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- Discuss how often American teenagers use technology (up to 10 hours a day of screen time)
- How does technology affect the way we relate to one another? Positive/negative effects
- important for our generation given how much time we spend on devices
- skills matter more than ever in college
- Introduce background behind Jablonski’s speech
- pulls audience in by asking them to put down their cell phones for next four years
- audience: teenagers raised with social media, beginning new chapter of their lives
- speaker: older person, must establish credibility with audience (ethos)
- Uses cultural references
- anecdotes (Sparks, successful undergraduate student)
- “important to absorb everything”-goes against current information consumption patterns, which emphasize quick takes/lots of information from all sides
- Logos and ethos-more credible coming from another student
- Audience wants to achieve great things with new freedom and opportunity of college life
- Jablonski reassures them of their abilities (comparing human brain vs. computers)
- powerful analogy: people think of computers as all-powerful, nothing compares to people’s inherent power
- repetition of phrases and parallel structure establishes the number of opportunities and different niches available at Penn State
- sends message that Penn State truly has a place for everyone — reassuring students of their ability to succeed
- appeals to forward-facing outlook of college freshmen using sweeping, poetic language
- “Now is not the time to retire into the safety of your screens.”
- “I don’t want you to miss the magic of your mashup because you were looking at your cell phone.”
- Conclusion: effective motivational speech, battles common perception among millennials about need for constant connectivity via devices
- relies heavily on emotional appeals, related to purpose of speech (to persuade and entertain)
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