Commencement Speech at Mount Holyoke College
by Anna Quindlen
| commencement_speech_at_mount_holyoke_(anna_quindlen).pdf |
Exploring the Speech
1. What rhetorical strategies does Anna Quindlen use to tailor her speech to a specific occasion and audience? What is the occasion? Who is the audience?
2. How does she use her own experience without sounding judgmental or bossy?
3. What does she mean when she says, "I'd like you to give up. Give up your backpack" (para.19)? Is/has Chris given up his backpack?
4. Beyond the backpack, Quindlen introduces the metaphor of fingerprints (para.10). Which metaphor works better for you? Why? How does the fingerprint analogy apply to Chris?
5. Is Quindlen suggesting that the graduates should lower their expectations and goals? Explain your answer. Has Chris lowered his standards?
6. Quindlen quotes Lily Tomlin (actress, comedian, writer), Catherine Drinker Bowen (writer of semifictional biographies), Carl Yung (psychiatrist), and George Eliot (novelist) (para. 9,14, 18, 22). What is the effect of citing such a variety of sources? What do they have in common?
7. In her speech, does Quindlen sympathize more with the values of community or in the individual? Explain.
2. How does she use her own experience without sounding judgmental or bossy?
3. What does she mean when she says, "I'd like you to give up. Give up your backpack" (para.19)? Is/has Chris given up his backpack?
4. Beyond the backpack, Quindlen introduces the metaphor of fingerprints (para.10). Which metaphor works better for you? Why? How does the fingerprint analogy apply to Chris?
5. Is Quindlen suggesting that the graduates should lower their expectations and goals? Explain your answer. Has Chris lowered his standards?
6. Quindlen quotes Lily Tomlin (actress, comedian, writer), Catherine Drinker Bowen (writer of semifictional biographies), Carl Yung (psychiatrist), and George Eliot (novelist) (para. 9,14, 18, 22). What is the effect of citing such a variety of sources? What do they have in common?
7. In her speech, does Quindlen sympathize more with the values of community or in the individual? Explain.
