This brilliant speech offers excellent examples of rhetorical technique. For starters, it is a counternarrative with a “yes, but…” or “agree, but with a difference” multi-layered thesis. Reynolds begins by identifying the standard “spread your wings,” trope of graduation speeches, affirms it, then makes it clear what it overlooks. Here is his “three-story thesis”:
First story: Like most graduation speeches suggest, it is important for educated people to take leadership positions, to, as the cliché suggests, spread their wings and fly. Second story: However, it is also important to ask yourself how you can help the disempowered. Third story: Those who take on leadership positions and become more and more successful (i.e. fly higher and higher), get distorted senses of the world. It is therefore important to remember those who haven’t had your advantages.
Reynolds uses a remarkable story to convey this complex thesis and ensure it sticks in our minds. Accordingly, this speech is also an excellent example of the power of allegory.
In discussing this speech with my class, I like to begin by asking them if they’ve ever attended a graduation and, if so, what themes were discussed. Then I like to show them the 10-minute video of Reynold’s delivery and ask them to consider the questions listed below (available here as a handout), first alone and then in groups.
Discussion Questions:
1. At the beginning of the speech, how does Reynolds charm his audience?
2. “Confucius” is the name of a famous Chinese philosopher, whose work concerned morality. What is the significance of the fish’s name in this story?
3. Mr. Williams says that sometimes doing the right thing has consequences. Can you think of a time in your life in which this was true?
4. Reynolds says that the incident in Mr. Williams’ classroom was “the single most important day in my entire academic experience and one of the most transformative moments in my life.” Why might this be true?
5. Thinking locally, what groups of people might be described as those whose “wings have been clipped” and which with those who “dwell in unknown spaces,” and “exist in environs too deep and murky to be seen from any stable surface.” What groups of people might be described as such when you think more globally?
6. Do you think the story about the fish is true? Why or why not? Does the idea that it might not be true change its impact? Why or why not?
7. Reynolds identifies a flaw in the message that graduates should “spread their wings and take flight.” What is that flaw?
8. What rhetorical devices does Reynolds use to enhance his speech’s effectiveness?
9. Identify the three stories of Reynold’s thesis.