A Ted Talk called "Wisdom from great writers on every year of life" by Joshua Prager
Summary: In this Ted Talk, Joshua discusses experts from books about the author's age. To begin, he claims that as he is just turning 44, it will be his year because, in a 1968 book by Norman Mailer, he wrote "He felt his own age, forty-four ..." wrote Mailer in "The Armies of the Night," "... felt as if he were a solid embodiment of bone, muscle, heart, mind, and sentiment to be a man, as if he had arrived." Joshua explains how this may not have been written specifically for him, but how it can apply to all of those who read. He then goes onto reading many more experts, from different authors, about age and their life at that point in time. He examines how time moves almost slower, as we now live longer with modern medicine, and have more time to experience the wonders of life. The emphasis of quotes from an older age, saying how their time is up or they have lived their life, shows that age is just a number. Whether it be 44 or 84 or 22, you have your life ahead of you and as much ambition as you put forward. Joshua uses pathos as a main point of conversation, hitting the emotional part of age rather than logistics or credibility. I chose this specific Ted Talk as it caught my eye, and my curiosity grew of what wisdom and advice that great writers could give me for every year of my life.
Purpose and Analysis: Through this Ted Talk, I believe that Joshua wants to point at both a young and old audience, to inform them of wisdom from writers of all ages. Through this communication, I believe that Joshua wants to inform the audience of their potential as both a writer and as a person, no matter what age.
Ethos/Logos/Pathos: In his delivery, Joshua uses Pathos to convey his message to the audience. Pathos can be described as dealing with emotion in a piece of literary work. In this Ted Talk, I believe that Joshua is using a sense of optimism and positivity to make the audience feel good about their life and what they have coming ahead of them. Specifically, Joshua talks about an illness running in his family, so old age could not be a likely hood. He keeps a positive attitude and explains why that the year he turns 44 will be a good year for him and many others.
Your summary really helped me grasp the purpose of your chosen TedTalk and it sounds like something anyone can benefit from. I agree that age is just a number and we all possess the potential both as a writer and as a person despite our age. I liked how when you discussed Prager's use of pathos, you focused mainly on the emotion of optimism and positivity that he was trying to get across to his audience because I think that is what his main goal of his talk was; to bring excitement back into people's lives young or old. Overall great job!!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post, Ryan. First, I like how you described the pathos that he used to connect emotionally with his audience. Many times, people will use pathos when delivering a speech or presentation to completely grasp the audiences attention. Anyways, very good blog post, dilly dilly.
ReplyDeletedilly dilly man
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