Speech 7
Jamie Foxx Address at the 'Let Freedom Ring' Ceremony Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, D.C. delivered on 28 August 2013, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
This speech bears credibility, logic, emotion and cultural myth. Jamie Foxx states how he met with Harry Belafonte and the emotional chat between his daughter and Harry. By joking that he asked Harry whether he was naming a boy band group, Jamie Foxx’s speech portrays his true comical character as people know him. It thus makes listeners believe and trust his speech.
It was very logical of Jamie Foxx to give the story of how he took his daughter to meet Harry Belafonte. Harry interacted with Martin Luther King Jr. on whose commemoration Jamie Foxx was delivering a speech. In Harry Belafonte, the logic of how life was with Martin Luther King is exuded.
Jamie Foxx’s speech is moving and emotional. His illustration of his 19-year-old daughter’s meeting with Harry Belafonte is the epicenter of emotions. When Harry asked Jamie’s daughter whether she had heard of him, Martin, Al and Jesse the trio (Jamie Foxx, his daughter and Harry Belafonte) cried, (americanrhetoric.com, 2013).
Cultural myth is rife in the speech. It is culturally impressed upon young people to respect their elders. Jamie stresses this point by stating, “Let’s have some respect to our elders -- that's the first thing” (americanrhetoric.com, 2013). In addition, Jamie mentioned Will Smith, Alicia Keys, and Kanye among others as the people he would mention to younger folks when he was 87 years! The artists mentioned here resonate with and help to shape the current cultural aspects.
Good Afternoon ladies and gentlemen,
I am sure that you have heard that smoking is harmful to your health. Why then do you continue to smoke? There are very many reasons why you should quit smoking. Smoking affects your health, social and financial lives very negatively. If you quit smoking, you will live a happier and healthier life.
The main reason why you should quit smoking is because it negatively affects your health. Smoking causes lethal diseases such as mouth, throat and lung cancers, cardiovascular diseases, heart attacks among others. Close to a half a million people die each year in the US die from smoking-related diseases each year. To avoid being a statistic to this sad reality, you must quit smoking.
Smoking harms the social life and appearance of a smoker. Many smokers have bad breath, suffer from yellowing of teeth and finger nails and emit disgusting smells from their clothes, fingers and hair. As such, one becomes a nuisance especially to his or her non-smoking friends. Smoking has lost the glamour it had in the olden days and many people have eschewed from that habit. Many smokers nowadays suffer alienation from friends and this could affect their self esteem. To maintain a healthy social life, you must quit smoking.
Smoking affects the people around you. Smoking in a place where there is a young child or an elderly person is exposing them to serious health issues. You should not be selfish to the point of causing innocent people to suffer the effects of secondary smoking. You should quit smoking to also avoid indirectly influencing people around you especially your children to emulate your dangerous smoking habits.
Smoking is a financially draining habit. The cost of a single cigarette stick seems insignificant but the cumulative cost of funding the habit is very expensive. Besides the cost of purchasing cigarettes, diseases caused by smoking are very expensive to treat. The time is now, stop smoking immediately. If you find it difficult, join a support and rehabilitation group to help you out. You can also purchase a variety of anti-nicotine cigarette-like products to help you deal with addiction and eventually you will manage to quit smoking.
I wish you a long, happy and healthy life as you quit smoking.
Analysis of the speech on “Why you should quit smoking”
The speech states the health risks posed by smoking and gives figures of those who die from smoking-related diseases in the US. The speech clearly states that if a smoker needs to keep away from adding up to this statistics then they must quit smoking. Many people want to be accepted in their societies and as such the mention that smoking can cause one to be rejected by those s/he loves acts to inspire the smokers to change quit smoking.
Young children and the elderly inspire many people try and live upright lives. I mentioned them in the speech to show smokers that it is morally very wrong to smoke in the presence of such people. I specifically mentioned that one should avoid smoking so as not to inspire their children to take up the habit. I also acknowledged that while a single cigarette may cost little amounts of money, smoking is a very expensive habit. I wanted to inspire smokers to give up the habit and save themselves, their families and the government money.
I convinced the audience to take action by giving them some practical options they can use to quit smoking. I considered those who may have just gotten into the habit recently (those ones can quit immediately) as well as those who may have been strongly addicted to the habit (those ones need rehabilitation or the use of anti-nicotine products.
References
"Jamie Foxx Let Freedom Ring Ceremony Speech - American Rhetoric." American Rhetoric: The Power of Oratory in the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. <http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speech
