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Julie Woodward
Kate Kimball
ENGL 1010-92
10/13/2012
Meryl Streep Commencement Speech
“I am humbled to pass on tips and inspiration to you for achieving success in the next part of your lives” (Streep, Commencement Address) are the words Meryl Streep uttered when giving her address at Barnard. She is an excellent candidate because her background at an all women school can resonate with the audience. She talks to these young women about how their specific education differs from other students who go to co-ed schools, and they have the advantage to change the gender-cultural world. It is a very compelling speech because she gives a persuasive argument that women are stronger than men in many aspects. “This is how we survive” (Streep, Commencement Address). She plays on many rhetorical devices, some being Ethos, Pathos and Logos which proves extremely effective in the body of her speech. She is very influential when stating her facts and opinions about her belief in women soon being strong leaders in the world.
Ethos is a powerful rhetoric for her. Meryl Streep is known for her many motion pictures’ she’s not only appeared in, but been the star in. She talks about her award winning shows, and all the awards she has personally achieved, but she does not boast. Her accomplishments are something most people in society are extremely aware of, and her words of advice are creditable. But she doesn’t play on the fact that she is famous, she plays on her hard work. She expresses that being famous has very little bearing on her own personal happiness, sense of well-being, or purpose in the world. Studying the world feelingly has gotten her to where she is today. “Being a celebrity taught me to hide, being an actor has opened my soul” (Streep, Commencement Address) she passionately describes in her speech.
Knowing that she is a well-known actress plays to her strength’s very well. She is known as a leader in the Industry, which puts a great deal more emphasis on her speech. She says that “Women are better actors than men, because we have to be” (Streep, Commencement Address). She says standing up to the bigger man and saying that is a great feat she challenged herself to. As she explains the drive of force these women has, it contributes greatly to all of the progress she has personally made in her personal life. It gives her the authority to speak of these things, because she has so much experience. It helps better understand what her life has taught her that she is explaining to the graduates, knowing what personal success it has brought her to.
Out of the whole speech, I would say Pathos was her strongest technique. She opened up emotional appeal in many ways. She was humorous, she related to the girls very well and she spoke in a way that made you feel comfortable. She admits that pretending is a very valuable life skill, and all of us do it all the time. We change who we are to adapt strategically to fit to our time, sometimes sympathetically without our even knowing it for the betterment of the whole group. She jokes about being an expert at kissing on stage and on screen air kissing, ass kissing, kissing up and actual kissing. She expressed her feelings about being an actor in the scheme of kissing, is very much like a hooker. It may not be someone you like, it may not be someone you know, it may be a friend that is particularly awkward for her generation. It brings the audience in because anyone can be imagine what that would be, and how pretending would be valuable in that circumstance.
She also uses pathos to talk about how acting became part of herself as she was growing up. Her first attempt when she was 6 she acted like The Virgin Mary in her home and in that instance she felt quieted, holy actually. Than at 9 she drew lines on her forehead to act like her favorite grandmother, she distinctly remembers how to feel how she felt at that age. “Empathy is at the heart of the actor’s art” (Streep, Commencement Address). It was like inside of her she slumped her shoulders, walked heavily but was still cheerful. Than in high school she made up an entire character of who she wanted to be. She wanted to be appealing to boys, but at the same time well-liked by girls, which she described to as being “tricky”. She researched this character deeply, changing her whole demeanor. Convinced that was actually the person she was, boys liked it but the girls saw right through her and knew she was acting. She was committed to be this character developing all the skills necessary to achieve the role of this girl. She described this as adjusting herself to feel like it was the actual person she was. “This was conscious, but motivated and fully-fully felt, this was real-real acting” (Streep, Commencement Address).
Finally the way she plays to logos is accurately presented and well spoken. She speaks about her experience at Vassar, the all-women’s school she attended in college, and how her brain woke up and she could finally be herself again. This was the icing on the cake to how she achieved her first role, The Deer Hunter, with Robert Dinero and Chris Walker. Although she stock piled the character she became in high school, she breathed air back into her for the role she landed as Linda. This is where she starts realizing the gender roles that celebrities carry in their movies. President Clinton said men her age at the time mention that character was her favorite one she has played. But a huge optimistic shift has come into place as men now say her favorite character is Myranda Preesly, in the Devil Wears Prada. Why? She explains that they relate to Myranda’s issues, high standards, the leadership position, loneliness etc… Almost as if they embody themselves in them, or look through their eyes. It’s hard for hetro-sexual boys to identify with the female lead role characters like little mermaid, or little women or others alike. But things are changing, “Men are adapting, finally” (Streep, Commencement Address).
She talks to the graduates of Barnard of their possibilities of analyzing their advantages. Gender inequalities live at the very cracks at the global problems everyone suffers. Even though the need is very great, the news is too. She explains that these women have the “opportunity and obligation” to speed progress in all these areas. Never before in the history in our country have most of the advanced degrees in our country been awarded to women, but now they are. It is great to see how she has researched these topics to prove to these women that they are the future to change. Since the dawn of man it’s been hardly 100 years since us women were allowed into colleges, now she predicts most law and medical degrees will be awarded to women also. According to Economist Magazine within 2 decades the increase in female employment in the rich world has been the main driving force of growth. Those women have contributed more to global G.E.P. growth than new technology, new giants, India or China. Her arguments are very compelling to women everywhere.
Meryl Streep’s enriching and inspirational address influences women everywhere. The rhetoric she used in her speech is very compelling towards her audience at an all-girls school and teaches us that we can be the next leaders of the world. She represents a successful background with remarkable experience in her career, as well as in her life. Her use of Ethos, Logos and Pathos vastly influenced her speech in a way that pulled her audience into listening to her insight, beliefs and intellect. She was a perfect candidate to speak at Barnard because she is a major role-model to many women. She speaks in a way that women can understand and look up to. Her talk on the future for women takes a persuasive turn when she says, “You are people who may able to draw on a completely different perspective to imagine a different possibility than women and men who went to coed schools”. (Streep, Commencement Address) As women we live in a generation where men are learning to adapt, and we get to speed the progression of our world.
Works Cited
Streep, Meryl. “Commencement Address at Barnard College” www.huffingpost.com 2010 Copyright @ 2012 TheHuffingpost.com, Inc. Text Accessed 10/12/2012 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/18/meryl-streep-barnard-grad_n_580335.html
Streep, Meryl. “Barnard Commencement Speaker 2010, Columbia University” www.youtube.com Uploaded by columbiauniversity on May 18, 2010 Standard YouTube License, Video, Accessed 10/13/2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-a8QXUAe2g