Shelby Jones

English 1101
Professor Dunham
10/21/20 Jones 1

Keith Nolan is a deaf man who has always aspired to be in the military. He gives a

strong, persuasive speech explaining all the hardships and long processing that he has gone

through to try to reach this goal. He has been turned down many times when trying to join a

military program, until he found an ROTC organization that accepted him. Although he

completed all the training like all his fellow teammates, he is unable to move into the actual

military service. This is because there is one little part of the test that requires the person to do a

hearing test. Since he is deaf, he has no chance in passing that. He is in the process of trying to

get this requirement changed, so that he and many other deaf people can serve in the U.S.

military. Nolan has made it clear that he is not only doing this for himself, but for the many other

deaf people in America who want to serve in the military. In his speech, he uses repetition along

with strong ethos, logos, and pathos to convince his audience to support the issue.

Keith Nolan starts his speech out by telling the audience his background and credentials

regarding the military. He builds a strong ethos by doing this. First, he says that he is a cadet

private. This makes the listeners feel like he is very qualified and knows exactly what he is

talking about in regards to his military statements. He also stated, “Growing up I’ve always

wanted to join the military. I loved military history, and I’ve read a great deal on the subject.

Also, I have various family members such as my grandfather and great uncle, who fought in

World War II (Nolan).” By adding in this piece of information, he shows that he is very credible

and has a background surrounding the military. It also shows that he has been interested in this

topic for a while and he knows a lot about the topic. Throughout the essay, he also goes into deep

detail about the different types of training that he has endured. This portrays the message that he
Shelby Jones
English 1101
Professor Dunham
10/14/20
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is very experienced and that he has actually lived through the hardships of being deaf in the

military. All in all, Nolan states his military ranking, gives background information on why he is

interested in the military, and shares many stories to show ethos throughout his speech.

Another powerful thing that Keith Nolan used in his speech was logos to try and persuade

people by reasoning. To support his argument that deaf people should be allowed to serve in the

military, he gave many sensible examples on why it would be a good idea. To start off, he stated,

“Here in America, we’ve actually had deaf soldiers serving in the past. In fact, during the Texas

War of Independence, there was a key character named Deaf Smith who made a large

contribution to that war effort (Nolan).” He included this information to try and reason with his

audience. He wants them to see that a deaf man who fought in the military in the past, made a

huge difference and helped the country. This is an effort to try and appeal to his listeners' logic.

Another thing he talks about is the Isreali military. He says that they condone deaf soldiers in

their military force. These people don't serve in combat roles, but instead they do other

supportive jobs. These include thinking of plans, drawing maps, computer technology, military

dog training, and many more. Nolan tells his audience this because he is trying to make them see

that deaf people are in the military in other parts of the world and they have no trouble with it.

He is giving a real example of how deaf soldiers work in the military and this makes the

audience see another reason to support his claim.

Another thing Nolan uses to try and sway his audience's opinions, is by using pathos. He

starts to tell his story about his own experience with the U.S. military. He was turned down many

different times, even though he showed great interest in the program. This led him into despair.

Eventually in his career, he gets accepted into a ROTC program and he tells the audience that he
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English 1101
Professor Dunham
10/14/20
Jones 3
put in all his effort and showed that he took it very seriously. This wasn't enough though in the

long run. When it came time to move up to the next level and actually serve in the military, he

wasn't allowed to go. This is because he wouldn’t pass one little small part of the test--- the

hearing portion. Nolan included his sad background story to receive sympathy from his audience.

This story creates emotion and puts a meaningful reason as to why he feels so strongly about the

issue. Nolan made the audience feel strongly about his issue by using pathos.

Nolan convinces his audience to side with him on his issue by also using repetition. This

creates a long lasting effect and makes the listeners really feel the emotions that he is feeling. He

tells story, after story, about getting rejected from the U.S. military and after every one, he would

make sure to say something about how that should never have to happen to anyone else. This

constant repetition of how the rules in the military needed to be changed made the listeners feel

strongly about the issue too. Also, the way he talks about failures and being let down, really

makes a listener agree with him more. It makes them feel like they are going through the hard

experiences with him. Nolan made a very smart choice in repeating his initial claim that deaf

people should be able to serve in the military. The usage of repetition really enhanced his overall

speech and message.

In conclusion, Keith Nolan gave a strong speech persuading people to fight for the right of

deaf people to be able to serve in the military. He gave many reasons explaining why this wasn’t

fair and that the rules should be changed. To do this, he incorporated his own experiences, along

with examples of what things need to be done in order to give deaf people this basic human right.

Nolan supports his claim with the usage of repetition, ethos, logos, and pathos. All in all, Keith
Shelby Jones
English 1101
Professor Dunham
10/14/20
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Nolan uses strong rhetorical devices to try and gain approval of his audience to support deaf

people working in the military.

Shelby Jones
English 1101
Professor Dunham
10/14/20
Jones 5
Works Cited

Nolan, Keith. “Deaf in the Military.” TED Talk, Apr. 2011,

www.ted.com/talks/keith_nolan_deaf_in_the_military?utm_campaign=tedspread.