟t have our respect. And just so you know, when we pass you on the
street and look you in the eye, that‟s what we‟re thinking.
And I don‟t know if justice is coming for you in this life or the next.
But if justice does come for you in this life, her name will be Elizabeth
Warren.
All right. So before my little banking digression, I rattled off a
bunch of big problems. And a natural response is to tune out and turn away.
But before you step out into our big, troubled world, I want to pass
along a piece of advice that Bill Clinton offered me a little over a decade
ago. Actually, when he said it, it felt less like advice and more like a direct
order. What he said was “turn toward the problems you see”. You have to
engage and turn towards the problems that you see. Except it sounded like
turn towards the problems that you see.
But when he said this to me, he literally turned his body for emphasis towards me. No, listen, it seemed kind of simple at the time, but the
older I get, the more wisdom I see in this. And that is what I want to urge
you to do today: turn towards the problems that you see and engage with
them. Walk right up to them, look them in the eye and then look yourself in
the eye and decide what you‟re going to do about them.
Now in my experience, there‟s just no substitute for actually going
and seeing these things. I owe this insight, like many others, to my Mom.
When I was a teenager, Mom thought it was important for us to see the
world outside of Boston. And I don‟t just mean Framingham. She took us
to places like Guatemala, where we saw extreme poverty up close. And it
changed my whole frame of reference.
I think it was that same impulse that took my brother and me to
Zambia in 2006, as part of the ONE Campaign – the organization that Bono
founded to fight desperate, what he calls stupid poverty and preventable
disease in the developing world. And on that trip, in a small community, I
met this girl and I walked with her to a nearby bore-well where she could
get clean water.
She had just come from school. And I knew the reason that she was
able to go to school at all is clean water. Namely, the fact that it was available nearby, so she didn‟t have to walk miles back and forth all day to get
water for her family, like so many girls and women do around the world.
So I asked her if she wanted to stay in her village when she grew up.
And she smiled and said, “No, no, I want to go to Lusaka and become a
nurse!” So clean water – something as basic as that – had given this child
the chance to dream.
And as I learned more about water and sanitation, I was floored by
the extent to which it undergirds all these problems of extreme poverty.
The fate of entire communities, economies, countries is caught up in that
glass of water, something the rest of us get to take for granted.
People at ONE told me that water is the least sexy and cool aspect
of the effort to fight extreme poverty. And water goes hand-in-hand with
sanitation. So if you think water isn‟t sexy, you should try to get into the
shit business.
But I was hooked already. The enormity of it, and the complexity of
the issue, it just hooked me. And getting out in the world and meeting people like this little girl is what put me on the path to starting Water.org, with
a brilliant civil engineer named Gary White.
For Gary and me both, seeing the world and its problems, its possibilities heightened our disbelief that so many people, millions, 660 million
in fact, can‟t get a safe, clean drink of water or a clean, private place to go
to the bathroom. There are more people with a cell phone than access to a
toilet on our planet. And this heightened our determination to do something
about it.
Now you see some tough things out there. But you also see lifechanging joy. And it all changes you. There was a refugee crisis back in
‟09 that I read about in an amazing article in the New York Times. People
were streaming across the border of Zimbabwe to a little town in northern
South Africa called Messina. Well, I was working in South Africa at the
time, so I went up to Messina to see for myself what was going on.
I spent a day speaking with women who had made this perilous
journey across the Limpopo River, dodging bandits on one side, crocodiles
in the river, and bandits on the other. Every woman that I spoke to that day
had been raped. Every single one. On one side of the river or both.
And at the end of my time there I met a woman who was so positive, she was so joyful. She had just been given her papers, so she had been
granted political asylum in South Africa. And in the midst of this joyful
conversation, I mustered up my courage and I said, “Ma‟am, do you mind
my asking: were you assaulted on your journey to South Africa?”
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And she replied, still smiling, “Oh, yes, I was raped. But I have my
papers now. And those bastards didn‟t get my dignity.”
Human beings will take your breath away. They will teach you so
much but you have to engage. I only had that experience because I went
there myself. It was difficult in many ways, but of course that‟s the point.
There‟s a lot of trouble out there, MIT. But there‟s a lot of beauty,
too. And I hope you see both.
But again, the point is not to become some kind of well-rounded,
high-minded voyeur. The point is to eliminate your blind spots – the things
that keep us from grasping the bigger picture. And look, even though I
grew up in this neighborhood – in this incredible, multicultural neighborhood that was a little rough at that time – I find myself here before you as a
middle aged American, white, male movie star. I don‟t have a clue where
my blind spots begin and end.
But looking at the world as it is, and engaging with it, is the first
step towards identifying our blind spots. And that‟s when we can really
start to understand ourselves better and begin to solve some problems.
And with that as your goal, there‟s a few more things I hope you‟ll
keep in mind.
First, you‟re going to fail sometimes, and that‟s a good thing. For all
the amazing successes I‟ve been lucky to share in, few things have shaped
me more than the auditions that Ben and I used to do as young actors,
where we would get on a bus, we show up in New York, we‟d wait for our
turn, we‟d cry our hearts out for a scene, and then be told, “OK, thanks.”
Meaning: game over. We used to call it “being OK thanksed.” Those experiences became our armor.
All right. Now you‟re thinking, great, thanks Matt. Failure is good.
Thanks a ton. Tell me something I didn‟t hear at my high school graduation. To which I say: OK, I will.
You know the real danger for MIT graduates? It‟s not getting “OK
thanksed.” The real danger is all that smoke that‟s been blown up your …
graduation gowns about how freaking smart you are. Well, you are that
smart! But don‟t believe the hype that‟s thrown at you. You don‟t have all
the answers. And you shouldn‟t. And that‟s fine. You‟re going to have your
share of bad ideas. For me, one was playing a character named “Edgar
Pudwhacker.” I wish I could tell you I‟m making that up.
But as the great philosopher, Benjamin Affleck, once said: “Judge
me by how good my good ideas are, not by how bad my bad ideas
are.” You‟ve got to suit up in your armor, you‟ve got to get ready to sound
like a total fool. Not having an answer isn‟t embarrassing. It‟s an oppor-
tunity. Don‟t be afraid to ask questions. I know so much less the second
time I‟m fake graduating than the first time.
The second thing I want to leave you with is that you‟ve got to keep
listening. The world wants to hear your ideas – good and bad. But today‟s
not the day you switch from “receive” to “transmit.” Once you do that,
your education is over. And your education should never be over. Even
outside of your work, there are ways to keep challenging yourself. Listen to
online lectures. I just retook a philosophy course that I took at Harvard
when I was nineteen. You go to MIT OpenCourseWare. Go to Waitbutwhy.com, go to TED.com.
I‟m told there‟s even a Trump University. I have no earthly idea
what they teach there. But whatever you do, just keep listening. Even to
people you don‟t agree with at all. I love what President Obama said at
Howard University‟s commencement last month: he said, “Democracy
requires compromise, even when you are 100 % right.”
I heard that and thought: here is a man who has been happily married for a long time. Not that the First Lady has ever been wrong about
anything. Just like my wife. Never wrong. Not even when she decided last
month that in a family with four kids, what was missing in our lives was a
third rescue dog. That was an outstanding decision, honey. And I love you.
The third and last thought I want to leave you with is that not every
problem has a high-tech solution. Now if anybody has a right to think we
can pretty much tech support the world‟s problems into submission, it‟s
you. Think of the innovations that got their start at MIT or by MIT alums:
the World Wide Web; Nuclear fission; Condensed soup. That‟s is true, you
should be proud of that.
But the truth is, we can‟t science the you know what out of every
problem. There is not always an app for that. I mean take water again as an
example. People are always looking at some scientific quick fix for the
problem of dirty and disease-ridden water. A “pill you put in the glass,” a
filter, et cetera. But there‟s no magic bullet. The problem‟s just too complex.
Yes, there is definitely, absolutely a role for science. There‟s incredible advances being made in clean water technology. Companies and universities are getting in on the game. And I‟m glad to know that professors
like Susan Mercott at D-Lab are focusing on water and sanitation. But as
I‟m sure she‟d agree, science alone can‟t solve this problem. We need to be
just as innovative in public policy, just as innovative in our financial models. And that‟s the idea behind an approach we have at Water.org called
WaterCredit.
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It‟s is based on Gary‟s insight that poor people were already paying
for their water and they, no less than the rest of us, want to participate in
their own solutions. So WaterCredit helps connect the poor with microfinance organizations, which enables them to build water connections and
toilets in their homes and communities. And this approach is really working, helping 4 million people so far and it‟s only the start.
Our loans are paying back at 99 % and above which is a hell of a better deal than those bankers I was talking about earlier. And I agree it‟s still
not sexy but it is without a doubt the coolest thing I‟ve ever been a part of.
So thanks – so let me ask you this in closing: What are you going to
be a part of? What is the problem that you‟ll try to solve? Whatever your
answer, it‟s not going to be easy. Sometimes your work will hit a dead-end.
Sometimes your work will be measured in half-steps. Sometimes your
work will make you wear a white sequined military uniform and make love
to Michael Douglas. All right, maybe that‟s just my work.
But for all of you here, your work starts today. And seriously, how
lucky are you? I mean, what are the odds that you‟re the ones who are here
today? In the Earth‟s 4.5 billion year run, with 100 billion people who have
lived and died, and the 7 billion of us here now, here you are. Yes, here you
are, alive at a time of potential extinction-level events, a time when fewer
and fewer people can cause more and more damage, a time when science
and technology may not hold all the answers, but are indispensable to any
solution.
What are the odds that you get to be you, right now, The MIT Class
of 2016, with so much on the line? There are potentially trillions of human
beings who will someday exist or not, whose fate, in large part, depends on
the choices you make, on your ideas, on your grit and persistence and willingness to engage.
If this were a movie I was trying to pitch, I‟d be laughed out of every office in Hollywood. Joseph Campbell himself would tell me to throttle
down and lower the stakes. But I can‟t. Because this is a fact, this is not
fiction. This improbable thing is actually happening. There‟s more at stake
today than in any story ever told. And how lucky you are that you‟re here,
and you‟re you. And how lucky we are that you are here and you are you.
So I hope you‟ll turn toward the problem of your choosing.
I hope you‟ll turn toward the problem of your choosing. I hope you
will drop everything, and I hope you‟ll solve it.
This is your life, Class of 2016. This is your moment, and it‟s all
down to you.
Ready player one. Your game begins now. Thank you. Congratulations.
Thank you for inviting me to celebrate with you today. TISCH
graduates, you made it! Think about that. The graduates from the college of
nursing, they all have jobs. The graduates from the college of dentistry,
fully employed. The Leonard M Stern School of Business graduates,
they‟re covered. The School of Medicine graduates, each one will get a job.
The proud graduates of the NY School of Law, they‟re covered, and if
they‟re not, who cares? They‟re lawyers. The English majors are not a factor. They‟ll be home writing their novels. Teachers, they‟ll all be working.
Shitty jobs, lousy pay, but still working. The graduates in accounting they
all have jobs. Where does that leave you? Envious of those accountants, I
doubt that. They had a choice. Maybe they were passionate about accounting, but I think it‟s more likely that they used reason and logic and common sense to reach for a career that could give them the expectation of
success and stability. Reason, logic, common sense? At the TISCH School
of Arts? Are you kidding me?
But you didn‟t have that choice, did you? You discovered a talent,
recognized your ambition and developed a passion. When you feel that you
can‟t fight it, you just go with it. When it comes to the arts, passion should
always trump common sense. You aren‟t just following dreams, you‟re
reaching for your destiny. You‟re a dancer, a singer, a choreographer, a
musician, a film maker, a writer, a photographer, a director, a producer, an
actor, an artist. Yeah, you‟re fucked!
The good news is that that‟s not a bad place to start. Now that
you‟ve made your choice, or rather, succumbed to it, your path is clear. Not
easy but clear. You have to keep working, it‟s that simple. You got through
TISCH, that‟s a big deal, or to put it another way, you got through TISCH,
big deal. Well it‟s a start. On this day of triumphantly graduating a new
door is opening for you. A door to a lifetime of rejection. It‟s inevitable.
It‟s what graduates call the „the real world‟. You‟ll experience it auditioning for a part or a place in a company. It‟ll happen to you when you‟re
looking for backers for a project. You‟ll feel it when door close on you
when you‟re trying to get attention for something you have written, and
when you‟re looking for a directing or choreographing job.
How do you cope with it? I hear that valium and vicodin work!
Nyah, I dunno. You can‟t be too relaxed when you do what we do. And
you don‟t wanna block the pain too much. Without the pain, what would
we talk about. I would make an exception to having a couple of drinks, if
hypothetically, you had to speak to a couple of thousand graduates and
their families at a commencement ceremony. [takes swig]
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Robert De Niro’s commencement address
Rejection might sting, but my feeling is that it often has very little to
do with you. When you‟re auditioning or pitching the director or producer
or investor might just have something or someone different in mind, that‟s
just how it is. That happened to me recently when I auditioned for the role
of Martin Luther King in Selma. Which is too bad because I could have
played the hell out of that part. I felt it was written for me. But the director
had something different in mind. And you know, she was right. It seems
the director is always right. Don‟t get me wrong, David O‟Yelowo was
great. I don‟t think I would have cast it great.
I got two more stories, these really happened.
I read for Bang The Drum Slowly, seven times. The first two of the
three times I read for the part of Henry Wiggins, the part eventually played
by Michael Moriaty. I read for the director, I read for the producer, then
they had me back to read for another part, the role of Bruce Pearson, I read
for the director, I read for the producer, I read for the producer and his
wife, I read for all of them together. It was almost like as long as I kept
auditioning, they would have time to find somebody they liked more. I
don‟t know exactly what they were looking for, but I‟m glad I was there
when they didn‟t find it.
Another time I was auditioning for a play, they kept having me back
and I was pretty sure I had the part, and then they went with a name. I hated losing the job, but I understood.
I could just as easily have lost the job to another no name actor, and
I also would have understood. It‟s just not personal. It can just mean nothing more than the director having another type in mind. You‟ll get a lot of
direction in your careers, some from directors, some from studio heads,
some from money people, some from writers, although usually they‟ll try
to keep the writer at a distance. And some from your fellow artists. I love
writers, by they way, I keep them on the set all the time.
Listen to all of it, and listen to yourself. I‟m mostly going to talk
about these ideas in movie actor terms, but this applies to all of you. You‟ll
find comparable situations in all the disciplines. The way the director gets
to be right is that you help him or her be right. You may start out with different ideas, the director will have a vision, you will have ideas about your
character. When you‟re a young actor starting out, your ideas might not be
trusted as much they will be later on in your career. You‟ve been hired because the director saw something in your audition, your reading, in you that
fit they‟re concept. You may be given the opportunity to try it your way,
but the final decision will be the director‟s.
Later in your career when there‟s a body of work to refer to, the
may be more trust from the director but it‟s pretty much the same thing.
You may have more opportunities to try things your way, and you may
think the director has agreed to your take, agreed your take is the best, but
if it‟s a movie, you‟ll be nowhere near the editing room when the director
makes the final decision. It‟s best when you can work it out together.
As an actor, you always want to be true to your character and be
true to yourself. But the bottom line is, you got the part. And that‟s very
important. As a director ora producer you also have to be true to yourself,
and to the work. A film a dance a play, they are not tents where artists gets
to play and express their individuality, they‟re works of art that depend
upon the contributions and collaboration of a group of artists. And it‟s a big
group, that includes production and costume designers, directors of photography, makeup and hair, stage managers, assistant directors, choreographers et cetera et et cetera many more I could name but I won‟t now. Everyone plays an important part, an essential part. A director, producer, choreographer or company artistic director – these are powerful positions. But
the power doesn‟t come from the title. The power doesn‟t come from the
title, the power come from trust, respect, vision, work and again collaboration. You‟ll probably be harder on yourself than any director. I‟m not going
to tell you to go easy on yourselves, I assume you didn‟t pick this life because you thought it would be easy. You may have to answer to a director
for a job but you also have to answer to yourself.
This could create conflicts for you. You may want to play the role
your way and the director has a different idea. Discuss it with the director,
maybe there‟s a compromise, there always should be the space to try to
both ways. But don‟t make ... don‟t make a production ... but don‟t make ...
[pauses – smiles] but don‟t make a production out of it because it‟s not a
democracy. On the set, or on the stage, somebody has to make the final
decision. Someone has to pull it all together – that‟s the director. So don‟t
be obdurate. Nobody‟s going to see you do it in the „right way‟ if you‟re
not on stage or in the movie.
I can answer the question that is on all of your minds right now.
Yes, it‟s too late to change your major to directing. While preparing for my
role today, I asked a few TISCH students for directions for this speech. The
first thing they said was keep it short. And they said it‟s okay to give a bit
of advice, it‟s kind of expected and no one will mind. And then they said,
to keep it short.
It‟s difficult for me to come with advice for you who have already
set upon your life‟s work, but I can tell you some of the things I tell my
own children. First, whatever you do, don‟t go to TISCH School of the
Arts. Get an accounting degree instead.
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Then I contradict myself, and as corny as it sounds, I tell them don‟t
be afraid to fail. I urge them to take chances, to keep an open mind, to welcome new experiences and new ideas. I tell them that if you don‟t go,
you‟ll never know. You just have to be bold and go out there and take your
chances. I tell them that if they go into the arts, I hope they find a nurturing
and challenging community of like minded individuals, a place like
TISCH. If they find themselves with the talent and the burning desire to be
in the performing arts, I tell them when you collaborate, you try to make
everything better but you‟re not responsible for the entire project, only your
part in it. You‟ll find yourself in movies or plays or concerts or dance pieces that turn out in the eyes of critics and audiences to be bad, but that‟s not
on you, because you will put everything into everything that you do. You
won;t judge the characters you play, and shouldn‟t bedistracted by judgments on the works you are in. Whether you are working for Ed Wood of
Federico Fellini or Martin Scorsese, your commitment to your process will
be the same.
By the way there will be times when your best is not enough. There
can be many reasons for this, but as long as you give your best, it‟ll be
okay. Did you get straight As at school? If so, good for you, congratulations, but in the real world you‟ll never get straight As again. There are ups
and there are downs. And what I want to say to you today is that it‟s okay.
Instead of rocking caps and gowns today I can see all of you graduating
today in custom TSOA T-shirts. On the back is printed, „Rejection – it isn‟t
personal‟. And on the front – your motto, your mantra, your battle cry,
„Next!‟ You didn‟t get that part, that‟s my point, „Next‟, you‟ll get the next
one, or the next one after that. You didn‟t get that waiter‟s job at the White
Oak tavern, next! You‟ll get the next one, or you‟ll get the next gig tending
bar at Joseph‟s. You didn‟t get into Juilliard? Next! You‟ll get into Yale or
TISCH. You guys like that joke, so it‟s okay.
No, of course choosing TISCH is like choosing the arts. It isn‟t your
first choice, it‟s your only choice. I didn‟t attend TISCH or for that matter
any college, or my senior year of high school, or most of my junior year ...
still I‟ve felt like part of the TISCH community for a long time. I grew up
in the same neighborhood as TISCH. I‟ve worked for a lot of people who
have attended TISCH, including Marty Scorsese, Class of ‟64. As you learn
your craft together you come to trust each other and depend on each other.
This encourages taking creative risks, because you all have the sense that
you‟re in it together. It‟s no surprise that we often work with the same people over and over. I did eight pictures with Marty, and plan to do more. He
did about twenty five with his editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, whom he met
at TISCH when she worked on his student film in the summer of „63. Other
directors – Cassavetes, Fellini, Hitchcock, came back to the same collaborators over and over, almost like a repertoire company. And now David
O Russell and Wes Anderson are continuing that tradition.
Treasure the associations and friendships and working relationships
with the people in your classes in your early work. You never know what
might come from them. There could be a major creative shift or a small
detail that could make a major impression. In Taxi Driver, Marty and I
wanted Travis Bickle to cut his hair into a mohawk. An important character
detail, but I couldn‟t do it because I needed long hair for The Last Tycoon
that was starting right after Taxi Driver, and we knew a false Mohawk
would look, well, false. So we were kicking it around one day at lunch and
we decided to give it one shot with the very best makeup artist at the time,
Dick Smith. If you saw the movie, you‟ll know that it worked. And by the
way, now you know it wasn‟t real.
Friendships, good working relationships, collaboration, you just
never know what‟s going to happen when you get together with your creative friends. Marty Scorsese was here last year to speak to your 2014 graduates. And now here I am, here we are, on Friday, at a kind of super sized
version of one of Alison‟s student lounge hangout sessions. You're here to
pause and celebrate your accomplishments so far, as you move on to a rich
and challenging future. And me – I‟m here to hand out my picture and resume to the directing and producing graduates.
I‟m excited to be in a room of young creatives who make me hopeful about the future of the performing and media arts and I know you‟re
going to make it, all of you. Break a leg!
Next! Thank you.
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Neil Gaiman’s commencement address
I never really expected to find myself giving advice to people graduating from an establishment of higher education. I never graduated from
any such establishment. I never even started at one. I escaped from school
as soon as I could, when the prospect of four more years of enforced learning before I could become the writer I wanted to be seemed stifling.
I got out into the world, I wrote, and I became a better writer the
more I wrote, and I wrote some more, and nobody ever seemed to mind
that I was making it all up as I went along, they just read what I wrote and
they paid me for it, or they didn‟t, and often they commissioned me to
write something else for them. Which has left me with a healthy respect
and fondness for higher education that those of my friends and family, who
attended Universities, were cured of long ago.
Looking back, I‟ve had a remarkable ride. I‟m not sure I can call it a
career, because a career implies that I had some kind of career plan, and I
never did. The nearest thing I had was a list I made when I was about 15 of
everything I wanted to do: I wanted to write an adult novel, a children‟s
book, a comic, a movie, record an audiobook, write an episode of Doctor
Who… and so on. I didn‟t have a career. I just did the next thing on the list.
So I thought I‟d tell you everything I wish I‟d known starting out,
and a few things that, looking back on it, I suppose that I did know. And
that I would also give you the best piece of advice I‟d ever got, which I
completely failed to follow.
First of all, when you start out on a career in the arts you have no
idea what you are doing. This is great. People who know what they are
doing know the rules, and they know what is possible and what is impossible. You do not. And you should not. The rules on what is possible and
impossible in the arts were made by people who had not tested the bounds
of the possible by going beyond them. And you can. If you don‟t know it‟s
impossible, it‟s easier to do. And because nobody‟s done it before, they
haven‟t made up rules to stop anyone doing that particular thing again.
Secondly, if you have an idea of what you want to make, what you
were put here to do, then just go and do that. And that‟s much harder than it
sounds and, sometimes in the end, so much easier than you might imagine.
Because normally, there are things you have to do before you can get to the
place you want to be. I wanted to write comics and novels and stories and
films, so I became a journalist, because journalists are allowed to ask questions, and to simply go and find out how the world works, and besides, to
do those things I needed to write and to write well, and I was being paid to
learn how to write economically, crisply, sometimes under adverse conditions, and on deadline.
Sometimes the way to do what you hope to do will be clear cut, and
sometimes it will be almost impossible to decide whether or not you are
doing the correct thing, because you‟ll have to balance your goals and
hopes with feeding yourself, paying debts, finding work, settling for what
you can get.
Something that worked for me was imagining that where I wanted
to be – which was an author, primarily of fiction, making good books, making good comics, making good drama and supporting myself through my
words – imagining that was a mountain, a distant mountain. My goal.
And I knew that as long as I kept walking towards the mountain I
would be all right. And when I truly was not sure what to do, I could stop,
and think about whether it was taking me towards or away from the mountain. I said no to editorial jobs on magazines, proper jobs that would have
paid proper money because I knew that, attractive though they were, for me
they would have been walking away from the mountain. And if those job
offers had come earlier I might have taken them, because they still would
have been closer to the mountain than I was at that time.
I learned to write by writing. I tended to do anything as long as it
felt like an adventure, and to stop when it felt like work, which meant that
life did not feel like work.
Thirdly, when you start out, you have to deal with the problems of
failure. You need to be thick-skinned, to learn that not every project will
survive. A freelance life, a life in the arts, is sometimes like putting messages in bottles, on a desert island, and hoping that someone will find one
of your bottles and open it and read it, and put something in a bottle that
will wash its way back to you: appreciation, or a commission, or money, or
love. And you have to accept that you may put out a hundred things for
every bottle that winds up coming back.
The problems of failure are problems of discouragement, of hopelessness, of hunger. You want everything to happen and you want it now,
and things go wrong. My first book – a piece of journalism I had done only
for the money, and which had already bought me an electric typewriter
from the advance – should have been a bestseller. It should have paid me a
lot of money. If the publisher hadn‟t gone into involuntary liquidation between the first print run selling out and the second print were never happening, and before any royalties could be paid, it would have done.
And I shrugged, and I still had my electric typewriter and enough
money to pay the rent for a couple of months, and I decided that I would do
my best in future not to write books just for the money. If you didn‟t get
the money, then you didn‟t have anything. If I did work I was proud of, and
I didn‟t get the money, at least I‟d have the work.
Every now and then, I forget that rule, and whenever I do, the universe kicks me hard and reminds me. I don‟t know that it‟s an issue for
anybody but me, but it‟s true that nothing I did where the only reason for
doing it was the money was ever worth it, except as bitter experience. Usually I didn‟t wind up getting the money, either. The things I did because I
was excited, and wanted to see them exist in reality have never let me
down, and I‟ve never regretted the time I spent on any of them.
The problems of failure are hard. The problems of success can be
harder, because nobody warns you about them. The first problem of any
kind of even limited success is the unshakable conviction that you are getting away with something, and that any moment now they will discover
you. It‟s Imposter Syndrome, something my wife Amanda christened the
Fraud Police.
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In my case, I was convinced there would be a knock on the door,
and a man with a clipboard – I don‟t know why he had a clipboard, but in
my head, he always had a clipboard – would be there, to tell me it was all
over, and they caught up with me, and now I would have to go and get a
real job, one that didn‟t consist of making things up and writing them
down, and reading books I wanted to read. And then I would go away quietly and get the kind of job where I would have to get up early in the morning, aware of time, and not make things up any more.
The problems of success. They‟re real, and with luck you‟ll experience them. The point where you stop saying yes to everything, because
now the bottles you threw in the ocean are all coming back, and you have
to learn to say no.
I watched my peers, and my friends, and the ones who were older
than me, I watched how miserable some of them were. I‟d listen to them
telling me that they couldn‟t envisage a world where they did what they
had always wanted to do any more, because now they had to earn a certain
amount every month just to keep where they were. They couldn‟t go and do
the things that mattered, and that they had really wanted to do; and that
seemed as a big a tragedy as any problem of failure.
I‟ve been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told
you I‟d come back and get my degree.”
I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor. I‟ll be changing my job next
year … and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my résumé.
I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to
your degrees. For my part, I‟m just happy that the Crimson has called me
“Harvard‟s most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian
of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed.
But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve
Ballmer to drop out of business school. I‟m a bad influence. That‟s why I
was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation,
fewer of you might be here today.
Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me. Academic life
was fascinating. I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn‟t even signed up
for. And dorm life was terrific. I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House.
There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing
things, because everyone knew I didn‟t worry about getting up in the morning. That‟s how I came to be the leader of the antisocial group. We clung to
each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.
Radcliffe was a great place to live. There were more women up
there, and most of the guys were science-math types. That combination
offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean. This is where I learned
the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn‟t guarantee success.
One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975,
when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that
had begun making the world‟s first personal computers. I offered to sell
them software.
I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and
hang up on me. Instead they said: “We‟re not quite ready, come see us in a
month,” which was a good thing, because we hadn‟t written the software
yet. From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit
project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a
remarkable journey with Microsoft.
What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of
so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating,
sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing
privilege – and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.
But taking a serious look back … I do have one big regret.
I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the
world – the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that
condemn millions of people to lives of despair.
I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and
politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.
But humanity‟s greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in
how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic
opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.
I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people
cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew
nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and
disease in developing countries.
It took me decades to find out.
You graduates came to Harvard at a different time. You know more
about the world‟s inequities than the classes that came before. In your years
here, I hope you‟ve had a chance to think about how – in this age of accelerating technology – we can finally take on these inequities, and we can
solve them.
Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a
week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause – and you wanted to
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Bill Gates’ commencement speech
spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives. Where would you spend it?
For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do
the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have.
During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country.
Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever. One disease I had
never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year –
none of them in the United States.
We were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children
were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to
discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a
dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren‟t being
delivered.
If you believe that every life has equal value, it‟s revolting to learn
that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: “This can‟t be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of
our giving.”
So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it.
We asked: “How could the world let these children die?”
The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving
the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it. So the
children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the
market and no voice in the system.
But you and I have both.
We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism – if we can stretch the reach of market
forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living,
serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. We also can
press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that
better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.
If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways
that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have
found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is openended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.
I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim
there is no hope. They say: “Inequity has been with us since the beginning,
and will be with us till the end – because people just … don‟t … care.” I
completely disagree.
I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.
All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human
tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing – not because we
didn‟t care, but because we didn‟t know what to do. If we had known how
to help, we would have acted.
The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.
To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution,
and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three steps.
Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a
complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems. When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference. They promise
to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future.
But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say: “Of all the
people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of
one percent of them were on this plane. We‟re determined to do everything
possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent.”
The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.
We don‟t read much about these deaths. The media covers what‟s
new – and millions of people dying is nothing new. So it stays in the background, where it‟s easier to ignore. But even when we do see it or read
about it, it‟s difficult to keep our eyes on the problem. It‟s hard to look at
suffering if the situation is so complex that we don‟t know how to help.
And so we look away.
If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to
the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.
Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our
caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or
individual asks “How can I help?,” then we can get action – and we can
make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity
makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares – and that
makes it hard for their caring to matter.
Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make
the smartest application of the technology that you already have – whether
it‟s something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bednet.
The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is
to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal
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technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single
dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand – and the best prevention
approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.
Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working – and never do
what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century – which is to
surrender to complexity and quit.
The final step – after seeing the problem and finding an approach –
is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts.
You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to
show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be
able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases.
This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw
more investment from business and government.
But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show
more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work – so
people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.
I remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global
health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives. Millions!
Think of the thrill of saving just one person‟s life – then multiply that by
millions. … Yet this was the most boring panel I‟ve ever been on – ever.
So boring even I couldn‟t bear it.
What made that experience especially striking was that I had just
come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece
of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement. I
love getting people excited about software – but why can‟t we generate
even more excitement for saving lives?
You can‟t get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the
impact. And how you do that – is a complex question.
Still, I‟m optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the
new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are new – they can help us make the most of our caring – and
that‟s why the future can be different from the past.
The defining and ongoing innovations of this age – biotechnology, the
computer, the Internet – give us a chance we‟ve never had before to end
extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.
Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and
announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe. He said: “I think
one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that
the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it
exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement
of the situation. It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the
real significance of the situation.”
Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated
without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller,
more open, more visible, less distant.
The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating.
The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neighbor. It also dramatically increases the
number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem – and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree.
At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to
this technology, five people don‟t. That means many creative minds are left
out of this discussion – smart people with practical intelligence and relevant experience who don‟t have the technology to hone their talents or contribute their ideas to the world.
We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are triggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organizations, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches, and measure
the impact of their efforts to address the hunger, poverty, and desperation
George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago.
Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the
great collections of intellectual talent in the world.
What for?
There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and
the benefactors of Harvard have used their power to improve the lives of
people here and around the world. But can we do more? Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear
its name?
Let me make a request of the deans and the professors – the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review
curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves:
Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems?
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Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world‟s worst
inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty
… the prevalence of world hunger … the scarcity of clean water …the girls
kept out of school … the children who die from diseases we can cure?
Should the world‟s most privileged people learn about the lives of
the world‟s least privileged?
These are not rhetorical questions – you will answer with your policies.
My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here –
never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my
wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about
marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message,
and at the close of the letter she said: “From those to whom much is given,
much is expected.”
When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been
given – in talent, privilege, and opportunity – there is almost no limit to
what the world has a right to expect from us.
In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the
graduates here to take on an issue – a complex problem, a deep inequity,
and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that
would be phenomenal. But you don‟t have to do that to make an impact.
For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet
to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and
find ways to cut through them.
Don‟t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.
You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave
Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You
have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that
awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment
you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very
little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry
on longer.
Knowing what you know, how could you not?
And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now
and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope
you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone,
but also on how well you have addressed the world‟s deepest inequities …
on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.
Good luck.
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President Obama’s commencement address
I know you‟re all excited today. You might be a little tired, as well.
Some of you were up all night making sure your credits were in order.
Some of you stayed up too late, ended up at HoChi at 2:00 a.m. Got some
mambo sauce on your fingers.
But you got here. And you've all worked hard to reach this day.
You‟ve shuttled between challenging classes and Greek life. You've led
clubs, played an instrument or a sport. You volunteered, you interned. You
held down one, two, maybe three jobs. You've made lifelong friends and
discovered exactly what you‟re made of. The “Howard Hustle” has
strengthened your sense of purpose and ambition.
Which means you're part of a long line of Howard graduates. Some
are on this stage today. Some are in the audience. That spirit of achievement and special responsibility has defined this campus ever since the
Freedman‟s Bureau established Howard just four years after the Emancipation Proclamation; just two years after the Civil War came to an end. They
created this university with a vision – a vision of uplift; a vision for an
America where our fates would be determined not by our race, gender,
religion or creed, but where we would be free – in every sense – to pursue
our individual and collective dreams.
It is that spirit that's made Howard a centerpiece of AfricanAmerican intellectual life and a central part of our larger American story.
This institution has been the home of many firsts: The first black Nobel
Peace Prize winner. The first black Supreme Court justice. But its mission
has been to ensure those firsts were not the last. Countless scholars, professionals, artists, and leaders from every field received their training here.
The generations of men and women who walked through this yard helped
reform our government, cure disease, grow a black middle class, advance
civil rights, shape our culture. The seeds of change – for all Americans –
were sown here. And that‟s what I want to talk about today. Howard as a
centerpiece of African-American intellectual life
As I was preparing these remarks, I realized that when I was first
elected President, most of you – the Class of 2016 – were just starting high
school. Today, you‟re graduating college. I used to joke about being old.
Now I realize I'm old. It's not a joke anymore.
But seeing all of you here gives me some perspective. It makes me
reflect on the changes that I‟ve seen over my own lifetime. So let me begin
with what may sound like a controversial statement – a hot take.
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Given the current state of our political rhetoric and debate, let me
say something that may be controversial, and that is this: America is a better place today than it was when I graduated from college. Let me repeat:
America is by almost every measure better than it was when I graduated
from college. It also happens to be better off than when I took office – but
that's a longer story. That's a different discussion for another speech.
But think about it. I graduated in 1983. New York City, America‟s
largest city, where I lived at the time, had endured a decade marked by
crime and deterioration and near bankruptcy. And many cities were in similar shape. Our nation had gone through years of economic stagnation, the
stranglehold of foreign oil, a recession where unemployment nearly
scraped 11 percent. The auto industry was getting its clock cleaned by foreign competition. And don‟t even get me started on the clothes and the
hairstyles. I've tried to eliminate all photos of me from this period. I
thought I looked good. I was wrong.
Since that year – since the year I graduated – the poverty rate is
down. Americans with college degrees, that rate is up. Crime rates are
down. America‟s cities have undergone a renaissance. There are more
women in the workforce. They‟re earning more money. We‟ve cut teen
pregnancy in half. We've slashed the African American dropout rate by
almost 60 percent, and all of you have a computer in your pocket that gives
you the world at the touch of a button. In 1983, I was part of fewer than
10 percent of African Americans who graduated with a bachelor‟s degree.
Today, you‟re part of the more than 20 percent who will. And more than
half of blacks say we‟re better off than our parents were at our age – and
that our kids will be better off, too.
So America is better. And the world is better, too. A wall came
down in Berlin. An Iron Curtain was torn asunder. The obscenity of apartheid came to an end. A young generation in Belfast and London have
grown up without ever having to think about IRA bombings. In just the
past 16 years, we‟ve come from a world without marriage equality to one
where it‟s a reality in nearly two dozen countries. Around the world, more
people live in democracies. We‟ve lifted more than 1 billion people from
extreme poverty. We‟ve cut the child mortality rate worldwide by more
than half.
America is better. The world is better. And stay with me now – race
relations are better since I graduated. That‟s the truth. No, my election did
not create a post-racial society. I don‟t know who was propagating that
notion. That was not mine. But the election itself – and the subsequent one
– because the first one, folks might have made a mistake. The second one,
they knew what they were getting. The election itself was just one indicator
of how attitudes had changed.
In my inaugural address, I remarked that just 60 years earlier, my father might not have been served in a D.C. restaurant – at least not certain of
them. There were no black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Very few
black judges. Shoot, as Larry Wilmore pointed out last week, a lot of folks
didn‟t even think blacks had the tools to be a quarterback. Today, former
Bull Michael Jordan isn‟t just the greatest basketball player of all time – he
owns the team. When I was graduating, the main black hero on TV was
Mr. T. Rap and hip hop were counterculture, underground. Now, Shonda
Rhimes owns Thursday night, and Beyoncé runs the world. We‟re no longer only entertainers, we're producers, studio executives. No longer small
business owners – we're CEOs, we‟re mayors, representatives, Presidents
of the United States.
I am not saying gaps do not persist. Obviously, they do. Racism persists. Inequality persists. Don‟t worry – I‟m going to get to that. But I
wanted to start, Class of 2016, by opening your eyes to the moment that
you are in. If you had to choose one moment in history in which you could
be born, and you didn‟t know ahead of time who you were going to be –
what nationality, what gender, what race, whether you‟d be rich or poor,
gay or straight, what faith you'd be born into – you wouldn‟t choose 100
years ago. You wouldn‟t choose the fifties, or the sixties, or the seventies.
You‟d choose right now. If you had to choose a time to be, in the words of
Lorraine Hansberry, “young, gifted, and black” in America, you would
choose right now.
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Steve Jobs’ commencement address
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one
of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth
be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I
want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three
stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then
stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit.
So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.
She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so
everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his
wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that
they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a
call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy;
do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later
found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my
father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final
adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents
promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college
that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I
couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life
and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was
spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty
scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever
made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes
that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the
floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy
food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to
get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much
of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out
to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label
on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped
out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical,
artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.
But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer,
it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first
computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or
proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's
likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped
out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal
computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of
course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in
college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only
connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will
somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your
gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down,
and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I
started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in
10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $ 2
billion company with over 4 000 employees. We had just released our finest creation – the Macintosh – a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And
then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well,
as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run
the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then
our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling
out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was
out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life
was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let
the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the
baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob
Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public
failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of
events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was
still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple
was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of
being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again,
less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative
periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who
would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer
animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation
studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I
returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart
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of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family
together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been
fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient
needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.
I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I
did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as
it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and
the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't
found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart,
you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets
better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it.
Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live
each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It
made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have
looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the
last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And
whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I
need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've
ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost
everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment
or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only
what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best
way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You
are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30
in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even
know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a
type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer
than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my
affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to
tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell
them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up
so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your
goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy,
where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and
into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from
the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when
they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because
it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with
surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the
closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say
this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't
want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No
one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very
likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears
out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be
cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.
Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own
inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and
intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The
Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was
created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park,
and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's,
before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with
typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in
paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and
overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was
the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue
was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might
find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were
the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as
they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that
for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
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It's been almost 37 years to the day that I graduated from UT. I remember a lot of things about that day. I remember I had throbbing headache from a party the night before. I remember I had a serious girlfriend,
whom I later married – that's important to remember by the way – and I
remember that I was getting commissioned in the Navy that day.
But of all the things I remember, I don't have a clue who the commencement speaker was that evening, and I certainly don't remember anything they said. So, acknowledging that fact, if I can't make this commencement speech memorable, I will at least try to make it short.
The University's slogan is, "What starts here changes the world." I
have to admit – I kinda like it. "What starts here changes the world."
Tonight there are almost 8,000 students graduating from UT. That
great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.Com, says that the average American
will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime. That's a lot of folks. But, if every
one of you changed the lives of just 10 people – and each one of those folks
changed the lives of another 10 people – just 10 – then in five generations –
125 years – the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million
people.
800 million people – think of it – over twice the population of the
United States. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world – eight billion people.
If you think it's hard to change the lives of 10 people – change their
lives forever – you're wrong. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan: A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right
down a road in Baghdad and the 10 soldiers in his squad are saved from
close-in ambush. In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned
officer from the Female Engagement Team senses something isn't right and
directs the infantry platoon away from a 500-pound IED, saving the lives
of a dozen soldiers.
But, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the
decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn were also saved. And
their children's children were saved. Generations were saved by one decision, by one person.
But changing the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it.
So, what starts here can indeed change the world, but the question is – what
will the world look like after you change it?
Well, I am confident that it will look much, much better. But if you
will humor this old sailor for just a moment, I have a few suggestions that
may help you on your way to a better a world. And while these lessons
were learned during my time in the military, I can assure you that it matters
not whether you ever served a day in uniform. It matters not your gender,
your ethnic or religious background, your orientation or your social status.
Our struggles in this world are similar, and the lessons to overcome
those struggles and to move forward – changing ourselves and the world
around us – will apply equally to all.
I have been a Navy SEAL for 36 years. But it all began when I left
UT for Basic SEAL training in Coronado, California. Basic SEAL training
is six months of long torturous runs in the soft sand, midnight swims in the
cold water off San Diego, obstacles courses, unending calisthenics, days
without sleep and always being cold, wet and miserable. It is six months of
being constantly harrassed by professionally trained warriors who seek to
find the weak of mind and body and eliminate them from ever becoming a
Navy SEAL.
But, the training also seeks to find those students who can lead in an
environment of constant stress, chaos, failure and hardships. To me basic
SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months.
So, here are the 10 lessons I learned from basic SEAL training that
hopefully will be of value to you as you move forward in life.
Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the
time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and
the first thing they would inspect was your bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under
the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack –
that's Navy talk for bed.
It was a simple task – mundane at best. But every morning we were
required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the
time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors,
tough battle-hardened SEALs, but the wisdom of this simple act has been
proven to me many times over.
If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished
the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will
encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of
the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things
right.
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Admiral William H. Mcraven’s
commencement address
And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to
a bed that is made – that you made – and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
During SEAL training the students are broken down into boat
crews. Each crew is seven students – three on each side of a small rubber
boat and one coxswain to help guide the dingy. Every day your boat crew
forms up on the beach and is instructed to get through the surfzone and
paddle several miles down the coast. In the winter, the surf off San Diego
can get to be 8 to 10 feet high and it is exceedingly difficult to paddle
through the plunging surf unless everyone digs in. Every paddle must be
synchronized to the stroke count of the coxswain. Everyone must exert
equal effort or the boat will turn against the wave and be unceremoniously
tossed back on the beach.
For the boat to make it to its destination, everyone must paddle. You
can't change the world alone – you will need some help – and to truly get
from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the
good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.
If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
Over a few weeks of difficult training my SEAL class, which started
with 150 men, was down to just 35. There were now six boat crews of seven men each. I was in the boat with the tall guys, but the best boat crew we
had was made up of the the little guys – the munchkin crew we called them
– no one was over about five-foot-five.
The munchkin boat crew had one American Indian, one African
American, one Polish American, one Greek American, one Italian American, and two tough kids from the midwest. They out-paddled, out-ran and
out-swam all the other boat crews. The big men in the other boat crews
would always make good-natured fun of the tiny little flippers the munchkins put on their tiny little feet prior to every swim. But somehow these
little guys, from every corner of the nation and the world, always had the
last laugh – swimming faster than everyone and reaching the shore long
before the rest of us.
SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will
to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education
and not your social status.
If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of
their heart, not the size of their flippers.
Several times a week, the instructors would line up the class and do
a uniform inspection. It was exceptionally thorough. Your hat had to be
perfectly starched, your uniform immaculately pressed and your belt buckle
shiny and void of any smudges. But it seemed that no matter how much
effort you put into starching your hat, or pressing your uniform or polishing
your belt buckle – it just wasn't good enough. The instructors would find
"something" wrong.
For failing the uniform inspection, the student had to run, fully
clothed into the surfzone and then, wet from head to toe, roll around on the
beach until every part of your body was covered with sand. The effect was
known as a "sugar cookie." You stayed in that uniform the rest of the day –
cold, wet and sandy.
There were many a student who just couldn't accept the fact that all
their effort was in vain. That no matter how hard they tried to get the uniform right, it was unappreciated. Those students didn't make it through
training. Those students didn't understand the purpose of the drill. You
were never going to succeed. You were never going to have a perfect uniform.
Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform you still end up as a sugar cookie. It's just the way life is sometimes.
If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and
keep moving forward.
Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events – long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics –
something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards – times
you had to meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list, and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to a
"circus." A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to
wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit.
No one wanted a circus.
A circus meant that for that day you didn't measure up. A circus
meant more fatigue – and more fatigue meant that the following day would
be more difficult – and more circuses were likely. But at some time during
SEAL training, everyone – everyone – made the circus list.
But an interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on
the list. Over time those students – who did two hours of extra calisthenics
– got stronger and stronger. The pain of the circuses built inner strength,
built physical resiliency.
Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often.
It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your
very core.
But if you want to change the world, don't be afraid of the circuses.
At least twice a week, the trainees were required to run the obstacle
course. The obstacle course contained 25 obstacles including a 10-foot high
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wall, a 30-foot cargo net and a barbed wire crawl, to name a few. But the
most challenging obstacle was the slide for life. It had a three-level 30-foot
tower at one end and a one-level tower at the other. In between was a 200foot-long rope. You had to climb the three-tiered tower and once at the top,
you grabbed the rope, swung underneath the rope and pulled yourself hand
over hand until you got to the other end.
The record for the obstacle course had stood for years when my
class began training in 1977. The record seemed unbeatable, until one day,
a student decided to go down the slide for life head first. Instead of swinging his body underneath the rope and inching his way down, he bravely
mounted the TOP of the rope and thrust himself forward.
It was a dangerous move – seemingly foolish, and fraught with risk.
Failure could mean injury and being dropped from the training. Without
hesitation the student slid down the rope perilously fast. Instead of several
minutes, it only took him half that time and by the end of the course he had
broken the record.
If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down
the obstacle head first.
During the land warfare phase of training, the students are flown out
to San Clemente Island which lies off the coast of San Diego. The waters
off San Clemente are a breeding ground for the great white sharks. To pass
SEAL training there are a series of long swims that must be completed.
One is the night swim.
Before the swim the instructors joyfully brief the trainees on all the
species of sharks that inhabit the waters off San Clemente. They assure
you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark – at least not
recently. But, you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position – stand your ground. Do not swim away. Do not act afraid. And if the
shark, hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you – then summon up
all your strength and punch him in the snout, and he will turn and swim
away.
There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the
swim you will have to deal with them.
So, if you want to change the world, don't back down from the
sharks.
As Navy SEALs one of our jobs is to conduct underwater attacks
against enemy shipping. We practiced this technique extensively during
basic training. The ship attack mission is where a pair of SEAL divers is
dropped off outside an enemy harbor and then swims well over two miles –
underwater – using nothing but a depth gauge and a compass to get to their
target.
During the entire swim, even well below the surface, there is some
light that comes through. It is comforting to know that there is open water
above you. But as you approach the ship, which is tied to a pier, the light
begins to fade. The steel structure of the ship blocks the moonlight, it
blocks the surrounding street lamps, it blocks all ambient light.
To be successful in your mission, you have to swim under the ship
and find the keel – the centerline and the deepest part of the ship. This is
your objective. But the keel is also the darkest part of the ship – where you
cannot see your hand in front of your face, where the noise from the ship's
machinery is deafening and where it is easy to get disoriented and fail.
Every SEAL knows that under the keel, at the darkest moment of
the mission, is the time when you must be calm, composed – when all your
tactical skills, your physical power and all your inner strength must be
brought to bear.
If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the
darkest moment.
The ninth week of training is referred to as "Hell Week." It is six
days of no sleep, constant physical and mental harassment, and one special
day at the Mud Flats. The Mud Flats are area between San Diego and Tijuana where the water runs off and creates the Tijuana slues, a swampy
patch of terrain where the mud will engulf you.
It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud
flats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing cold mud, the
howling wind and the incessant pressure to quit from the instructors. As the
sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some "egregious infraction of the rules" was ordered into the mud.
The mud consumed each man till there was nothing visible but our
heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men
would quit – just five men – and we could get out of the oppressive cold.
Looking around the mud flat it was apparent that some students were about
to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up – eight more
hours of bone-chilling cold.
The chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so
loud it was hard to hear anything. And then, one voice began to echo
through the night, one voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of
tune, but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two and two became three and before long everyone in the class was singing. We knew
that if one man could rise above the misery then others could as well.
The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept
up the singing but the singing persisted. And somehow the mud seemed a
little warmer, the wind a little tamer and the dawn not so far away.
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If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the
power of hope. The power of one person – Washington, Lincoln, King,
Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala – one person can
change the world by giving people hope.
So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you're up to
your neck in mud.
Finally, in SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in
the center of the compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to
quit is ring the bell.
Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o'clock. Ring
the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims. Ring the bell
and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT – and
you no longer have to endure the hardships of training. Just ring the bell.
If you want to change the world don't ever, ever ring the bell.
To the graduating class of 2014, you are moments away from graduating. Moments away from beginning your journey through life. Moments
away from starting to change the world – for the better. It will not be easy.
But, YOU are the class of 2014, the class that can affect the lives of
800 million people in the next century.
Start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you
through life. Respect everyone.
Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if take you
take some risks, step up when the times are toughest, face down the bullies,
lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up – if you do these things,
then the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world
far better than the one we have today.
And what started here will indeed have changed the world – for the
better.
Thank you very much. Hook 'em horns.
Thank you so much for inviting me. The Senior Class Committee.
it‟s genuinely one of the most exciting things I‟ ve ever been asked to do. I
have to admit primarily because I can‟t deny it as it was leaked in the WikiLeaks release of the Sony hack that when I was invited I replied and I directly quote my own email.” Wow! This is so nice!” ”I‟m gonna need some
funny ghost writers. Any ideas?
”This initial response now blessedly public was from the knowledge
that at my class daywe were lucky enough to have Will Ferrel as class day
speaker and many of us were hung-over, or even freshly high mainly want-
ed to laugh. So I have to admit that today, even 12 years after graduation.
I‟m still insecure about my own worthless. I have to remind myself today
you‟re here for a reason. Today I feel much like I did when I came to Harvard Yard as a freshman in 1999. When you guys were, to my continued
shocked and horror, still in kindergarten. I felt like there had been some
mistake, that I wasn‟t smart enough to be in this company, and that every
time I opened my mouth. I would have to prove that I wasn‟t just dumb
actress. So I start with an apology. This won‟t be very funny. I‟m not a
comedian. And I didn‟t get a ghost writer. But I am here to tell you today.
Harvard is giving you all diplomas tomorrow. You are here for a reason.
Sometimes your insecurities and your inexperience may lead you, too, to
embraceother people‟s expectations, standards, or values. But you can harness that inexperience to carve out your own path, one that is free of the
burden of knowing how things are supposed to be, a path that is defined by
its own particular set of reasons. That other day I went to an amusement
park with my soon-to-be 4-yeas-old son. And I watch him play arcade
games. He was incredible focused, throwing his ball at the target. Jewish
mother than I am, I skipped 20 steps and was already imagining him as
amajor league player with what is his arm and his arm and his concentration. But then I realized what he want. He was playing to trade in his tickets for the crappy plastic toy. The prize was much more exciting than the
game to get it. I of course wanted to urge him to take joy and the challenge
of the game, the improvement upon practice, the satisfaction of doing
something well, and even feeling the accomplishment when achieving the
game‟s goals. But all of these aspects were shaded by the 10 cent plastic
men with sticky stretchy blue arms that adhere to the walls. That-that was
the prize. In a child‟s nature, we see many of our own innate tendencies. I
saw myself in him and perhaps you do too. Prizes serve as false idols everywhere. Prestige, wealth, fame, power. You‟ll be exposed to many of these, if not all. Of course, part of why I was invited to come to speak today
beyond my being a proud alumna is that I‟ve recruited some very coveted
toys in my life including a not so plastic, not so crappy one: an Oscar. So
we bump up against the common troll I think of the commencement address people who have achieved a lot telling you that the fruits of the
achievement are not always to be trusted. But I think that contradiction can
be reconciled and is in factinstructive. Achievement is wonderful when you
know why you‟re doing it. And when you don‟t know, it can be a terrible
trap.
I went to a public high school on Long Island, Syosset High School.
Ooh, hello, Syosset! The girls I went to school with had Prada bags and
flat-ironed hair. And they spoke with an accent I who had moved there at
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Natalie Portman’s commencement address
age 9 from Connecticut mimicked to fit in. Florida Oranges, Chocolate
cherries. Since I ‟m ancient and the Internet was just starting when I was in
high school. People didn‟t really pay that much of attention to the fact that
that I was an actress. I was known mainly at school for having a back bigger than I was and always having white-out on my hands because I hated
seeing anything crossed out in my note books. I was voted for my senior
yearbook „ most likely to be an contestant on Jeopardy ‟ or code for nerdiest. When I got to Harvard just after the release of Star Wars: Episode 1, I
knew I would be staring over in terms of how people viewed me. I feared
people would have assumed I‟d gotten in just for beingfamous, and that
they would think that I was not worthy of the intellectual rigor here. And it
would not have been far from the truth.
When I came here I had never written a 10-pape paper before. I‟m
not even sure I‟ve written a 5-page paper. I was alarmed and intimidated by
the calm eyes of a fellow student who came here from Dalton or Exeter
who thought that compared to high school the workload here was easy. I
was completely overwhelmed and thought that reading 1 000 pages a week
was unimaginable, that writing a 50-page thesis is just something I could
never do. I Had no idea how to declare my intentions. I couldn‟t even articulate them to myself. I‟ve been acting since I was 11. But I thought acting
was too frivolous and certainly not meaningful. I came from a family of
academics and was very concerned of being taken seriously. In contrast to
my inability to declare myself, on my first day of orientation freshman
year, five separate students introduced themselves to me by saying, I‟m
going to be president. Remember I told you that. Their names, for the record, were Bernie Sanders, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Barack Obama, Hilary
Clinton. In all seriousness, I believed every one of them. Their bearing and
self-confidence alone seemed proof of their prophecy where I couldn‟t
shake my self-doubt. I got in only because I was famous. This was how
others saw me and it was how I saw myself. Driven by these insecurities, I
decided I was going to find something to do in Harvard that was serious
and meaningful that would change the world and make it a better place. At
the age of 18, I‟d already been acting for 7 years, and assumed I find a
more serious and profound path in college. So freshman fall I decided to
take neurobiology and advanced modern Hebrew literature because I was
serious and intellectual. Needless to say, I should have failed both. I got Bs,
for your information, and to this day, every Sunday I burn a small effigy to
the pagan Gods of grade inflation. But as I was fighting my way through
Aleph Bet Yod Y shua in Hebrew and the different mechanisms of neuroresponse, I saw friends around me writing papers on sailing and pop culture
magazines, and professors teaching classes on fairy tales and The Matrix.
I realized that seriousness for seriousness‟s sake was its own kind of
trophy, and a dubious one, a pose I sought to counter some half-imagined
argument about who I was. There was a reason that I was an actor. I love
what I do. And I saw from my peers and my mentors that it was not only an
acceptable reason, it was the best reason. When I got to my graduation,
sitting where you sit today, after 4 years of trying to get excited about
something else, I admitted to myself that I couldn‟t wait to go back and
make more films. I wanted to tell stories, to imagine the lives of others and
help others do the same. I have found or perhaps reclaimed my reason. You
have a prize now or at least you will tomorrow. The prize is Harvard degree in your hand. But what is your reason behind it ?
My Harvard degree represents, for me, the curiosity and invention
that were encouraged here, the friendships I‟ve sustained the way Professor
Graham told me not to describe the way light hit a flower but rather the
shadow the flower cast, the way Professor Scarry talked about theatre is a
transformative religious force how professor Coslin showed how much our
visual cortex is activated just by imaging. Now granted these things don‟t
necessarily help me answer the most common question I‟m asked: What
designer are you wearing? What‟s your fitness regime? Any makeup tips?
But I have never since been embarrassed to myself as what I might previously have thought was a stupid question. My Harvard degree and other
awards are emblems of the experiences which led me to them. The wood
paneled lecture halls, the colorful fall leaves, the hot vanilla Toscaninis,
reading great novels in overstuffed library chairs, running through dining
halls screaming: Ooh! Ah! City steps! City steps! City steps! City steps!
It‟s easy now to romanticize my time here. But I had some very difficult
times here too. Some combination of being 19, dealing with my first heartbreak, taking birth control pills that since been taken off the market for
their depressive side effects, and spending too much time missing daylight
during winter mouths led me to some pretty dark moments, particularly
during sophomore year. There were several occasions where I started crying in meeting with professors overwhelmed with what I was supposed to
pull off when I could barely get myself out of bed in the morning. Moments when I took on the motto for school work. Done. Not good. If only I
could finish my work, even if it took eating a jumbo pack of sour Patch
Kids to get me through a single 10-page paper. I felt that I‟ve accomplished
a great feat. I repeat to myself. Done. Not good.
A couple of years ago, I went to Tokyo with my husband and I ate at
the most remarkable sushi restaurant. I don‟t even eat fish. I‟m vegan. So
that tells you how good it was. Even with just vegetables, this sushi was the
stuff you dreamed about. The restaurant has six seats. My husband and I
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marveled at how anyone can make rice so superior to all other rice. We
wondered why they didn‟t make a bigger restaurant and be the most popular place in town. Our local friend explain to us that all the best restaurants
in Tokyo are that small and do only one type of dish: sushi or tempura or
teriyaki. Because they want to do that thing well and beautifully. And it‟s
not about quantity. It‟s about taking pleasure in the perfection and beauty
of the particular. I'm still learning now that it‟s about good and maybe never done. And the joy and work ethic and virtuosity we bring to the particular can impart a singular type of enjoyment to those we give to and of
course, ourselves.
In my professional life, it also took me time to find my own reasons
for doing my work. The first film I was in came out in 1994. Again, appallingly, the year most of you were born. I was 13 years old upon the film‟s
release and I can still quote what the New York Times said about me verbatim. Ms Portman poses better than she acts. The film had universally
tepid critic response and went on to bomb commercially. That film was
called The Professional, or Leon in Europe. And today, 20 years and 35
films later, it is still the film people approach me about the most to tell me
how much they loved it, how much they moved them, how it‟s their favorite movie. I feel lucky that my first experience of releasing a film was initially such a disaster by all standards and measures. I learned early that my
meaning had to be from the experience of making film and the possibility
of connecting with individuals rather than the foremost trophies in my industry: financial and critical success. And also these initial reactions could
be false predictors of your work‟s ultimate legacy, I started choosing only
jobs that I‟m passionate about and from which I knew I could glean meaningful experiences. This thoroughly confused everyone around me: agents,
producers, and audiences alike. I made Goya's Ghost, a foreign independent film and study our history visiting the produce everyday for 4 months
as I read about Goya and the Spanish Inquisition. I made for Vendetta, studio action movie for which I learned everything I could about freedom
fighters whom otherwise may be called terrorists, from Menachem Begin
to Weather Underground. I made Your Highness, a pothead comedy with
Danny McBride and laughed for 3 months straight. I was able to own my
meaning ant not have it be determined by box office receipts or prestige.
By the time I got to making Black Swan, the experience was entirely my own. I felt immune to the worst things anyone could say or write
about me, and to whether the audience felt like to see my movie or not. It
was instructive for me to see for ballet dancers once your technique gets to
a certain level, the only thing that separates you from others is your quirks
or even flaws. One ballerina was famous for how she turned slightly off
balanced. You can never be the best, technically. Some will always have a
higher jump or a more beautiful line. The only thing you can be the best at
is developing your own self. Authoring your own experience was very
much what Black Swan itself was about. I worked with Darren Aronofsky
the director who changed my last line in the movie to it was perfect. My
character Nina is only artistically successful when she finds perfection and
pleasure for herself not when she was trying to be perfect in the eyes of
others. So when Black Swan was successful financially and I began receiving accolades I felt honored and grateful to have connected with people.
But the true core of my meaning I had already established. And I needed it
to be independent of people‟s reactions to me. People told me that Black
Swan was an artistic risk, a scary challenge to try to portray a professional
ballet dancer. But it didn‟t feel like courage or daring that drove me do it. I
was so oblivious to my own limits that I did things I was woefully unprepared to do. And so the very inexperience that in college had made me insecure and made me want to play by other‟s rules now is making me actually take risks I didn‟t even realize were risks. When Darren asked me if I
could do ballet I told him I was basically a ballerina which by the way I
wholeheartedly believed. When it quickly became clear that preparing for
film that I was 15 years away from being a ballerina. It made me work a
million times harder and of course the magic of cinema and body doubles
helped the final effect. But the point is, if I had known my own limitations
I never would take of the risk. And the risk to one of my greatest artistic
personal experiences. And that I not only felt completely free. I also met
my husband during the filming. Similarly, I just directed my first film, A
Tale of love in Darkness. I was quite blind to the challenges ahead of me.
The film is a period film, completely in Hebrew in which I also act with an
eight-year-old child as a costar. All of these are challenges I should have
been terrified of, as I was completely unprepared for them but my complete
ignorance to my own limitations looked like confidence and got me into the
director‟s chair. Once here, I have to figure it all out, and my belief that I
could handle these things contrary to all evidence of my ability or do so
was only half the battle. The other half was very hard work. The experience
was the deepest and most meaningful one of my career.
Now clearly I‟m not urging you to go and perform heart surgery
without the knowledgeto do so! Making movies admittedly has less drastic
consequences than most professions and allows for a lot of effects that
make up for mistakes. The thing I‟m saying is, make use of the fact that
you don‟t doubt yourself too much right now. As we get older, we get more
realistic, and that includes about our own abilities or lack thereof. And that
realism does us no favors. People always talk about diving into things
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you‟re afraid of. That never worked for me. If I am afraid, I run away. And
I would probably urge my child to do the same. Fear protects us in many
ways. What has served me is diving into my own obliviousness. Being
more confident than I should be which everyone tends to decry American
kids, and those of us who have been grade inflated and ego inflated. Well.
It can be a good thing if it makes you try things you never might have tried.
Your inexperience is an asset, and will allow you to think in original and
unconventional way.
Accept your lack of knowledge and use it as your asset. I know a
famous violinist who told me that he can‟t compose because he knows too
many pieces so when he starts thinking of the note an existing piece immediately comes to mind. Just starting out of your digest strengths is not
known how things are supposed to be. You can compose freely because
your mind isn‟t cluttered with too many pieces. And you don‟t take for
granted the way how things are. The only way you know how to do things
is your own way. You here will all go on to achieve great things. There is
no doubt about that. Each time you set out to do something new your inexperience can either lead you down a path where you will conform to someone else‟s values or you can forge your own path. Even though you don‟t
realize that‟s what you're doing. If your reasons are your own, your path,
even if it‟s a strange and clumsy path, will be wholly yours, and you will
control the rewards of what you do by making your internal life fulfilling.
At the risk of sounding like a Miss American Contestant, the most
fulfilling things I‟ve experienced have truly been the human interactions:
spending time with women in village banks in Mexico with FINCA microfinance organization, meeting young women who were the first and the
only in their communities to attend secondary schools in rural Kenya with
free the Children group that built sustainable schools in developing countries tracking with gorilla conservationists in Rwanda. It‟s cliché, because
it‟s true, that helping other ends up helping you more than anyone. Getting
out of your own concerns and caring about some else‟s life for a while,
remind you that you are not the central of the universe. And that in the
ways we‟re generous or not, We can change course of someone‟s life.
…have had the most lasting impact. And of course, first and foremost, the
center of my world is the love that I share with my family and friends. I
wish for you that your friends will be with you through it all as my friends
from Harvard have been together since we graduated. Grab the good people
around you and don‟t let them go. To be or not to be is not the question; the
vital question is how to be and how not to be. Thank you! I can‟t wait to
see you do all the beautiful things you will do.
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J.K. Rowling’s commencement address
The first thing I would like to say is „thank you.‟ Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I
have endured at the thought of giving this commencement address have
made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take
deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I am at the
world‟s largest Gryffindor reunion.
Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I
thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness
Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in
writing this one, because it turns out that I can‟t remember a single word
she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear
that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in
business, the law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.
You see? If all you remember in years to come is the „gay wizard‟
joke, I‟ve come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals:
the first step to self improvement.
Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say
to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own
graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that
have expired between that day and this.
I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we
are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to
talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold
of what is sometimes called „real life‟, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.
These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear
with me.
Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half
my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I
had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to
write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view
that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that would
never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension. I know that the irony strikes
with the force of a cartoon anvil, now.
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So they hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to
study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my
parents‟ car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.
I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics;
they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all
the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name
one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to
an executive bathroom.
I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my
parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your
parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old
enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty.
They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite
agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear,
and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is
indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.
What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.
At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university,
where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too
little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for
years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.
I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted
and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent
and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the
Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed
an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.
However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests
that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by
a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person‟s idea of success, so high have you already flown.
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So
I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years
after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally
short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as
poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The
fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had
both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I
knew.
Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun.
That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea then how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time,
any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my
energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my
greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock
bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you
live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which
case, you fail by default.
Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have
learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value
was truly above the price of rubies.
The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You
will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until
both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all
that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I
ever earned.
So given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or
achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you
will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is
difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone‟s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.
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Now you might think that I chose my second theme, the importance
of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that
is not wholly so. Though I personally will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader
sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that
which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its
arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that
enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never
shared.
One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry
Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those
books. This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs.
Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the
rent in my early 20s by working at the African research department at Amnesty International‟s headquarters in London.
There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out
of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment
to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by
their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims
and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.
Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had
been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the
temerity to speak against their governments. Visitors to our offices included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had
happened to those they had left behind.
I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older
than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video
camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I
was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him
back to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had
been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished
me future happiness.
And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain
and horror such as I have never heard since. The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for
the young man sitting with her. She had just had to give him the news that
in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country‟s regime, his
mother had been seized and executed.
Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how
incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights
of everyone.
Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have
nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard, and
read.
And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.
Amnesty mobilizes thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have.
The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and
frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security
are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not
know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one
of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.
Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other
people‟s places.
Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is
morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control,
just as much as to understand or sympathize.
And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They
choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience,
never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than
they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can
close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.
I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except
that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to
live in narrow spaces leads to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that
brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.
What is more, those who choose not to empathize enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we
collude with it, through our own apathy.
One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor
down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not
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then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we
achieve inwardly will change outer reality.
That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times
every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection
with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people‟s lives simply
by existing.
But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to
touch other people‟s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work,
the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and
unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world‟s only remaining superpower. The way
you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to
bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is
your privilege, and your burden.
If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on
behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with
the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine
yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it
will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but
thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change.
We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need
inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.
I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation
day have been my friends for life. They are my children‟s godparents, the
people to whom I‟ve been able to turn in times of trouble, people who have
been kind enough not to sue me when I took their names for Death Eaters.
At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared
experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the
knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.
So today, I wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And
tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you
remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled
down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom: As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is,
is what matters. I wish you all very good lives.
Thank-you very much.
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Steven Spielberg’s commencement address
It‟s an honor and a thrill to address this group of distinguished
alumni and supportive friends and parents. We‟ve all gathered to share in
the joy of this day, so please join me in congratulating Harvard‟s Class of
2016.
I can remember my own college graduation, which is easy, since it
was only 14 years ago. How many of you took 37 years to graduate? Because, like most of you, I began college in my teens, but sophomore year, I
was offered my dream job at Universal Studios, so I dropped out. I told my
parents if my movie career didn‟t go well, I‟d re-enroll.
It went all right.
But eventually, I returned for one big reason. Most people go to college for an education, and some go for their parents, but I went for my kids.
I‟m the father of seven, and I kept insisting on the importance of going to
college, but I hadn‟t walked the walk. So, in my fifties, I re-enrolled at Cal
State – Long Beach, and I earned my degree.
I just have to add: It helped that they gave me course credit in paleontology for the work I did on Jurassic Park. That‟s three units for Jurassic Park, thank you.
Well I left college because I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and
some of you know, too – but some of you don‟t. Or maybe you thought you
knew but are now questioning that choice. Maybe you‟re sitting there trying to figure out how to tell your parents that you want to be a doctor and
not a comedy writer.
Well, what you choose to do next is what we call in the movies the
„character-defining moment.‟ Now, these are moments you‟re very familiar
with, like in the last Star Wars: The Force Awakens, when Rey realizes the
force is with her. Or Indiana Jones choosing mission over fear by jumping
over a pile of snakes.
Now in a two-hour movie, you get a handful of character-defining
moments, but in real life, you face them every day. Life is one strong, long
string of character-defining moments. And I was lucky that at 18 I knew
what I exactly wanted to do. But I didn‟t know who I was. How could I?
And how could any of us? Because for the first 25 years of our lives, we
are trained to listen to voices that are not our own. Parents and professors
fill our heads with wisdom and information, and then employers and mentors take their place and explain how this world really works.
And usually these voices of authority make sense, but sometimes,
doubt starts to creep into our heads and into our hearts. And even when we
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think, „that‟s not quite how I see the world,‟ it‟s kind of easier to just to nod
in agreement and go along, and for a while, I let that going along define my
character. Because I was repressing my own point of view, because like in
that Nilsson song, „Everybody was talkin‟ at me, so I couldn‟t hear the
echoes of my mind.‟
And at first, the internal voice I needed to listen to was hardly audible, and it was hardly noticeable – kind of like me in high school. But then
I started paying more attention, and my intuition kicked in.
And I want to be clear that your intuition is different from your conscience. They work in tandem, but here‟s the distinction: Your conscience
shouts, „here‟s what you should do,‟ while your intuition whispers, „here‟s
what you could do.‟ Listen to that voice that tells you what you could do.
Nothing will define your character more than that.
Because once I turned to my intuition, and I tuned into it, certain
projects began to pull me into them, and others, I turned away from.
And up until the 1980s, my movies were mostly, I guess what you
could call „escapist.‟ And I don‟t dismiss any of these movies – not even
1941. Not even that one. And many of these early films reflected the values
that I cared deeply about, and I still do. But I was in a celluloid bubble,
because I‟d cut my education short, my worldview was limited to what I
could dream up in my head, not what the world could teach me.
But then I directed The Color Purple. And this one film opened my
eyes to experiences that I never could have imagined, and yet were all too
real. This story was filled with deep pain and deeper truths, like when Shug
Avery says, „Everything wants to be loved.‟ My gut, which was my intuition, told me that more people needed to meet these characters and experience these truths. And while making that film, I realized that a movie could
also be a mission.
I hope all of you find that sense of mission. Don‟t turn away from
what‟s painful. Examine it. Challenge it.
My job is to create a world that lasts two hours. Your job is to create
a world that lasts forever. You are the future innovators, motivators, leaders
and caretakers.
And the way you create a better future is by studying the past. Jurassic Park writer Michael Crichton, who graduated from both this college
and this medical school, liked to quote a favorite professor of his who said
that if you didn‟t know history, you didn‟t know anything. You were a leaf
that didn‟t know it was part of a tree. So history majors: Good choice,
you‟re in great shape...Not in the job market, but culturally.
The rest of us have to make a little effort. Social media that we‟re
inundated and swarmed with is about the here and now. But I‟ve been
fighting and fighting inside my own family to get all my kids to look behind them, to look at what already has happened. Because to understand
who they are is to understand who were were, and who their grandparents
were, and then, what this country was like when they emigrated here. We
are a nation of immigrants – at least for now.
So to me, this means we all have to tell our own stories. We have so
many stories to tell. Talk to your parents and your grandparents, if you can,
and ask them about their stories. And I promise you, like I have promised
my kids, you will not be bored.
And that‟s why I so often make movies based on real-life events. I
look to history not to be didactic, „cause that‟s just a bonus, but I look because the past is filled with the greatest stories that have ever been told.
Heroes and villains are not literary constructs, but they‟re at the heart of all
history.
And again, this is why it‟s so important to listen to your internal
whisper. It‟s the same one that compelled Abraham Lincoln and Oskar
Schindler to make the correct moral choices. In your defining moments, do
not let your morals be swayed by convenience or expediency. Sticking to
your character requires a lot of courage. And to be courageous, you‟re going to need a lot of support.
And if you‟re lucky, you have parents like mine. I consider my mom
my lucky charm. And when I was 12 years old, my father handed me a
movie camera, the tool that allowed me to make sense of this world. And I
am so grateful to him for that. And I am grateful that he‟s here at Harvard,
sitting right down there.
My dad is 99 years old, which means he‟s only one year younger
than Widener Library. But unlike Widener, he‟s had zero cosmetic work.
And dad, there‟s a lady behind you, also 99, and I‟ll introduce you after
this is over, okay?
But look, if your family‟s not always available, there‟s backup. Near
the end of It’s a Wonderful Life – you remember that movie, It’s a Wonderful Life? Clarence the Angel inscribes a book with this: “No man is a
failure who has friends.” And I hope you hang on to the friendships you‟ve
made here at Harvard. And among your friends, I hope you find someone
you want to share your life with. I imagine some of you in this yard may be
a tad cynical, but I want to be unapologetically sentimental. I spoke about
the importance of intuition and how there‟s no greater voice to follow. That
is, until you meet the love of your life. And this is what happened when I
met and married Kate, and that became the greatest character-defining
moment of my life.
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Love, support, courage, intuition. All of these things are in your hero‟s quiver, but still, a hero needs one more thing: A hero needs a villain to
vanquish. And you‟re all in luck. This world is full of monsters. And
there‟s racism, homophobia, ethnic hatred, class hatred, there‟s political
hatred, and there‟s religious hatred.
As a kid, I was bullied – for being Jewish. This was upsetting, but
compared to what my parents and grandparents had faced, it felt tame. Because we truly believed that anti-Semitism was fading. And we were
wrong. Over the last two years, nearly 20,000 Jews have left Europe to find
higher ground. And earlier this year, I was at the Israeli embassy when
President Obama stated the sad truth. He said: „We must confront the reality that around the world, anti-Semitism is on the rise. We cannot deny it.‟
My own desire to confront that reality compelled me to start, in
1994, the Shoah Foundation. And since then, we‟ve spoken to over 53,000
Holocaust survivors and witnesses in 63 countries and taken all their video
testimonies. And we‟re now gathering testimonies from genocides in
Rwanda, Cambodia, Armenia and Nanking. Because we must never forget
that the inconceivable doesn‟t happen – it happens frequently. Atrocities
are happening right now. And so we wonder not just, „When will this hatred end?‟ but, „How did it begin?‟
Now, I don‟t have to tell a crowd of Red Sox fans that we are wired
for tribalism. But beyond rooting for the home team, tribalism has a much
darker side. Instinctively and maybe even genetically, we divide the world
into „us‟ and „them.‟ So the burning question must be: How do all of us
together find the „we?‟ How do we do that? There‟s still so much work to
be done, and sometimes I feel the work hasn‟t even begun. And it‟s not just
anti-Semitism that‟s surging – Islamophobia‟s on the rise, too. Because
there‟s no difference between anyone who is discriminated against, whether it‟s the Muslims, or the Jews, or minorities on the border states, or the
LGBT community – it is all big one hate.
And to me, and, I think, to all of you, the only answer to more hate
is more humanity. We gotta repair – we have to replace fear with curiosity.
„Us‟ and „them‟ – we‟ll find the „we‟ by connecting with each other. And
by believing that we‟re members of the same tribe. And by feeling empathy
for every soul – even Yalies.
My son graduated from Yale, thank you …
But make sure this empathy isn‟t just something that you feel. Make
it something you act upon. That means vote. Peaceably protest. Speak up
for those who can‟t and speak up for those who may be shouting but aren‟t
being hard. Let your conscience shout as loud as it wants if you‟re using it
in the service of others.
And as an example of action in service of others, you need to look
no further than this Hollywood-worthy backdrop of Memorial Church. Its
south wall bears the names of Harvard alumni – like President Faust has
already mentioned – students and faculty members, who gave their lives in
World War II. All told, 697 souls, who once tread the ground where stand
now, were lost. And at a service in this church in late 1945, Harvard President James Conant – which President Faust also mentioned – honored the
brave and called upon the community to „reflect the radiance of their
deeds.‟
Seventy years later, this message still holds true. Because their sacrifice is not a debt that can be repaid in a single generation. It must be repaid with every generation. Just as we must never forget the atrocities, we
must never forget those who fought for freedom. So as you leave this college and head out into the world, continue please to „reflect the radiance of
their deeds,‟ or as Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan would say, “Earn
this.”
And please stay connected. Please never lose eye contact. This may
not be a lesson you want to hear from a person who creates media, but we
are spending more time looking down at our devices than we are looking in
each other‟s eyes. So, forgive me, but let‟s start right now. Everyone here,
please find someone‟s eyes to look into. Students, and alumni and you too,
President Faust, all of you, turn to someone you don‟t know or don‟t know
very well. They may be standing behind you, or a couple of rows ahead.
Just let your eyes meet. That‟s it. That emotion you‟re feeling is our shared
humanity mixed in with a little social discomfort.
But, if you remember nothing else from today, I hope you remember
this moment of human connection. And I hope you all had a lot of that over
the past four years. Because today you start down the path of becoming the
generation on which the next generation stands. And I‟ve imagined many
possible futures in my films, but you will determine the actual future. And I
hope that it‟s filled with justice and peace.
And finally, I wish you all a true, Hollywood-style happy ending. I
hope you outrun the T. rex, catch the criminal and for your parents‟ sake,
maybe every now and then, just like E.T.: Go home. Thank you.
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Meryl Streep’s commencement address
Thank you, all. Thank you, President Spar, Ms. Golden, President
Tilghman, Members of the Board of Trustees, distinguished faculty, proud
swelling parents and family, and gorgeous class of 2010. If you are all really, really lucky, and if you continue to work super hard, and you remember
your thank you notes and everybody's name; and you follow through on
every task that's asked of you and also somehow anticipate problems before
they even arise and you somehow sidestep disaster and score big. If you get
great scores on your LSATS, or MSATS, or ERSATS or whatever. And
you get into your dream grad school or internship which leads to a super
job with a paycheck commensurate with responsibilities of leadership or if
you somehow get that documentary on a shoe-string budget and it gets accepted at Sundance and maybe it wins Sundance and then you go on to be
nominated for an Oscar and then you win the Oscar. Or if that moneymaking website that you designed with your friends somehow suddenly
attracts investors and advertisers and becomes the go-to site for whatever it
is you're selling, blogging, sharing, or net-casting and success shinning,
hoped-for but never really anticipated success comes your way I guarantee
you someone you know or love come to you and say, "Will you address the
graduates at my college?" And you'll say "Yeah sure, when is it? May
2010? 2010? Yeah sure, that's months away and then the nightmare begins.
The nightmare we've all had and I assure you, you'll continue to have even
after graduation, 40 years after graduation. About a week before the due
date, you wake up in the middle of the night, "Huh, I have a paper due and
I haven't done the reading, Oh my god!"
If you have been touched by the success fairy, people think you
know why. People think success breeds enlightenment and you are duty
bound to spread it around like manure, fertilize those young minds, let
them in on the secret, what is it that you know that no one else knows, the
self examination begins, one looks inward, one opens an interior door.
Cobwebs, black, the lights bulbs burned out, the airless dank refrigerator of
an insanely over-scheduled, unexamined life that usually just gets take-out.
Where is my writer friend, Anna Quindlen when I need her? On another
book tour.
Hello I'm Meryl Streep, and today, Class of 2010 and I am really, I
am very honored, and humbled to be asked to pass on tips and inspiration
to you for achieving success in this next part of your lives. President Spar,
when I consider the other distinguished medal recipients and venerable
Board of Trustees, the many accomplished faculty and family members,
people who've actually done things, produced things, while I have pretended to do things, I can think about 3,800 people who should have been on
this list before me and you know since my success has depended wholly on
putting things over on people. So I'm not sure parents think I'm that great a
role model anyway.
I am however an expert in pretending to be an expert in various areas, so just randomly like everything else in this speech, I am or I was an
expert in kissing on stage and on screen. How did I prepare for this? Well
most of my preparation took place in my suburban high school or rather
behind my suburban high school in New Jersey. One is obliged to do great
deal of kissing in my line of work. Air kissing, ass-kissing, kissing up and
of course actual kissing, much like hookers, actors have to do it with people we may not like or even know. We may have to do it with friends,
which, believe it or not is particularly awkward, for people of my generation, it's awkward.
My other areas of faux expertise, river rafting, miming the effects of
radiation poisoning, knowing which shoes go with which bag, coffee plantation, Turkish, Polish, German, French, Italian, that's Iowa-Italian from the
bridges of Madison county, bit of the Bronx, Aramaic, Yiddish, Irish clog
dancing, cooking, singing, riding horses, knitting, playing the violin, and
simulating steamy sexual encounters, these are some of the areas in which,
I have pretended quite proficiently to be successful, or the other way
around. As have many women here, I'm sure.
Women, I feel I can say this authoritatively, especially at Barnard
where they can't hear us, what am I talking about? They professionally
can't hear us. Women are better at acting than men. Why? Because we have
to be, if successfully convincing someone bigger than you are of something
he doesn't know is a survival skill, this is how women have survived
through the millennia. Pretending is not just play. Pretending is imagined
possibility. Pretending or acting is a very valuable life skill and we all do it.
All the time, we don't want to be caught doing it but nevertheless it's part of
the adaptations of our species, we change who we are to fit the exigencies
of our time, and not just strategically, or to our own advantage, sometimes
sympathetically, without our even knowing it for the betterment of the
whole group.
I remember very clearly my own first conscious attempt at acting. I
was six placing my mother's half slip over my head in preparation to play
the Virgin Mary in our living room. As I swaddled my Betsy Wetsy doll I
felt quieted, holy, actually, and my transfigured face and very changed demeanor captured on super-8 by my dad pulled my little brother Harry to
play Joseph and Dana too, a barnyard animal, into the trance. They were
actually pulled into this nativity scene by the intensity of my focus. In my
usual technique for getting them to do what I want, yelling at them would
never ever have achieved and I learned something on that day.
Later when I was nine, I remember taking my mother's eyebrow
pencil and carefully drawing lines all over my face, replicating the wrinkles
that I had memorized on the face of my grandmother whom I adored and
made my mother take my picture and I look at it now and of course, I look
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like myself now and my grandmother then. But I do really remember in my
bones, how it was possible on that day to feel her age. I stooped, I felt
weighted down but cheerful, you know I felt like her.
Empathy is at the heart of the actor's art. And in high school, another form of acting took hold of me. I wanted to learn how to be appealing.
So I studied the character I imagined I wanted to be that of the generically
pretty high school girl. I researched her deeply, that is to say shallowly, in
Vogue, in Seventeen, and in Mademoiselle Magazines. I tried to imitate her
hair, her lipstick, her lashes, the clothes of the lithesome, beautiful and generically appealing high school girls that I saw in those pages. I ate an apple a day, period. I peroxided my hair, ironed it straight. I demanded brand
name clothes, my mother shut me down on that one. But I did, I worked
harder on this characterization really than anyone I think I've ever done
since. I worked on my giggle, I lightened it. Because I like it when it went,
kind of "ehuh" and the end, "eheeh" "ehaeaahaha" because I thought it
sounded child like, and cute. This was all about appealing to boys and at
the same time being accepted by the girls, a very tricky negotiation.
Often success in one area precludes succeeding in the other. And
along with all my other exterior choices, I worked on my, what actors call,
my interior adjustment. I adjusted my natural temperament which tends to
be slightly bossy, a little opinionated, loud, a little loud, full of pronouncements and high spirits, and I willfully cultivated softness, agreeableness, a
breezy, natural sort of sweetness, even shyness if you will, which was very,
very, very effective on the boys. But the girls didn't buy it. They didn't like
me; they sniffed it out, the acting. And they were probably right, but I was
committed, this was absolutely not a cynical exercise, this was a vestigial
survival courtship skill I was developing. And I reached a point senior year,
when my adjustment felt like me, I had actually convinced myself that I
was this person and she, me, pretty, talented, but not stuck-up. You know, a
girl who laughed a lot at every stupid thing every boy said and who lowered her eyes at the right moment and deferred, who learned to defer when
the boys took over the conversation, I really remember this so clearly and I
could tell it was working, I was much less annoying to the guys than I had
been, they liked me better and I like that, this was conscious but it was at
the same time motivated and fully-felt this was real, real acting.
I got to Vassar which 43 years ago was a single-sex institution, like
all the colleges in what they call the Seven Sisters, the female Ivy League
and I made some quick but lifelong and challenging friends. And with their
help outside of any competition for boys my brain woke up. I got up and I
got outside myself and I found myself again. I didn't have to pretend, I
could be goofy, vehement, aggressive, and slovenly and open and funny
and tough and my friends let me. I didn't wash my hair for three weeks
once. They accepted me like the Velveteen Rabbit. I became real instead of
an imagined stuffed bunny but I stockpiled that character from high school
and I breathed life into her again some years later as Linda in the "Deer
Hunter." There is probably not one of you graduates who has ever seen this
film but the "Deer Hunter" it won best picture in 1978 Robert De Niro,
Chris Walken, not funny at all. And I played Linda, a small town girl in a
working class background, a lovely, quiet, hapless girl, who waited for the
boy she loved to come back from the war in Vietnam. Often men my age,
President Clinton, by the way, when I met him said, "Men my age, mention
that character as their favorite of all the women I've played." And I have
my own secret understanding of why that is and it confirms every decision
I made in high school. This is not to denigrate that girl by the way or the
men who are drawn to her in anyway because she's still part of me and I'm
part of her. She wasn't acting but she was just behaving in a way that
cowed girls, submissive girls, beaten up girls with very few ways out have
behaved forever and still do in many worlds. Now, in a measure of how
much the world has changed the character most men mention as their favorite is, Miranda Priestly.
Now as a measure of how the world has changed. The character
most men mention as their favorite. Miranda Priestly. The beleaguered
totalitarian at the head of Runway magazine in Devil Wears Prada. To my
mind this represents such an optimistic shift. They relate to Miranda. They
wanted to date Linda. They felt sorry for Linda but they feel like Miranda.
They can relate to her issues, the high standards she sets for herself and
others. The thanklessness of the leadership position. The "Nobody understands me" thing. The loneliness. They stand outside one character and they
pity her and they kind of fall in love with her but they look through the
eyes of this other character. This is a huge deal because as people in the
movie business know the absolute hardest thing in the whole world is to
persuade a straight male audience to identify with a woman protagonist to
feel themselves embodied by her. This more than any other factor explains
why we get the movies we get and the paucity of the roles where women
drive the film. It's much easier for the female audience because we were all
grown up brought up identifying with male characters from Shakespeare to
Salinger. We have less trouble following Hamlet's dilemma viscerally or
Romeo's or Tybalt or Huck Finn or Peter Pan – I remember holding that
sword up to Hook – I felt like him. But it is much much much harder for
heterosexual boys to identify with Juliet or Desdemona, Wendy in Peter
Pan or Joe in Little Women or the Little Mermaid or Pocohontas. why I
don't know, but it just is. There has always been a resistance to imagina-
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tively assume a persona, if that persona is a she. But things are changing
now and it's in your generation we're seeing this. Men are adapting... about
time...they are adapting consciously and also without consciously and
without realizing it for the better of the whole group. They are changing
their deepest prejudices to regard as normal the things that their fathers
would have found very very difficult and their grandfathers would have
abhorred and the door to this emotional shift is empathy. As Jung said,
emotion is the chief source of becoming conscious. There can be no transforming of lightness into dark of apathy into movement without emotion.
Or as Leonard Cohen says pay attention to the cracks because that's where
the light gets in. You, young women of Barnard have not had to squeeze
yourself into the corset of being cute or to muffle your opinions but you
haven't left campus yet. I'm just kidding. What you have had is the privilege of a very specific education. You are people who may able to draw on
a completely different perspective to imagine a different possibility than
women and men who went to coed schools.
How this difference is going to serve you it's hard to quantify now,
it may take you forty years like it did me to analyze your advantage. But
today is about looking forward into a world where so-called women's issues, human issues of gender inequality lie at the crux of global problems
from poverty to the AIDS crisis to the rise in violent fundamentalist juntas,
human trafficking and human rights abuses and you're going to have the
opportunity and the obligation, by virtue of your providence, to speed progress in all those areas. And this is a place where the need is very great, the
news is too. This is your time and it feels normal to you but really there is
no normal. There's only change, and resistance to it and then more change.
Never before in the history or country have most of the advanced
degrees been awarded to women but now they are. Since the dawn of man,
it's hardly more than 100 years since we were even allowed into these
buildings except to clean them but soon most of law and medical degrees
will probably also go to women. Around the world, poor women now own
property who used to be property and according to Economist magazine,
for the last two decades, the increase of female employment in the rich
world has been the main driving force of growth. Those women have contributed more to global GDP growth than have either new technology or the
new giants India or china. Cracks in the ceiling, cracks in the door, cracks
in the Court and on the Senate floor.
You know, I gave a speech at Vassar 27 years ago. It was a really
big hit. Everyone loved it, really. Tom Brokaw said it was the very best
commencement speech he had ever heard and of course I believed this.
And it was much easier to construct than this one. It came out pretty easily
because back then I knew so much. I was a new mother, I had two academy
awards and it was all coming together so nicely. I was smart and I understood boiler plate and what sounded good and because I had been on the
squad in high school, earnest full-throated cheerleading was my specialty
so that's what I did but now, I feel like I know about 1/16th of what that
young woman knew. Things don't seem as certain today. Now I'm 60, I
have four adult children who are all facing the same challenges you are. I'm
more sanguine about all the things that I still don't know and I'm still curious about.
What I do know about success, fame, celebrity that would fill another speech. How it separates you from your friends, from reality, from
proportion. Your own sweet anonymity, a treasure you don't even know
you have until it's gone. How it makes things tough for your family and
whether being famous matters one bit, in the end, in the whole flux of time.
I know I was invited here because of that. How famous I am. I how many
awards I've won and while I am I am overwhelmingly proud of the work
that, believe me, I did not do on my own. I can assure that awards have
very little bearing on my own personal happiness. My own sense of wellbeing and purpose in the world. That comes from studying the world feelingly, with empathy in my work. It comes from staying alert and alive and
involved in the lives of the people that I love and the people in the wider
world who need my help. No matter what you see me or hear me saying
when I'm on your TV holding a statuette spewing, that's acting.
Being a celebrity has taught me to hide but being an actor has
opened my soul.
Being here today has forced me to look around inside there for
something useful that I can share with you and I'm really grateful you gave
me the chance.
You know you don't have to be famous. You just have to make your
mother and father proud of you and you already have. Bravo to you. Congratulations.
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Oprah Winfrey’s commencement address
I thank you for allowing me to be a part of the conclusion of this
chapter of your lives and the commencement of your next chapter. To say
that I‟m honored doesn‟t even begin to quantify the depth of gratitude that
really accompanies an honorary doctorate from Harvard. Not too many
little girls from rural Mississippi have made it all the way here to Cambridge. And I can tell you that I consider today as I sat on the stage this
morning getting teary for you all and then teary for myself, I consider today
a defining milestone in a very long and a blessed journey. My one hope
today is that I can be a source of some inspiration. I‟m going to address my
remarks to anybody who has ever felt inferior or felt disadvantaged, felt
screwed by life, this is a speech for the Quad.
Actually I was so honored I wanted to do something really special
for you. I wanted to be able to have you look under your seats and there
would be free master and doctor degrees but I see you got that covered
already. I will be honest with you. I felt a lot of pressure over the past few
weeks to come up with something that I could share with you that you
hadn‟t heard before because after all you all went to Harvard, I did not. But
then I realized that you don‟t have to necessarily go to Harvard to have a
driven obsessive Type A personality. But it helps. And while I may not
have graduated from here I admit that my personality is about as Harvard
as they come. You know my television career began unexpectedly. As you
heard this morning I was in the Miss Fire Prevention contest. That was
when I was 16 years old in Nashville, Tennessee, and you had the requirement of having to have red hair in order to win up until the year that I entered. So they were doing the question and answer period because I knew I
wasn‟t going to win under the swimsuit competition. So during the question and answer period the question came “Why, young lady, what would
you like to be when you grow up?” And by the time they got to me all the
good answers were gone. So I had seen Barbara Walters on the “Today
Show” that morning so I answered, “I would like to be a journalist. I would
like to tell other people‟s stories in a way that makes a difference in their
lives and the world.” And as those words were coming out of my mouth I
went whoa! This is pretty good! I would like to be a journalist. I want to
make a difference. Well I was on television by the time I was 19 years old.
And in 1986 I launched my own television show with a relentless determination to succeed at first. I was nervous about the competition and then I
became my own competition raising the bar every year, pushing, pushing,
pushing myself as hard as I knew. Sound familiar to anybody here? Eventually we did make it to the top and we stayed there for 25 years.
The “Oprah Winfrey Show” was number one in our time slot for 21
years and I have to tell you I became pretty comfortable with that level of
success. But a few years ago I decided, as you will at some point, that it
was time to recalculate, find new territory, break new ground. So I ended
the show and launched OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network. The initials just
worked out for me. So one year later after launching OWN, nearly every
media outlet had proclaimed that my new venture was a flop. Not just a
flop, but a big bold flop they call it. I can still remember the day I opened
up USA Today and read the headline “Oprah, not quite standing on her
OWN.” I mean really, USA Today? Now that‟s the nice newspaper! It really was this time last year the worst period in my professional life. I was
stressed and I was frustrated and quite frankly I was actually I was embarrassed. It was right around that time that President Faust called and asked
me to speak here and I thought you want me to speak to Harvard graduates? What could I possibly say to Harvard graduates, some of the most
successful graduates in the world in the very moment when I had stopped
succeeding? So I got off the phone with President Faust and I went to the
shower. It was either that or a bag of Oreos. So I chose the shower. And I
was in the shower a long time and as I was in the shower the words of an
old hymn came to me. You may not know it. It‟s “By and by, when the
morning comes.” And I started thinking about when the morning might
come because at the time I thought I was stuck in a hole. And the words
came to me “Trouble don‟t last always” from that hymn, “this too shall
pass.” And I thought as I got out of the shower I am going to turn this thing
around and I will be better for it. And when I do, I‟m going to go to Harvard and I‟m going to speak the truth of it! So I‟m here today to tell you I
have turned that network around!
And it was all because I wanted to do it by the time I got to speak to
you all so thank you so much. You don‟t know what motivation you were
for me, thank you. I‟m even prouder to share a fundamental truth that you
might not have learned even as graduates of Harvard unless you studied the
ancient Greek hero with Professor Nagy. Professor Nagy as we were coming in this morning said, “Please Ms. Winfrey, walk decisively.”
I shall walk decisively.
This is what I want to share. It doesn‟t matter how far you might
rise. At some point you are bound to stumble because if you‟re constantly
doing what we do, raising the bar. If you‟re constantly pushing yourself
higher, higher the law of averages not to mention the Myth of Icarus predicts that you will at some point fall. And when you do I want you to know
this, remember this: there is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction. Now when you‟re down there in the
hole, it looks like failure. So this past year I had to spoon feed those words
to myself. And when you‟re down in the hole, when that moment comes,
it‟s really okay to feel bad for a little while. Give yourself time to mourn
what you think you may have lost but then here‟s the key, learn from every
mistake because every experience, encounter, and particularly your mistakes are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are.
And then figure out what is the next right move. And the key to life is to
develop an internal moral, emotional G.P.S. that can tell you which way to
go. Because now and forever more when you Google yourself your search
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results will read “Harvard, 2013”. And in a very competitive world that
really is a calling card because I can tell you as one who employs a lot of
people when I see “Harvard” I sit up a little straighter and say, “Where is
he or she? Bring them in.” It‟s an impressive calling card that can lead to
even more impressive bullets in the years ahead: lawyer, senator, C.E.O.,
scientist, physicist, winners of Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes or late night talk
show host. But the challenge of life I have found is to build a résumé that
doesn‟t simply tell a story about what you want to be but it‟s a story about
who you want to be. It‟s a résumé that doesn‟t just tell a story about what
you want to accomplish but why. A story that‟s not just a collection of titles and positions but a story that‟s really about your purpose. Because
when you inevitably stumble and find yourself stuck in a hole that is the
story that will get you out. What is your true calling? What is your dharma?
What is your purpose? For me that discovery came in 1994 when I interviewed a little girl who had decided to collect pocket change in order to
help other people in need. She raised a thousand dollars all by herself and I
thought, well if that little 9-year-old girl with a bucket and big heart could
do that, I wonder what I could do? So I asked for our viewers to take up
their own change collection and in one month, just from pennies and nickels and dimes, we raised more than three million dollars that we used to
send one student from every state in the United States to college. That was
the beginning of the Angel Network.
And so what I did was I simply asked our viewers, “Do what you
can wherever you are, from wherever you sit in life. Give me your time or
your talent your money if you have it.” And they did. Extend yourself in
kindness to other human beings wherever you can. And together we built
55 schools in 12 different countries and restored nearly 300 homes that
were devastated by hurricanes Rita and Katrina. So the Angel Network – I
have been on the air for a long time – but it was the Angel Network that
actually focused my internal G.P.S. It helped me to decide that I wasn‟t
going to just be on TV every day but that the goal of my shows, my interviews, my business, my philanthropy all of it, whatever ventures I might
pursue would be to make clear that what unites us is ultimately far more
redeeming and compelling than anything that separates me. Because what
had become clear to me, and I want you to know, it isn‟t always clear in the
beginning because as I said I had been on television since I was 19 years
old. But around ‟94 I got really clear. So don‟t expect the clarity to come
all at once, to know your purpose right away, but what became clear to me
was that I was here on Earth to use television and not be used by it; to use
television to illuminate the transcendent power of our better angels. So this
Angel Network, it didn‟t just change the lives of those who were helped,
but the lives of those who also did the helping. It reminded us that no matter who we are or what we look like or what we may believe, it is both possible and more importantly it becomes powerful to come together in common purpose and common effort. I saw something on the “Bill Moore
Show” recently that so reminded me of this point. It was an interview with
David and Francine Wheeler. They lost their 7-year-old son, Ben, in the
Sandy Hook tragedy. And even though gun safety legislation to strengthen
background checks had just been voted down in Congress at the time that
they were doing this interview they talked about how they refused to be
discouraged. Francine said this, she said, “Our hearts are broken but our
spirits are not. I‟m going to tell them what it‟s like to find a conversation
about change that is love, and I‟m going to do that without fighting them.”
And then her husband David added this, “You simply cannot demonize or
vilify someone who doesn‟t agree with you, because the minute you do
that, your discussion is over. And we cannot do that any longer. The problem is too enormous. There has to be some way that this darkness can be
banished with light.” In our political system and in the media we often see
the reflection of a country that is polarized, that is paralyzed and is selfinterested. And yet, I know you know the truth. We all know that we are
better than the cynicism and the pessimism that is regurgitated throughout
Washington and the 24-hour cable news cycle. Not my channel, by the
way. We understand that the vast majority of people in this country believe
in stronger background checks because they realize that we can uphold the
Second Amendment and also reduce the violence that is robbing us of our
children. They don‟t have to be incompatible.
And we understand that most Americans believe in a clear path to
citizenship for the 12,000,000 undocumented immigrants who reside in this
country because it‟s possible to both enforce our laws and at the same time
embrace the words on the Statue of Liberty that have welcomed generations of huddled masses to our shores. We can do both.
And we understand. I know you do because you went to Harvard.
There are people from both parties, and no party, [who] believe that indigent mothers and families should have access to healthy food and a roof
over their heads and a strong public education because here in the richest
nation on Earth, we can afford a basic level of security and opportunity. So
the question is, what are we going to do about it? Really, what are you going to do about it? Maybe you agree with these beliefs. Maybe you don‟t.
Maybe you care about these issues and maybe there are other challenges
that you, Class of 2013, are passionate about. Maybe you want to make a
difference by serving in government. Maybe you want to launch your own
television show. Or maybe you simply want to collect some change. Your
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parents would appreciate that about now. The point is your generation is
charged with this task of breaking through what the body politic has thus
far made impervious to change. Each of you has been blessed with this
enormous opportunity of attending this prestigious school. You now have a
chance to better your life, the lives of your neighbors and also the life of
our country. When you do that let me tell you what I know for sure. That‟s
when your story gets really good. Maya Angelou always says, “When you
learn, teach. When you get, give. That my friends is what gives your story
purpose and meaning.” So you all have the power in your own way to develop your own Angel Network and in doing so, your class will be armed
with more tools of influence and empowerment than any other generation
in history. I did it in an analog world. I was blessed with a platform that at
its height reached nearly 20,000,000 viewers a day. Now here in a world of
Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and Tumblr, you can reach billions in
just seconds. You‟re the generation that rejected predictions about your
detachment and your disengagement by showing up to vote in record numbers in 2008. And when the pundits said, they said they talked about you,
they said you‟d be too disappointed, you‟d be too dejected to repeat that
same kind of turnout in 2012 election and you proved them wrong by
showing up in even greater numbers. That‟s who you are.
This generation, your generation I know, has developed a finely
honed radar for B.S. Can you say “B.S.” at Harvard? The spin and phoniness and artificial nastiness that saturates so much of our national debate. I
know you all understand better than most that real progress requires authentic – an authentic way of being, honesty, and above all empathy. I have
to say that the single most important lesson I learned in 25 years talking
every single day to people, was that there is a common denominator in our
human experience. Most of us, I tell you we don‟t want to be divided. What
we want, the common denominator that I found in every single interview,
is we want to be validated. We want to be understood. I have done over
35,000 interviews in my career and as soon as that camera shuts off everyone always turns to me and inevitably in their own way asks this question
“Was that okay?” I heard it from President Bush, I heard it from President
Obama. I‟ve heard it from heroes and from housewives. I‟ve heard it from
victims and perpetrators of crimes. I even heard it from Beyonce and all of
her Beyonceness. She finishes performing, hands me the microphone and
says, “Was that okay?” Friends and family, yours, enemies, strangers in
every argument in every encounter, every exchange I will tell you, they all
want to know one thing: was that okay? Did you hear me? Do you see me?
Did what I say mean anything to you? And even though this is a college
where Facebook was born my hope is that you would try to go out and
have more face-to-face conversations with people you may disagree with.
That you‟ll have the courage to look them in the eye and hear their
point of view and help make sure that the speed and distance and anonymity of our world doesn‟t cause us to lose our ability to stand in somebody
else‟s shoes and recognize all that we share as a people. This is imperative,
for you as an individual, and for our success as a nation. “There has to be
some way that this darkness can be banished with light,” says the man
whose little boy was massacred on just an ordinary Friday in December. So
whether you call it soul or spirit or higher self, intelligence, there is I know
this, there is a light inside each of you, all of us, that illuminates your very
human beingness if you let it. And as a young girl from rural Mississippi I
learned long ago that being myself was much easier than pretending to be
Barbara Walters. Although when I first started because I had Barbara in my
head I would try to sit like Barbara, talk like Barbara, move like Barbara
and then one night I was on the news reading the news and I called Canada
“Can-a-da,” and that was the end of me being Barbara. I cracked myself up
on TV. Couldn‟t start laughing and my real personality came through and I
figured out, oh gee, I can be a much better Oprah than I could be a pretend
Barbara.
I know that you all might have a little anxiety now and hesitation
about leaving the comfort of college and putting those Harvard credentials
to the test. But no matter what challenges or setbacks or disappointments
you may encounter along the way, you will find true success and happiness
if you have only one goal, there really is only one, and that is this: to fulfill
the highest most truthful expression of yourself as a human being. You
want to max out your humanity by using your energy to lift yourself up,
your family and the people around you. Theologian Howard Thurman said
it best. He said, “Don‟t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself
what makes you come alive and then go do that, because what the world
needs is people who have come alive.” The world needs … People like
Michael Stolzenberg from Fort Lauderdale. When Michael was just 8 years
old Michael nearly died from a bacterial infection that cost him both of his
hands and both of his feet. And in an instant, this vibrant little boy became
a quadruple amputee and his life was changed forever. But in losing who
he once was Michael discovered who he wanted to be. He refused to sit in
that wheelchair all day and feel sorry for himself so with prosthetics he
learned to walk and run and play again. He joined his middle school lacrosse team and last month when he learned that so many victims of the
Boston Marathon bombing would become new amputees, Michael decided
to banish that darkness with light. Michael and his brother, Harris, created
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Mikeysrun.com to raise $1 million for other amputees – by the time Harris
runs the 2014 Boston Marathon. More than 1,000 miles away from here
these two young brothers are bringing people together to support this Boston community the way their community came together to support Michael.
And when this 13-year-old man was asked about his fellow amputees he
said this, “First they will be sad. They‟re losing something they will never
get back and that‟s scary. I was scared. But they‟ll be okay. They just don‟t
know that yet.” We might not always know it. We might not always see it,
or hear it on the news or even feel it in our daily lives, but I have faith that
no matter what, Class of 2013, you will be okay and you will make sure
our country is okay. I have faith because of that 9-year-old girl who went
out and collected the change. I have faith because of David and Francine
Wheeler, I have faith because of Michael and Harris Stolzenberg, and I
have faith because of you, the network of angels sitting here today. One of
them Khadijah Williams, who came to Harvard four years ago. Khadijah
had attended 12 schools in 12 years, living out of garbage bags amongst
pimps and prostitutes and drug dealers; homeless, going in to department
stores, Wal-Mart in the morning to bathe herself so that she wouldn‟t smell
in front of her classmates, and today she graduates as a member of the Harvard Class of 2013.
From time to time you may stumble, fall, you will for sure, count on
this, no doubt, you will have questions and you will have doubts about your
path. But I know this, if you‟re willing to listen to, be guided by, that still
small voice that is the G.P.S. within yourself, to find out what makes you
come alive, you will be more than okay. You will be happy, you will be
successful, and you will make a difference in the world. Congratulations
Class of 2013. Congratulations to your family and friends. Good luck, and
thank you for listening. Was that okay?
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Учебное издание
Англоязычные СМИ для студентов,
изучающих английский язык
Mass Media for Students of English
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