Paper 1 practice

The speech that is going to be analyzed, is the speech that the Yankee’s prodigious first baseman Lou Gehrig delivered on July 4, of 1939. Lou Gehrig was known as the Iron Horse because of his endurance and his fidelity in every single game, but sadly at the age of 36 he had to stop playing due to the contraction of the crippling disease. Therefore, this is the speech that the Yankee baseman delivered as his farewell, since he had to retire due to the disease. The speech was delivered in the Yankee stadium, in front of all his fans, family, and teammates.

The targeted audience of the speech is the group of individuals that know and support Lou Gehrig, and besides of that, the individuals who also are aware of his situation regarding his retirement. An evidence for this, that is found in the speech, is the very first sentence that the Yankee baseman says which is ‘’ Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got.’’(Line 1). This sentence can be taken as evidence since when he refers to the fans, he is referring to a group of people who are interested in him, or care for him since they show interest in his situation. Besides of that, it shows that the targeted audience must know about his retirement since the sentence shows that these individuals interested in him know about a bad break that he had.

The purpose of Lou Gehrig’s speech, is to finish his career in a positive way despite of his disease, portraying his conviction of the fact that he has succeeded in his career with the help of his teammates, manager, family, and fans and to persuade the audience with the fact that his life is not over yet. In order to do this, he does not mention, even one time, his problem regarding his disease, and instead of doing that, he repeats several times that he is the luckiest man on earth, showing gratitude to his teammates, manager,  family, and fans for supporting him in every moment. Besides of that he also wants to show his positivism to his audience since in his last sentence he says ‘’ I have an awful lot to live for’’ (Line 17).  Therefore, the purpose of the speech is to express gratitude, and positivism, and persuade the audience with the fact that he still has a purpose to live.

The speech essentially is a retirement speech, in which Lou Gehrig instead of expressing his sadness of having to stop playing baseball because of a disease, he decides to express his gratitude towards his teammates, manager, family and fans for supporting and encouraging him throughout his entire career. In the speech he tells the audience that even though he had a bad break, he feels like the luckiest man on earth due to the encouragement and support that the fans have provided him with. After that, he thanks some of his teammates and managers like for example, Jacob Ruppert, Ed Barrow, and Joe McCarthy for helping him and for spending nine years of their lives with him.  Furthermore, he keeps saying that he is lucky, since he recognizes that the fact that the baseball team New York Giants sent him a present is an achievement. Moreover he mentions that another important achievement is being remembered by all the baseball players as a player with trophies. In the last paragraph he thanks his family, including his wife, father, mother, and mother-in-law, for the huge support and help that they have provided him. Finally, he closes the speech claiming that he recognizes that he had a tough break, but also that he has an awful lot to live for.

The speech has more than one theme but the most remarkable theme is gratitude. Along the speech it is noticeable that the baseball player keeps showing his gratitude towards fans, teammates, manager, and family, and also mentions some of his achievements, to show that he is happy about his career and to show that he wants to say goodbye to his fans, in a positive way and convinced of his success. Besides of that another theme of the speech is his future, since he tries to persuade the audience with the fact that having to stop playing baseball does not mean that his life is over, as he says in the phrase that finishes the speech ‘’ I have an awful lot to live for’’(Line 17).

In what concerns the tone, it is a sad tone. Throughout the speech Lou Gehrig keeps stopping after a phrase or sometimes after saying a word trying to hold back the tears in front of the crowd. It is also noticeable that in some parts of the speech he blinks, swallows, looks to the ground many times, which are common gestures present in the individuals before crying. Besides of that the mood goes hand in hand with the tone since he is melancholic while he thanks the fans, his teammates, and his family.

It is a biased speech, since Lou is expressing his opinion and view of the situation without including the opinion of other individuals about his situation. Besides of that, it does not take any ideological standpoint, and it does not include pronouns to substitute nouns. The rhetoric devices present in the speech are varied. In the very first sentence of the speech, Lou uses Alliteration, a rhetorical technique that makes the sentence to be said fast, which portrays Lou’s disinterest in talking about his bad break. The second sentence contains a hyperbole, as he says ‘’ I consider myself the luckiest man on earth’’, which is used by the baseball player to show how big is his gratitude towards his audience. In the third paragraph from the line 10 to the line 13 Lou also uses an Anaphora, starting three sentences in a row with the word When, and finishing with the group of words ‘’that’s something’’. This use of Anaphora helps Lou to express that his achievements during his entire career are numerous, and helps him to convince the audience of the fact that his career has left a trace in the baseball scene. Besides of that, the third paragraph also contains a Metaphor which is, ‘’ When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat’’ (Line 10). This Metaphor is used by Lou to explain the high status of the team New York Giants in the American baseball scene.

Lastly, the speech shows the balanced presence of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. It has Ethos or credibility, since it is Lou’s last speech in front of his fans, family, and teammates. The speech has Pathos, since the player holds back his tears, knowing that it is his last time in front of the crowd, therefore showing emotions. Finally it has Logos, because it is known by  the audience that he suffers of a disease that does not allow him to play anymore, as he points out in his very first sentence  ‘’ Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got’’ ( Line 1).