Simoun Urcia
Reflection
This assignment was quite challenging for me as it required me to be very analytical is which I’m not very good at. However, I learned a lot during this phase. I learned how there are secondary and primary audiences. Furthermore, I learned how the speaker or author caters and impacts both audiences. For example, in my rhetorical essay, I analyzed Saleem’s TED talk. His primary audience would’ve been the TED talk audience but his secondary audience would’ve been people who have accents and are afraid of public speaking. So, during this phase, exigence and audience had the most impact on me and I focused a lot on those 2 aspects when I was writing my essay. I also learned through Saleem different methods to get your topic addressed. He used funny power point slides as well as historical context which is something I never considered. Just like last phase, the breakout rooms really helped me a lot. I had a great peer review partner and was able to add and revise my essay for the better. My peer review partner had great transition words and reading her work inspired me to use better transition words as well. Through the peer review I was able to understand the exigence part of the essay better. Also, another learning outcome I used was “Recognize the role of language attitudes and standards in empowering, oppressing, and hierarchizing languages and their users, and be open to communicating across different languages and cultures.” This was especially true because Saleem brought light to me how American culture is so used to speakers speaking without an accent and that we need to make it a norm to have speakers with different accents. Overall, this phase was a little challenging but I’m glad I got to learn it. It made me a more critical writer.
Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Did you know that the Ancient Greeks once described the ocean as “wine red”? Safwat Saleem further elaborates this quote in his TED talk “Why I keep speaking up, even when people mock my accent”,which is a piece that explores societal standards towards language and is critical towards it. Saleem is an artist, designer, and film-maker. In his TED talk he emphasizes the importance of challenging social norms. Through his usage of personal experiences, historical examples, and humor, he supports his argument.
Very early on, Safwat mentions that he is a visual artist. He uses his talents of being a visual artist to draw attention from the audience. He shows animations of different characters saying “Hi” in his presentation; in a bear voice, whale voice, and even a Frankenstein voice. This is hilarious and gets the audience to focus on him. The little voice animations also ties into the main topic that he wants to speak about which is “accents”. Well, particularly his accent and how his accent affected him while growing up. It wouldn’t make sense to have an intro with voice animations and talk about something completely different. This introduction is also very symbolic of what he is trying to portray. Just like how the Frankenstein, the bear, and the whale voice caught the attention of the audience, the same concept should apply to human society. No matter what accent or voice we have, we should demand the same respect and attention from the audience. Saleem effectively used his animation skills in his introduction.
Image of Safwat Saleem
Saleem further elaborates the topic by recounting his personal experiences. One of his most memorable and vivid experiences was when he made an educational video a couple years ago. There were some good responses to the video but also offensive responses. For example he recalls someone saying “His voice is annoying, no offense” and another person saying “Could you remake this without peanut butter in your mouth”. This signifies that there is an issue in America with our views towards presenters that have accents compared to people that don’t have an accent. Sharing this experience is very notable because it helps create a connection with the audience. His primary audience are the people attending his TED talk. TED talk is a platform where people publicly share their ideas on a platform. Perhaps someone in the audience wants to publicly speak as well but is also afraid of being judged because of his/her accent. In a way, Saleem is comforting anyone in the audience that may have doubts because of their voice. If he can be a successful speaker, anyone in the audience can be one too. Saleem choosing to present on TED talk is very strategic because it is a platform where many people speak publicly and many people may gain motivation from his speech.
His secondary audience is people who have accents. He wants to vitalize people with accents that are afraid to speak publicly. From simple things such as small daily social interactions to even bigger things such as speaking in front of a whole audience. There are people out there just like Saleem. When Saleem was younger he hated introducing himself and he even said that “I’d always stutter on my name”. So he is not trying to just relate to the TED talk audience but also people who have accents in general. If someone like Saleem, can be successful with his accent, many other people with accents can be successful as well at public speaking.
Image of Safwat Saleem during his ted talk
Saleem further reinforces his point by giving a historical example. He talks about the ancient Greeks and specifically Greek autor, Homer. He states that Homer described the sea “… as wine red, people’s faces are sometimes green, and sheep are purple”. Now if someone was to say that in the current era, people would think it would be preposterous. However, it all ties into Saleem’s main point. Just like Homer, he wants to challenge the social norms. The Greeks didn’t have a full grasp of all the colors in ancient times. Also, what is unusual today, can be a normal thing 10 years down the road.So,he wants more people with accents to make videos, present on stage, and speak freely. If more people do it, then eventually it may become a normal thing.
Saleem does a great job at appealing to the speaker’s sense of emotion or pathos. With his personal stories, he invokes empathy and pity. Also, with his funny slides and presentations he invokes joy and happiness. However, he also does have a hint of ethos because he is a successful person himself. He is a successful speaker and an artist. Being successful and having a lot of experience in his career boosts his credibility. He provides so many examples about his career experiences. For example the video he made where there were a lot of comments about his accent. Although pathos and ethos are more prominent in this presentation. He does have some logos as well. He provides a statistic when he says “… in 2014, only about 11 percent of the books had a character of color. And just the year before, that number was about eight percent”. This study aids his main idea. Although it’s a statistic about books, it ties back to the main idea that we need to challenge the norms. Just like we need more public speakers with accents, we should also have characters of color in our books. Saleem does a great job at effectively using all 3:pathos,ethos, and logos.
All in all, with a sense of humor, historical context, and personal experiences, Saleem was able to effectively vocalize his ideas. American society continues to diversify every day. Like Saleem preaches, we should continue to challenge our social norms.
SOURCES:
- https://www.ted.com/talks/safwat_saleem_why_i_keep_speaking_up_even_when_people_mock_my_accent (Saleems TED talk)
- http://www.safwatsaleem.com/about (image of Safwat Saleem)
