In the words attributed to Socrates in Plato's Apology, "The unexamined life is not worth living." » David Foster Wallace expands on this idea in his "Kenyon College 2005 Commencement Address," emphasizing the importance of consciousness and escaping the natural default settings of an unconscious, self-centered life. While commencement speeches are generally epideictic – celebratory – in nature, Wallace adopts a deliberative rhetorical stance. According to Fahnestock, deliberative discourse is used to persuade “the best possible future course of action” (1998, p. 333). Abizadeh argues that character and emotion are “constitutive characteristics of deliberation” and that deliberation cannot be “reduced to logical demonstration” (2002, p. 267). In his speech, Wallace uses a mixture of Aristotle's persuasive appeals – logos, pathos, and ethos – in order to effectively persuade his audience. The most obvious appeal Wallace uses is Aristotle's logos. The logos is an appeal perceived by the public as logical or rational. Connors (1979) argues that there is a difference between presenting logical arguments in writing and orally. According to Connors, in speech, each word is “shaped, sent, and abandoned forever” (p. 288) after being spoken. The audience has no way of returning to hear part of the message again and, therefore, the message must be understood at the time of delivery, otherwise “the speech is a failure” (p. 288). For speakers to avoid this failure, Connors proposes that speakers must repeat logical concepts. Wallace uses repetition to increase the effectiveness of his speech in several ways. The words unconscious and conscious are repeated throughout the speech, as the message of the speech rests...... middle of paper ......1) are what help Wallace establish his credibility since, of course, the ability to connect knowledge to lived experience is a persuasive resource (Myers, 2003). Deliberative speech is used to persuade an audience of the best course of action and Wallace does this effectively with his "2005 Kenyon College Commencement Address." The speech given by David Foster Wallace is widely discussed and analyzed. This is thought provoking and leads to higher ontological questions such as “Isn’t questioning everything the essence of what it means to be alive?” » (Roiland, 2009, p. 97). Wallace clearly states and reaffirms his thesis that the importance of consciousness and self-reflexivity – of choosing to think consciously. Wallace's thesis rests essentially on his appeal to logos, but it is his clever blend of pathos and ethos that allows him to effectively persuade his audience...