Graduation+Speeches

Graduation Speeches...

It's that time and we'll be looking at the genre of the graduation speech to prepare us for writing our own. Every student will be writing one. There have been, historically, four speeches delivered during graduation: that of the valedictorian, that of the salutatorian, plus two chosen as the best speeches out of the ones written to be delivered at Class Night.

As with any genre, you need to consider the audience and purpose.

Think about who will be there in the audience:
 * the graduating class
 * the families
 * the faculty and administration
 * representatives from the school board
 * friends of both the graduates and their families

Think about what the purpose of your graduation speech is and should be. Think about which of these you may want to focus on:
 * to celebrate the accomplishments of the graduating class
 * to thank the people who have helped you as a class get to graduation
 * to offer what you have learned in your time as a student

ABOVE ALL ELSE, a graduation speech is positive. It offers a chance to be serious or light-hearted, but it is never - nor should it be - negative.

The students who do best on their speeches tend to write them in a way that is unlike the others yet fulfills the expectations of writing that would be appropriate to the audience and purpose of the occasion of graduation. Consider your tone - if you seem rude, condescending, sarcastic, you may find that you would offend your audience. You will also lose points on this as an assignment.

Things you might want to consider as you begin brainstorming ideas for your speech:

2. What have you learned about yourself
Think about what sorts of themes might speak to you as you organize your thoughts about this. Remember: you can only speak for what you have learned.
 * ===== **Quotes from:** =====
 * song lyrics
 * literature
 * movies
 * TV shows
 * speeches
 * "inspirational quotes"
 * ===Analogies/Metaphors/Anecdote about a significant event===
 * concepts from a class - how they represent what you're trying to explain in your speech
 * sports
 * common experiences

Sometimes students have referred to the class song (Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" - lyrics and video) or the class quote ("You can't touch th15.") in your speech. This is an option.

Look at @http://www.graduationwisdom.com/speeches/topten.htm for top 10 graduation speeches. (Text)

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media type="youtube" key="nkREt4ZB-ck" width="425" height="350" The entire speech by JK Rowling (including an interactive transcript) is available at http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure.html

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