Aseel Almufti

2/7/2018
RWS 305

Selby Assignment

First off, you are to watch and examine Nick Selby’s speech to Georgia Tech incoming freshmen. While it does not meet
the requirement (in regard to depth/length) that your speech entails, it does nicely illustrate how other writers use the
appeals effectively (or not so effectively in some cases) to make an impact on his/her audience. In other words, his
speech will SHOW Selby striving to create common ground with his audience so that they identify with him (ethos),
revealing personal firsthand experience meant to get his audience to trust him (ethos), using certain strategies/wording
to inspire (pathos) and appealing to his listeners’ sense of logic…like in how he explains certain pieces of his advice
(logos). You will need to use these appeals in similar ways in your own speech, so take heed.

Furthermore, his short, but memorable speech illustrates that he is taking the elements of argument into consideration:

 Subject/Topic: Advice/information meant to provide advice and to inspire.

 Audience: Incoming high caliber freshmen who are, for the most part, unfamiliar with the university experience
and all it has to offer.
 Context: Academic, but not too informal. He pays explicit respect to the university repeatedly.

You can find his speech by Googling “Nick Selby Speech.” Be sure you watch the full version (between 6 and 7
minutes).

Googling this university, or checking Wikipedia for some details that might help you understand the context in which
he makes this speech and the type of audience of incoming freshmen he’s addressing)

Watch his speech at least 2 or 3 times before responding to the following questions in a thoughtful manner.
No need to include the questions below; just number your responses accordingly. Try to use passages from
different parts of his speech—not just the beginning please.

1. Quote a passage that illustrates Selby paving common ground. Explain briefly.
Appealing to common ground by explaining about his experience in college he states that “I have
learned during my first years at tech 10 in a particular stand out in my mind as most important one
call your mother she will worry about you every day a while and it’ll make her a happy if you call
her.” This will make everyone thinking about their first year and their mother and their experience.

2. Quote a passage that illustrates Selby using his personal experience to get the listener to trust him.
Explain briefly.
He appeals to ethos by stating from his personal experience that “unless the professor is truly awful
try to take classes from more difficult professors for your major courses they tend to make you work
the hardest and you will end up knowing the material better.” First, this is from his personal
experience because this is one of his 10 steps when he was in his first year. Also, this make him the
audience gain trust because he looks like knowledgeable in these since he is in his second year which
makes him more trustworthy toward his audience that have no experience yet.
3. Quote a passage that shows Selby as coming across know knowledgeable and respectful towards
Georgia Tech. Explain briefly.
 He states that “one I find most exciting is our tradition of excellence our mission as students is not to
follow in the food steps of the astronauts noble prize laureates and president who graduate before
us but to exceeds their food steps crush the shoulders of giants upon whom we stand we hear all
such innovative people so I am telling you if you want change the world you are in Georgia tech ."It
is respected toward Georgia Tech because explaining that if you want to stay in this university you
can succeed and Georgia tech have the resources for that which indicating how strong and successful
the university. Being in this university, you can make the impossible this is how strong the university.

4. Quote a passage wherein Selby is appealing to his audience’s sense of logic. Explain briefly.
“what every seats you choose the first day will likely be the seat will get all semester sit up in the
first few rows you will be more likely to pay more attention and have the professor remember you”
this is make sense to the audience because if you pay more attention you get to know more what
the teacher is saying and have more chance to get higher grade.
5. Quote a passage wherein Selby appeals to his audience’s sense of emotion? Explain briefly.
“I want to fly around the world in impenetrable suite of armor dating Gwyneth paltrow”
By indicating this Selby want his audience to “imagine” getting in this university as making our
impossible dreams become true, he wanted to make his dreams to be true by indicating his feeling
that he wants to fly. Also, he wanted to make his audience to feel
6. Beyond the words he uses to impact his audience, what else is at work within the speech,
presentational-wise, that “drives” what he says forward?
His voice impacts the audience especially the end of the speech he was yelling with excitement that
make the audience feeling very excited and they inside that “I can do this Yes”
7. Quote a passage that reveals an assumption he makes about his audience. Explain briefly.
“it is my honor as representative of the class of 2016 to welcome the faculty and new students and
parents of the Georgia institute of technology” “brace yourselves for a hell of ride on your way to
becoming a hell of an engineer.” He assumes that they do not have any experience because they are
new students and they all are heading to the journey of being an engineer.

Worth 14 points.