RGM2 TASK 1: ANALYSIS OF A TEXT COMPOSITION: WRITING WITH A STRATEGY — D269 “Analysis of What Matters More Than Your Talents”
Rewrite/edit the below text.
Jeff Bezo the Cofounder of Amazon. Bezo is giving this speech at and undergraduates graduation at Princeton University. What Matters More Than Your Talents, Jeff Bezos spent his Summer with his Grandparents traveling. During this time of traveling Bezo recalled his grandmother smoking cigarettes. Bezo was a very intelligent little boy; he then figured out with each puff of cigarette his grandmother took how she was shortening her life. Once he found out, he told his grandmother how many years she had just shortened her life, only for it to upset his grandmother. Not quite understanding the demise that he caused, his grandfather explained that being kind is way more effective than being clever. He said to him “cleverness is a gift; kindness is a choice”. It is important to see how you use your gifts and your choices. Later in life Bezo worked for a company where he had to make a choice to sell books online even though his boss told him that it wouldn’t be a great idea for someone who didn’t have an already good job. Bezo quit his job and pursued his dreams, and he became successful with the decision he made.
The purpose of the speech was to persuade the audience to be mindful of the gifts you are given in life. Make sure you use them the right way because the mind can be seduced by gifts, and you can later regret them if not used correctly. In a lifetime we are faced with making many decisions and the decisions we make will be reflected in our character. Will you be prideful of the gifts, or will you put your pride in the choices you make in your lifetime. Bezo wanted the audience to think of their lives from their past present and future and he wanted them to think of when they have reached their later age of their lives and wanted to see if they would be happy with the choices they’ve made overall. Will you follow your dreams and be successful? Will you be clever or show kindness? Even though the choices may be difficult go after what you want so you don’t live with regrets later.
Bezo was very personal and emotional with his words. It made the audience feel as if they were reliving the experience with him as a child. His speech was very believable and an attention grabber. He spoke clearly and slowly. Bezo spoke of certain inventors which made his speech enthralling. He wanted the audience to understand that he in fact understands the difficulties we may face in life.
A Patho used in Bezos Speech was when he believed his grandparents would tell him how smart he was about figuring out how each puff of cigarette shortened his grandmother’s life. “Jeff, you’re so smart. You had to have made some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division.” That’s not what happened. Instead, my grandmother burst into tears.” (BEZO 2021) Bezo was persuading the audience imagine the feelings that he went through.
A logo was used when Bezo mentioned an Ad about cigarettes telling how many years with each puff your life can shortened. “I’d been hearing an ad campaign about smoking. I can’t remember the details, but basically the ad said, every puff of a cigarette takes some number of minutes off your life: I think it might have been two minutes per puff.” (BEZO 2021) Bezo provides specific facts and statistics to the audience to inform them what could happen with smoking.
Works Cited:
“What matters more than your talents”. James Clear. (2021, August 3). Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://jamesclear.com/great-speeches/what-matters-more-than-your-talents-by-jeff-bezos
