Piece 1

Megan Piece
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
29 February 2016
Determination Equals Success
In 2008 Oprah Winfrey was invited to speak with Stanford Universitys graduates.
Winfrey provided some background information on her life in order to inspire others. She once
lived in poverty, therefore she understood what it took to become someone in life, degree or not.
Now she is a television sensation who gives hope, motivates, and captivates whenever she speaks
to an audience or group. She is an empowering woman whose words would go on to make a
difference in young lives. She established a connection with the everyday graduates life. Pathos,
Ethos, and fallacies in Oprah Winfrey's Commencement address at Stanford University inspired
graduates to never give up on their dreams no matter how hard life can become.
Oprah Winfrey starts her Commencement address by introducing pathos, allowing the
audience see the normal, non celebrity side of her. This in turn would make them comfortable
and more open to actually paying attention to what she has to say. She introduced something that
the audience were unaware of; their former classmate Kirby Bumpus is her goddaughter. Winfrey
states, She wants people to get to know her on her own terms, she says not in terms of who
she knows"(par.3). Winfrey then continues to gather an emotional connection with the graduates
by adding that Kirby graduated with not one, but two degrees and did not need the fame from
who she knew to do it (par.3). Providing this information gave the audience encouragement to
not cheat their way through life. She is telling the audience it is possible to make it without fame
and being famous is not everything. In paragraph seven Winfrey elaborated on how without fame

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she herself would not have graduated, if her father did not push her to go back and receive her
last credit. For those students who could connect with what Oprah was saying, most likely
started to remember that one parent or family member that pushed them when they felt like
giving up.When Oprah found out she was short one credit she basically said forget it, there was
no point in going back another year since her class will be graduating and starting life without
her (par.7).By adding this information on her personal experience she was able to connect with
majority of her audience on a companionship level. She let them know how she went through the
same giving up stage in college, but look where she is now. The grass is truly greener on the
other side when it comes to Oprahs life experience.
Credibility was also shown in this Commencement Address at Stanford University when
Winfrey states, her happiness of having her own talk show was not true happiness until she
stopped looking at it as an occupation and used the television to truly serve her viewers. This
statement from paragraph thirty-eight gave listeners confirmation that she is speaking off of
experience. She also gives an insight to what she has learned from her journey. In paragraph
fifteen Oprah Winfrey explains how the news director of the radio station she worked for tried to
change her to fit the public eye. The directors stated they did not like her name or her looks, but
Winfrey stood her grounds and said, No it doesnt feel right. Im not going to change my name,
and if people remember it or not, thats okay (par. 15). She then goes on to explain how she
constantly received negativity until she got fired, and sense they did not want to pay out her
contract they simply moved her to a talk show. This is where it finally felt right and her career
took off (Winfrey par. 20). The point that Oprah Winfrey was making is that although she went
through the struggles of keeping a job; she never gave up on her beliefs. Her credibility was
gained from just sticking in there no matter what was said. The listeners are now aware of the

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obstacles that could have stopped her from being the person she is today, but she never gave up
or destroyed herself-beliefs. Winfrey basically tells the audience to go ahead and try everything
until that dream job is found, and never settled for less.
Oprah Winfrey added the fallacy begging the question to her speech, which established a
common connection and a little humor. In paragraph seven Oprah tells the audience that her dad
would always ask her what was she going to do without a degree, and Oprah would go on to say
But, dad, I have my own television show or But, Dad, now Im a talk show host.. She gives
the audience a real life situation to look at and compare to their own lives. Winfrey felt she was
already successful and there was no point in going back a full semester to get one credit in order
to receive her degree. This is very common in the world today but Winfrey went ahead and
listened to her father. She learned from that degree and added her opinion to inform the graduates
that, although everything is going well a degree is something that should be achieved, because it
can never get taken away.
The elements that Oprah Winfrey used in this commencement address complimented this
occasion. This speech gave the audience inspiration to pursue a life after college that will make
them appreciate their career and not just settle for less. They could look back on that moment
whenever they feel that something is unnecessary to complete or not worth the trouble. Oprah
provided more than enough information to connect with the graduates. By sharing her journey to
success she was able to influence hope into the journey they are about to begin.

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Works Cited
Winfrey, Oprah. Commencement Address at Stanford University. American Rhetoric. Michael
E. Eidenmuller, N.D. Web. 14 February. 2016.