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Sean Williams

Ms. Nyznyk

ENG4U1-03

October 16th, 2022

Learn from Failure and Value Imagination

Commencement speeches are crucial when students graduate from college or

university. Speeches are typically given by alumni who have graduated. These graduates are

accomplished and would make excellent commencement speakers. J.K. Rowling uses literary

devices, methods of persuasion and essay conventions in her Harvard graduation speech, "The

Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination." Throughout her commencement

speech, J.K. Rowling frequently uses the methods of persuasion, ethos and pathos. Rowling's

use of ethos in this quote demonstrates her credibility and trustworthiness.“Delivering a

commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my

own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher

Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this

one, because it turns out that I can’t remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery

enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon

promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the ‘gay wizard’ joke, I’ve still come out ahead

of Baroness Mary Warnock.” (Rowling 1) Before making her argument, Rowling establishes her

credibility and dependability with the audience. She begins her speech anticipating that no one

will remember anything she says other than the joke about the gay wizard, which ties the quote

into the idea of the value of imagination. She uses this to boost her confidence while speaking in
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front of such a big crowd, demonstrating the value of using your imagination. Rowling's ability to

evoke a range of emotions is shown by the way pathos is used in this speech. “I would like to

make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an

expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are

old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticize my

parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I

have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience.

Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty

humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed

something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.”(Rowling 2)

When discussing her struggles with poverty, Rowling persuades the audience by evoking

emotions of regret and remorse. She truly draws the audience in by using terms like fear, stress,

and depression. Since you eventually have to take responsibility for your own actions, Rowling

claims she cannot hold her parents responsible for her financial situation. If you were in poverty,

Rowling believes that you should be proud of yourself for having overcome it. Although Rowling

does a wonderful job of displaying ethos and pathos, she was also good at using a number of

literary devices, such as metaphors and hyperbole. Rowling discusses how she overcame

hardship and had nothing but hope. “I had no idea how far the tunnel extended” (Rowling 2)

This metaphor conveys the idea that she had hope despite not knowing when it would end. This

metaphor displays the importance of imagination. Rowling still had faith that her poverty would

someday end, despite not knowing when it would. Given how significant they are,

commencement speeches may be incredibly stressful for the person giving the speech. “I have

wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today” (Rowling 1) With her use of

this hyperbole, she was indicating that she had given her speech a lot of thought and emotion.
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This proves the theme of the importance of imagination since she had to think very hard about

what she was going to talk about. Although Rowling is great at displaying ethos and pathos,

Rowling also provides a fantastic example of essay conventions. Although Rowling is a very

successful author and has received many awards in front of people, she still gets nervous to talk

in front of large audiences. “The first thing I would like to say is ‘thank you.’ Not only has

Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I’ve experienced

at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win

situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and fool myself

into believing I am at the world’s best-educated Harry Potter convention.” (Rowling 1) Rowling

demonstrates structure by having a clear introduction that is seemingly fluid. The quote

demonstrates the theme of the importance of imagination because Rowling pretends to be at a

Harry Potter convention in order to feel confident in her speech. Rowling discusses an African

torture victim and displays a variety of emotions, including sadness and seriousness. “I shall

never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had

become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he

spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was,

and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground

Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with

exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness. And as long as I live I shall remember

walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of

pain and horror such as I have never heard since. The door opened, and the researcher poked

out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. She

had just given him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country’s

regime, his mother had been seized and executed.” (Rowling 4) Tone is expressed throughout
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the story by the way Rowling sounded sad, serious and passionate.This story relates back to

the theme of benefits of failure because she talks about how after that situation she was

incredibly fortunate to live in a country with a democratically elected government. J.K. Rowling

proves why she was the ideal candidate to give a commencement address. Harvard graduates

are persuaded by Rowling to value imagination and learn from failure. These ideas could be

incredibly helpful in your day-to-day life. Rowling demonstrates her talent by using a variety of

literary devices, essay conventions, and methods of persuasion.

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