Rhetorical Analysis Of Jason Reynolds

Olivia Cappetta
Mrs Korey
Advanced Honors English
Mar 21, 2023
Rhetorical Analysis of Jason Reynolds
"Lesley University Speech"
Life may be unfair and as humans, we should do all we can to help those less fortunate than ourselves. In his incredibly inspirational and practical speech given to the graduating class at Lesley University in 2018, Jason Reynolds powerfully communicates and eagerly excites his audience by using alliteration and metaphor to explain the blind journey these graduates will soon embark on which we call life.
Reynold's elusive metaphors are used to compare one thing to another. Jason Reynolds uses metaphors in his speeches to connect with the audience, appealing to their emotions. He uses metaphors like "Those of us from raging waters and crashing waves, beached, but trying desperately to breathe" and "There are those of us whose wings have been clipped. ". These metaphors connect with the audience members who have had hardships and struggles throughout their lives. In this case, he is comparing humans to a bird with clipped wings or to someone drowning. He explains while also showing how he knows what it is like to struggle, now establishing credibility. His way of verbalizing these metaphors has the audience feeling more connected to the speech as they can

He uses one to describe struggle as "Flipping and flopping and flapping, inflating, deflating, dying". This use of a descriptive repetition of words also appeals to the emotions of his audience at this graduation. He reasons with the audience as well when he says "the question is, what good is it for me to fly so far above them when they'll only look smaller to me the higher I go". This rhetorical question has the audience think about not only themselves, but also others around them, and how there is no need to see people as different or at a lower status. His alliterations attract the audience's attention and create a memorable