For the 1990 graduating class at Wellesley College, Barbara Bush, gave the commencement address. Wellesley, a private women's liberal arts school located in Massachusetts, also invited Raisa Gorbachev, first lady of the Union of the Soviet Socialists Republic, to speak along with Bush. The first lady of the United States, acknowledged the honor of standing by Gorbachev in her address, but then focused her attention on the lessons she had learned in life. The commencement speech had a focal point on three main topics: to believe and get involved in large ideas of the time, to have joy in life, and most of all, to cherish human connections. When it was announced that Bush would be the speaker at the graduation, people were outraged. The…show more content… Throughout the speech, the tone and context starts building up and climaxes which creates a powerful message. When the term “you must” is repeated three times near the end of the speech, this anaphora communicates the strict tone effectively and provides easy to understand terms. Bush also uses asyndetons when describing the different types of human connections that one may have. By doing this, it implies that each graduating student has not three human connections but has many human connections. There is also deliberate pausing to add suspense and draw in the attention of the listeners. These caesuras are placed strategically when the speech is climaxing. By using powerful tone, anaphoras, asyndetons, and caesuras, the speech delivered by Bush is persuading and keeps the attention of the audience. By giving the commencement address, Bush helps persuade the 1990 graduating class at Wellesley college to believe and get involved in large ideas of the time, to have joy in life, and to cherish human connections. Bush, at the time, had a reputation from her husband and not from her achievements. Between the phrases and tone of the speech though, a new reputation was earned for her. Bush gave a persuasive speech in hopes that each student may have a future worthy of their
