Alexis Watchman

Professor Arini
English 102-09
February 25, 2019

Comparative Rhetorical Analysis

The motivational speakers I want to compare are Amy Purdy and Faith Jegede Cole. Both

speakers have gone through huge life changes that neither of them were prepared for, but they

chose to deal with it in the most amazing way. From TED Talks to writing books and

inspirational texts, they are making sure they get their messages across. The moment of exigency

for Amy was the need to let people know that even though one may have a huge set back like

losing both legs, we still have a chance to pave a new way of living. Faith’s moment of exigency

was wanting to bring awareness to developmental disorders like autism and share her

experiences of growing up with two autistic brothers.

Amy Purdy decided to present in a TED Talk and informed people about her life story

and how it has made her into a stronger person. In this video, Purdy uses the rhetorical device

logos by providing facts about her life and how we create the kind of life we want to have. She

also uses the rhetorical device pathos to make the audience feel inspired by her story. Amy

explained that she wanted to tell her story to inspire others to believe in themselves and face their

fears. She had graduated high school and was just going to begin her life when her health took a

turn for the worse. She was diagnosed with Neisseria meningitis, which is a bacterial meningitis.

The disease affected an organ system that allows blood to circulate as well as transport nutrients

to and from cells. Amy lost both legs, kidneys and spleen; her doctor gave her an extremely low

survival rate. At this point in her life, she was extremely depressed and did not want to do

anything. It took her a couple months before she decided to make her own prosthetic legs. When
inspiration struck, she decided to snowboard again and was competing in competitions. She co-

founded Adaptive Action Sports, a non-profit dedicated to introducing people with physical

challenges to action sports.

Amy had an article written about her in the Women’s Health magazine called “I Feared

I’d Never Be Able to Work out Again after Rhabdo”. She talked about her struggle with her

preparations for the Paralympic Games. After working her arms out, she noticed the next day

that they were swollen, and she couldn’t straighten them out. Rhabdomyolysis happens when

muscles are worked too hard, fibers die and release contents into the bloodstream, which can

lead to kidney failure or cardiac arrest. A couple months later, Amy hit another setback. She had

brachial neuritis, which affected the nerves in both her arms. After

recovering, she got back into training and took her time to heal and get

back in shape. One of the rhetorical devices in this article is direct

quotations. At the end of the article addressing the readers she says "There

are no rules, no one set path to success. (Mateo)”.

Amy took part in a podcast which was shortened down to a YouTube video called “Amy

Purdy: How to Be Your Best Self”. She took questions from the audience members and gave her

answers in a meaningful way. Her audience is people who are interested in her life story or just

need some motivation in their life. Amy uses the rhetorical devices body language and facial

expressions. Throughout the entire video, she is smiling and sitting in a way that isn’t closed off

to her audience. As we watch her give her answers, she’s extremely happy to be there and her

tone is so excited to give her advice to the audience. Most of the questions are about her

motivation after losing her legs. Her answer to that was if we work hard and are passionate about

something, the possibilities are endless but not everything is possible. She goes on to clarify that
we can’t give up on ourselves because we don’t know what life has in store for us. Amy talks

about how we should take all the opportunities we’re given because we don’t know if we will

have them in the future.

Faith Jegede Cole spoke in a TED Talk about her two autistic brothers and how they have

completely transformed her life. She spoke about how different their behavior is from what we

consider “ordinary”. Faith explained, that she wanted to spread awareness about autism and help

more people understand. In this video, Cole uses inspiring word choice. For example, after

listing off many of their unique qualities she goes on to say that they are incredible and

strengthened her soul. Faith used the rhetorical device repetition

because she kept calling her brothers extraordinary and would

never stop saying it. In her talk, she kept explaining that her

brothers have an amazing memory but only for certain things. As

a listener, it made me feel so proud and amazed at how she sees

any difference in people. She gives examples of how they have never told a lie and saw the

world with prejudice. She explains that every person has a certain uniqueness that should be

focused on. That trying to be what society considers being normal will not get us to change or to

prosper further as people. Faith leaves the audience knowing that everyone has a gift and

challenges them to use it to make changes.

The second rhetorical text of Faith was a blog article called “Monday Morning

Motivation – Love on your loved ones”. In this article, Faith uses the rhetorical device pathos

and appeals to the emotions of her audience. She touches on a subject that everyone can relate to

and keeps the audience thinking. She explains that we should love and appreciate every single

person in our life because we do not know if that could be our last interaction with them. Faith
tells her audience that this generation is becoming impatient and having trouble with

compassion. She provides her readers with a list of different ideas to consider as they move on

after reading her article. For example, that we need to forgive others and find peace in any way

possible.

Faith created a video which was shared in a blog about Autism Awareness Month in

2013. She starts off the video by giving the audience the definition of the word extraordinary

before she begins. Faith then goes into feeding her audience questions to think about while she

presents her ideas. Her audience ranges between people who grew up around autism to anyone

who wants to be educated on autism. As one is watching the video, the background music is very

peaceful and makes one feel at ease (Show love). Faith uses the rhetorical device repetition by

asking the same question throughout the video. She continually asks her audience questions like

“Will you show love to someone extraordinary today?” The answer is that not many autistic

children and adults are shown love from outsiders all the time. As you watch the video, she has

written her message across bright colorful pieces of paper. Having to read the messages as she

moved from card to card was very engaging as a part of the audience.

Amy is getting her messages across to her audience to encourage them to never give up.

Even though the world maybe working against us. If we work hard enough and are passionate

about something, we can achieve anything. Although not everything is possible. For example,

she won’t just magically grow her legs back. Faith, on the other hand, uses her autistic brothers

as an example that every single human is different in their own unique way. As a society we

need to learn to accept and embrace those differences. She explains that a person is unique in

their own way that should be focused on. We need to stop trying to fit in and just be

extraordinary.
 I felt most persuaded by the fact that Amy has gone through so many health problems

from when she was 19 until now. She has just pushed forward in pursuing her dreams and didn’t

let having no legs get her down. She made her own prosthetic legs when there were none

available to her and pursued snowboarding. Her whole story just made me believe we truly can

do anything we put our minds to. I think we all have those moments when we feel like giving up,

but just reading Amy’s story makes me feel motivated to never give up. We need to remember

everyone is battling something and they are not giving up. Faith convinced me that we need to

pay attention to the certain gifts that every person has. Every single human is unique in their own

way. She grew up with two brothers who are different in their own ways and realized that they

were both extraordinary individuals. I am more interested in learning more about autism and how

it affects different people. I feel like we are not educated on everything that goes on around us

and we just worry about ourselves.

In conclusion, Amy Purdy is a motivational speaker who has been battling health issues

since she was in her teens. She lost her legs and proved to people that we can have major

setbacks but overcome them. Faith Jegede Cole is trying to educate people about autism, which

has been a huge part of her life. She has been trying different ways to get her message across.

She spoke about how everyone has a certain uniqueness that should be focused on. Both speakers

have such a positive vibe and inspire their audience.

 Works Cited Page

Purdy, Amy. “Living beyond Limits.” Ted, Ted, May 2011,

www.ted.com/talks/amy_purdy_living_beyond_limits.

Mateo, Ashley. “Amy Purdy: 'I Feared I'd Never Be Able to Work Out Again After Rhabdo'.”
Women's Health, Women's Health, 31 Mar. 2018,
www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a19643677/amy-purdy-paralympics-rhabdo/.

Howes, Lewis. “Amy Purdy: How to Be Your Best Self.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Jan. 2019,
www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=b91CGb0qjUA.

TED, and Faith Jegede. “Faith Jegede: What I've Learned from My Autistic Brothers.” YouTube,
YouTube, 2 Nov. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZAi7DlVN2g&feature=youtu.be.

Jegede, Faith Cole. “Monday Morning Motivation – Love on Your Loved Ones.” For Working
Ladies, 31 Jan. 2017, www.forworkingladies.com/monday-morning-motivation-love-on-
your-loved-ones/.

Jegede, Faith. “Will You Show Love to Someone Extraordinary Today?: Autism Awareness
Month.” YouTube, YouTube, 1 Apr. 2013,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf9Z_TCGJXc&t=227s&index=29&list=WL.