Commencement Address by Michelle Obama
In 2016 The City College of New York was privileged to have Michelle Obama give the commencement address. Michelle Obama shared how honored and overjoyed she was to be at the commencement and celebrating the graduating class. The address was very moving and inspirational for everyone who heard Michelle’s significant message.
The rhetorical situation is Michelle Obama gives her very last commencement speech as First Lady at The City College of New York and describes it as the perfect place to do so because of the college’s diversity. Michelle’s tone is very humble, happy and empowering all throughout the speech. The medium is that the speech is delivered in person and was also recorded to be shared with the world. She also goes on to explain why she specifically chose the City College of New York: “I really want you all to know that there is a reason why, of all of the colleges and universities in this country, I chose this particular school in this particular city for this special moment… Just look around. Look at who you are. Look at where we’re gathered today… at this school, you represent more than 150 nationalities. You speak more than 100 different languages — whoa, just stop there. You represent just about every possible background -– every color and culture, every faith and walk of life. And you’ve taken so many different paths to this moment.” (Obama, 2) The City College of New York isn’t like many colleges. It’s a melting pot of different cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds. It’s a public college that is extremely affordable for students with lower incomes, and frankly that is very rare to find in America. Michelle Obama is an African American woman who struggled to pay for college, and she can relate to many of the things students in the City College of New York go through. She understands how difficult paying for college education can be for low income and immigrant students. The purpose of this speech is for Michelle to share her story and create a positive impact on the graduates and the audience. She wants to change people outlook on immigrants, diversity, and struggle because of the antagonism around it.
The audience is America. It’s important that everyone hears this speech because many people have the wrong concept of immigrants. Immigrants are what make this country. This country is built on immigrant success even after all the struggles and difficulties they face. Many immigrants have accomplished prodigious things. Some people in America look at immigrants as a threat instead of an advantage and an opportunity for advancement when they need to open their eyes and realize how hardworking immigrants are: “They seem to view our diversity as a threat to be contained rather than as a resource to be tapped. They tell us to be afraid of those who are different, to be suspicious of those with whom we disagree. They act as if name-calling is an acceptable substitute for thoughtful debate, as if anger and intolerance should be our default state rather than the optimism and openness that have always been the engine of our progress.” (Obama,4) Michelle uses language that captivates the audience. She expresses herself by using metaphors and anecdotes to make a powerful impact on the audience and the graduating class. She inspires, empowers, and brings up the graduating class by her significant message and gives them the strength and courage to take on the real life. She reminds everyone that the struggles are what make them stronger and equipped for anything.
Michelle delivers this message by speaking formally to an audience therefore making its genre a speech. Michelle’s stance on her message is very real and serious. Everything she shares and speaks about is very sincere and is the cold hard truth about what is going on in America and the challenges that immigrants unfortunately face. She advocates for the students and lets them and anyone who listens know that they need to strut their stuff and be great regardless of their background.
Michelle’s use of rhetoric is very effective. She’s very credible and compelling and tells the audience everything they need to hear to understand her. Her message exudes empowerment and courage for the graduates and anyone that can relate to them. Her message is also perfect for the rest of America that needs to understand the worth and the positive influence immigrants have all over America. Michelle conveys her message perfectly.
Works Cited:
Obama, Michelle (2016) Commencement Address by First Lady Michelle Obama.
Retrieved from CCNY Database https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/commencement/commencement-address-first-lady-michelle-obama
