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Victoria Wang
Professor Ellen Pratt
English 3103 036H
23 October 2014
Rhetorical Analysis
As a Georgia Tech graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Calvin
Mackie emphasizes the topic of perseverance in his speech From Remedial English to
Ph.D.: The Making of an Engineer. Throughout his dialogue, he focuses on exhorting to his
audience the idea that everyone is able to accomplish his or her goals no matter what
situations may interfere. Dr. Mackie empowers his spectators by challenging them to be
brave, strong and willing to conquer the obstacles that may come along their journey to
success. As support for his statements, Mackie narrates his misfortunes as a student and
how, compared to others of his age, he found himself one step behind those around him. He
backs up his arguments with concrete examples of his personal experiences, exposing his
story as proof of what he defends, After starting Morehouse [College] in Remedial Reading
for 0.0 credit, I finished Morehouse in three and a half years; #1 in Mathematics, #5 in the
largest class that Morehouse ever produced; Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa []
Mackie reveals his background as a young man who had misplaced dreams of becoming an
NBA player. After suffering a traumatic shoulder separation and having to give up
basketball, he narrates how he slowly made his way to what he refers to as his true
calling of becoming a professional engineer.
Many of us are caught up in things that we have not been called to do, with these
words Dr. Mackie begins his emotion-driven speech, The Making of an Engineer. Focused

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on addressing college students who have become discouraged in their studies, he continues
with an anecdote from his past situating the audience in his shoes, passing on vivid imagery
of his experiences as an ignorant student, I was so ignorant [] I thought the SAT meant
Saturday. Mackie uses his method of personal testimony and combines it with
contemporary language and elements in order to attract his audiences attention. He makes
reference of common teenage fantasies such as wanting to become rappers or famous
sportsmen in order to achieve a desired, unrealistic life. Mackie then states his argument,
we have been called on to be something greater. By using this form of logos, he mentions
how sometimes people are focused on becoming somebody they are not meant to be.
Mackie addresses his failure in basketball as a lead that drove him closer to embracing his
true calling as an engineer. As the audience associates this idea to their personal
performance, it allows them to believe that any defeat faced in their academic life might
have been an indicative of their path not being the correct one. This realization may then
spark the notion that the solution is not to give up, but to switch lanes and find their true
calling.
As the speech progresses, Mackie develops his story and highlights the challenges he
faced once he began college as an engineering student. He moves on to his second
statement declaring when you find out you are behind in a race in life you have two
choices: run faster or quit. Beginning college as a Remedial English student, he uses pathos
by appealing to the audience by explicitly revealing how this disadvantage bared on his
shoulders, can you imagine the pain, and indignation I felt everyday when they used to
make me go down to the basement of a building called Willow Hall at eighteen years old
with middle-schoolers [] My friends called us LD for Louisiana Dummies. Dr. Mackie uses

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this experience as a statement, affirming how he himself went through a situation in which
he had to practice what he now preaches.
Continuing his story, Mackie builds up on how all his hard work finally paid off once
he was able to attend Georgia Tech. By means of ethos, Dr. Mackie presents himself as a
trustable speaker when he provides the audience with the testimony of what he achieved,
[In] January 1989 I started Georgia Tech. Eighteen months later I finished my second
undergraduate degree, a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Two degrees in 5 years [] Two
years later in 1992, I got a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. Three degrees in seven
years [] Four years later in 1996, I became one of the eleven African Americans in the
country that year to receive the Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. With these words, Dr.
Mackie directly illustrates himself as a source of credibility.
As a motivational speaker, Calvin Mackie has been able to reach out to, not only
individuals among his common audiences, but to any of those who can identify themselves
with his story. With his words, he has been able to instill in his hearers the will and
endurance to aspire and persevere.

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Works Cited
From Remedial English to PhD: The Making of an Engineer! Prod. Calvin Mackie. Perf. Calvin
Mackie. YouTube. N.p., 27 Aug. 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.