Notes

JK Rowling giving her Harvard commencement speech 2008 to an audience of Harvard graduates, their families and their teachers. She gives an inspirational and motivational speech. I am now going compare and contast this speech with Oprah Winfrey's Harvard commencement speech 2013 to the same audience. A few delivery techniques that both speeches include are different tones to make a dramatic or serious point, pauses throughout for effects, the pace varies throughout the whole speech and the volume in both speeches change also as Oprah's is a louder, more informal speech and Rowling's was a more formal, scripted and very planned out speech, sticking to the rules of a formal speech. Some of the language techniques such as emotive language with strong words to shock, inspire, cause them to feel guilt, anger or pity.....

Whereas the Jk Rowling's speech is formal and scripted, the Oprah Winfrey's speech is informal, spontaneous and not very scripted. We know this as Winfrey starts the speech with 'oh my goodness! I'm at Harvard! Wow!' showing excitement and confidence, with a loud light hearted tone. At times, during the speech, she raises her voice to create dramatic effect . This is totally spontaneous and is a clear example of how external factors can influence language choices. Her increase in volume, her repetition of words, the inflection/intonation and fillers are all in response to factors outside his control- The loudness of the crowd and the need to be heard over them. In contrasts, the Jk Rowling speech, which follows the etiquette of formal speech, her tone is serious but slightly humorous, it's not religously scripted or rehearsed, but it's still formal and professional. An example of a rhetorical device to make her speech more memorable rhetorical question and some humour to create a rapport, and making a point that when she was graduating she couldn't remember a single word that Baroness Mary Warnock said in her speech, so if her audience remembers her gay wizard joke she'll come out better that Baroness Mary Warnock " You see? If all you remember in years to come is the ' gay wizard' joke, i've come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock.


The Jk Rowling speech tells her