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Chapter II Motivational Speeches: Steve Jobs and Dr. Abdul Kalam Delivering speeches has been part and parcel of human beings since time immemorial. Some speeches leave an indelible mark on the minds of listeners while others go in our sub-consciousness and are forgotten. Most of the speeches are delivered to motivate the audience and convince them as per the desire of the speaker. Such speeches bring about a complete change in the society. Some motivational speeches have been a turning point in the history and have revolutionized the world. Some of the famous speakers such as Martin Luther King, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, John F. Kennedy, Patrick Henry, Nelson Mandela, Swami Vivekananda, Steve Jobs, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam etc. are still remembered for their oratorical skills as motivational speakers. These orators delivered many speeches during their life time but a few of their speeches are still widely read and listened to across the world. Most of their speeches come with one or the other inspirational motif for the people. From a research point of view, such famous speeches have been categorized as political, social, inspirational, cultural and organizational speeches. Inspirational or Motivational speeches have always paved a way for the audience to follow the speaker. Some of the speeches have been recognized as the most inspirational ones, such as: J.K. Rowling‘s ‗The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination‘ in 2008, Al Pacino‘s ‗Inch by Inch in 1999, Steve Jobs‘ ‗How to Live Before You Die‘ in 2005. Similarly, many Indian speakers have also delivered great speeches which are highly motivational such as: ‗Address at the World Parliament of Religions‘ by Swami Vivekananda, ‗Tryst with Destiny‘ by Jawaharlal Nehru, ‗Give Me Blood and I Will Give You Freedom‘ by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Speeches delivered by epic heroes have also become very famous and are greatly motivational such as; speech by Satan in Paradise Lost Book-1 and by Shri Krishna in Mahabharata. Some of the famous motivational speakers all over the world have been recognized as revolutionary in their elocution. Some of them are Eric Thomas, Les Brown, Dr. Wayne, W. Dyer, Jim Rohn etc. Some of them are entertaining speeches as that of Wil Anderson, Julia Zemiro, Robert Motton, Tom Gleason, Jean Kittson, Hamish, Andy, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindernath Tagore, Dr. Abdul Kalam, Narayan Murthy, Kumar 38

Shashi Tharoor etc. On the other hand, there are encouraging quotations like that of Subhash Chandra Bose ―Give me blood, I promise you freedom‖ (Tandon 461); Mahatma Gandhi‘s ―You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.‖ (www.brainyquote.com) and Lal Bahadur Shastri‘s ―Jai Jawan Jai Kishan‖ (Pinney, 170), which have proved a turning point in the life of millions of people. Some of the speeches in the history have been instigating speeches which have resulted in mass destruction and demolition as that of Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Mark Antony. Motivational Speeches are remembered for their authenticity, contemporary issues, content, connection with the audience and the style of the speaker. All the speeches delivered by different orators do not become famous speeches. But the best ones can retain their charm long after their contemporaneity has faded. They find a valuable place among the top speeches of the world. Their content is inspirational and hence these speeches have universal appeal crossing the barriers of contemporaneity. The epigrammatic and aphoristic lines in such speeches become quotable sentences in any situation. Only such speeches acquire monumental status in common parlance. Steve Jobs‘ commencement speech to Stanford graduating class of 2005 at Stanford University, California and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam‘s ‗Teachers Should Be The Role Models‘ include most of these features. This chapter deals with the linguistic and stylistic analysis of these two speeches. Out of hundreds of famous speakers around the world and their motivational speeches, a few speeches of business tycoon Steve Jobs and Dr. Abdul Kalam, the missile man, a great leader and scientist turned reluctant politician, have been short listed. These two speakers have also delivered countless speeches, but the two speeches taken for analysis absolutely fit into the frame of the all-time best motivational speeches. These two speeches have been the much read and listened to speeches of these speakers. Their sole purpose seems only to encourage the listeners and make them learn a lot from their own experiences. That is why these two speakers reiterate their own experiences in the form of three stories of their life. After a thorough linguistic and stylistic analysis of the selected speeches of these two orators, many similarities and dissimilarities have come to the fore. They have been evaluated in comparison to each other as said by Vachek also, ―no element of language can be Kumar 39

duly evaluated unless its relations to the other elements of the same language can be taken into account.‖ (Vachek 177) They share the particular experiences of their life with the audience to motivate and teach them the lessons of life. Each of them delivers encouraging speech to the listeners of the time. Each narrates his experiences individually in different situations and through different modes, yet they cross the boundaries of space and time and reflect a universal acclaim. Though both the speakers are from absolutely different fields, yet a streamline comparison and contrast has been drawn linguistically and stylistically. Let‘s now discuss these two orators separately and try to draw comparative aspects of their speeches. The following findings emerged after a thorough analysis of Jobs‘ speech: Steve Jobs‘ stunning commencement address, ‗How to Live Before You Die‘ was delivered to the young guys of Stanford University in 2005. This speech was taken for its unrestrained force that Jobs has put in delivering the speech. Also, this speech has been chosen for analysis on the basis of its motivational touch, inspirational content and organizational relevance. This speech was addressed to university graduates and undergraduates; it seems to serve a great purpose in establishing organizational set up, for individual inspiration and for renewal of sick projects. The original title of the speech is ‗How to Live Before You Die.‘ However; the very speech came to be popular as ‗Three Inspiring Stories‘ afterwards. Thus, in this research work, this speech by Steve Jobs reads as ‗Three Inspiring Stories‘ as compiled in the book The Book of Business Inspiration (2008) Published by Lulu.Com, Dynamis House, London. Moreover, the punch line of this speech is ‗Stay Hungry Stay Foolish‘ which also popularized the speech. It is also a moral boosting lecture for all those who are going through a phase which is depressing, distressing and distracting. The speech teaches a great lesson of sustenance, perseverance and patience. It also offers suggestions for students to face the challenges of life, for tackling the problems and not getting frustrated. Steve Jobs, the then emerging business tycoon, starts addressing the graduates by expressing gratitude to the organizers saying ―I am honoured to be with you ...one of the finest universities in the world.‖ (The Book of Business Inspiration 2008, 31) This expression of gratitude in the beginning reflects a proper start of the speech drawing attention by saying it one of the finest universities. Further, in the very Kumar 40

beginning of the speech he grabs the interest of the audience in a highly dramatic style. He confidently accepts before the graduates of the college that I never graduated from a college which reflects his simple, plain and truthful nature. Not only this, in a humourous, frisky tone he tells, ―Truth be told, this is the closest I have ever gotten to a college graduation.‖ (31) With such short, small and pithy sentences at the very start of the speech, the speaker is able to infuse a sense of ease and comfort among the audience. Such a beginning also paves the way for a nicely structured and focused speech. The sentences used throughout the speech reflect his truthfulness, frankness and humility in every real story of his life. They also reflect his open and carefree nature in quoting his own examples freely before the audience. Without any hesitation, his acceptance of the dark realities of life such as, ―My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student‖ (31) reflects that he doesn‘t consider himself unlucky, rather with his efforts and labour he proves that the ups and downs of life get subsided if we are determined. After the captivating beginning, the structure of the speech is one of the biggest elements that makes it famous. Steve Jobs connects his arguments in an organized and systematic manner and makes a structural and thematic connection among the three experiences of his life that he narrates during the speech. Thematically, he uses repetitive structure and tries to reverse the common trend suggesting that adverse conditions and situations can also be a ladder to grow, provided, the people don‘t lose heart and think like him i.e. ―you have got to find what you love.‖ (33) Through such sentences, he seems to be saying the same as has been said by Abraham in the title of his book, Do What You Love and Love What You Do. Through his own examples, Steve Jobs wants to instill the power of passion in youth by narrating his emotionally charged and structurally composed tale. His speech is built up consistently as he introduces his experiences much like a story teller saying, ―the first story is about connecting dots‖, ―my second story is about love and loss‖, ―my third story is about death.‖, and ―this is what my story is about and now I‘ll tell you what it means for you.‖ (BOBI 33) All the stories emanate from his own life and remain focused on making the graduates of Stanford University ―active, alert and aware‖ (Walker & Walker 439) Awe inspiring in nature, all these stories, actually the episodes from Jobs‘ own life, infuse in the readers a sense of inspiration filling them with a sense of wonder at the outstanding zeal and determination of an individual who rose above the usual frailties of a common man and went on to scale the heights of Kumar 41

achievements, glory and satisfaction against all odds. It is in this sense that the personal experiences in these stories acquire universal appeal. Steve Jobs, through his speech, seems to be equipped with the quality of rendering the personal into general and universal elements. Though he reiterates his own experiences yet the dramatic intensity of his speech, the forceful delivery and the stylistic finesse elevate the height of his speech and make a place for it among the most famous speeches of the world. His personal affairs seem to be imbued with universal shades. The stories of his success from failures, turning a drop in from a drop out, and his struggle with the adversities of life become universal when he proved himself a successful business tycoon. Through these tales Steve Jobs emerges as an ideal struggler for many youngsters. Such inferences can be drawn throughout the speech, which provide a proper structure to the speech. This structure gets strength with the theme of ‗drop out‟ which is all encouraging for the young guys. In all the three experiences shared by Jobs with the students the theme of „drop out‘ has been treated in such a way that it gives the speech the shape of a single document. In this way Steve Jobs adopts a narrative structure in the speech. The three stories told encapsulate the tales of Jobs‘ struggle in life, wherein we find Jobs engaged in a fierce battle for survival against the shifting paradigms of adversity. Endowed with an indomitable spirit to fight, the protagonist of these stories, Steve Jobs himself, emerges triumphant, conquering all seemingly insurmountable adversities that had hit him from time to time. Striking a universal cord he reveals his depth while saying, ―Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don‘t lose faith.‖ (BOBI 33) In the first story, he recapitulates his own journey as a drop out when he says that ―my biological mother...decided to put me for adoption.‖ Moreover, the lawyer and his wife, who were supposed to adopt him, ―decided the last minute that they really wanted a girl.‖ (31) In a humourous tone he reveals the tragic reality of the little kid who was given to the next parents “on a waiting list.” All such sentences reflect Steve Jobs‘ nature of retorting himself without wavering for a moment. Since his birth Jobs felt himself a drop out again and again. Not only this, he was a dropout from the college also. To be a dropout seemed to be destined for Jobs. Candidly, he confides in his listeners saying, ―I had dropped out and didn‘t have to take the normal classes.‖ (32) Here again Jobs seems conveying that even his being a drop out resulted in a successful step for him. Eventually, his learning calligraphy was of much use for him after ten years in the production and designing of Kumar 42

the first Macintosh computer as he himself talks of the concept of dots backward, “If I had never dropped out I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class.‖ (32) This decision of Steve Jobs seemed strange at that time and it was considered wrong by the parents as well as society. Actually, this decision reflects that he decided to go with the course of his interest and not with the prevailing custom. Later on in the due course of his life Jobs rejoiced his decision saying, ―The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn‘t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.‖ (31) This also reflects his power of taking strong decisions even at crucial stages of life because at this stage also his parents had no money yet they had to pay for him. Though at that time it was a hard decision for him to be a drop out from ―the college which was costing all his working class parents savings‖ yet later on he endorses his decision as “One of the best decisions I ever made.” (31) Such statements seem to give a strong message that if we go for the things that interest us we shall certainly succeed one day. It was a risk taking decision on the part of Steve Jobs which didn‘t have social approval i.e. Socialset up would have raised questions such as, ‗what will you do without a degree?‘ As an answer to such questions Jobs proves that the worth of real labour never goes waste. Knowledge once obtained never deserts. This again reflects Jobs intention of giving a message that we must go for the things which interest us or which we like; decisions must not be imposed upon ourselves. ―We must listen to that voice which comes from our inner soul and consciousness‖ (Dublish 176) for decisions and it will be of much use in future as it turned out to be the case in Steve‘s own life. Such decisions are considered anti-social decisions i.e. against the common trend. But in a simple yet forceful manner, Steve attempts to rip through the rigid edifice of socially induced goals in life. The second story is about love and loss and about what it takes to be successful. Early in his life he found what he loved doing. It is the essence of ‗a successful life‘- to find ‗something to do what you like.‘ He took a daring step of starting „Apple‟ in his parents‘ garage. In describing this step Jobs uses conversational style. He says ―Woz and I started ‗Apple‘ in my parents‘ garage when I was 20.” (BOBI 32) He speaks as if he is talking to his friend informally. In a similar fashion, he speaks, ―We worked hard and in 10 years ‗Apple‘ had grown from just two of us in a garage into a $ 2 billion company with over 4000 employees.” (32) Kumar 43

This reflects his style of expressing his own experiences of big success in very simple, lucid and comprehensible manner. He doesn‘t boast of his success but simply wants to convey the message of hard work and confidence. Even as a professional, the feature of being a dropout revisited him. This time from the company which he himself had founded only ten years ago. Steve Jobs eloquently announces, ―And then I got fired, How can you get fired from a company you started?‖ (32) and further using a metaphorical language Jobs says “that I had dropped the baton that was being passed to me.‖ (32) Even while addressing the students, he seemed to be enjoying such moments which turned out to be the maxim of success for him. Again, this dropout also proved lucky for him and at one stage, he triumphantly declares saying ―getting fired from apple was the best thing that could have happened to me.‖ (33) The success on the part of Jobs reflects that he never lost heart even amidst such stormy upheavals. Taking the bull by the horns, Jobs started a company NeXT and another one Pixar which was another daring step on his part. With his mettle of mind, these two companies exhibited such a performance that Jobs was offered to merge these two companies with ‗Apple‘ and thereby he got his destination. This again reflects Job's patience and innovative ideas that from a situation where Steve was nowhere, he established himself once again to achieve the heights of success and his name and identity got a tag of success everywhere. Such a situation teaches the learners a lesson of ‗no step back‘ from any adverse situation. Owing to the adverse situations at every step, we can quote a very famous line from Swami Sukhabodhananda which fits to Steve‘s attitude of taking problems easily, ―Problems are inevitable but suffering is optional.‖ (Sukhabodhananda 3) Steve Jobs never yielded to the problems; rather he took them as a challenge. Through this tale, the organizational skills of Steve Jobs come to the fore but in a rhetorical style. Even in such circumstances, Jobs attains the height of motivational use of language and goes on to add ―I still loved what I did.‖ (BOBI 32) It reflects that even at later stages of life, Steve never repented for his adverse situations or daring decisions. With his use of such easily perceptible language, this speech turns out to be a great inspiration for entrepreneurs and organizational heads. The speech went on to become a famous speech and was widely acclaimed even in the corporate world. ―Although he rarely gave speeches other than his staged product Kumar 44

demonstrations, he accepted Stanford‘s invitation to give its June 2005 commencement address.‖ (Isaacson 456) In his third story also the tag of being a dropout sticks to Jobs when on being diagnosed with cancer the doctor told him to go home and get his affairs in order, which is ―doctor‘s code for prepare to die." (Graham, Emery & Hall 93) Even at such a declaration, Steve Jobs didn‘t reflect any panic and understood the situation keeping cool and composed. But later that evening it was found that the cancer in his pancreas was easily curable and it seemed that he literally came out of the clutches of death as Jobs himself declares, ―this was the closest I‘ve been to facing death.‖ (BOBI 34) So in the matter of death, he came out as a ‗dropout‘ from a stage of ‗drop in.‘ The sentences such as above highlight Steve Jobs‘ art of delivering deep messages in a very simple, plain and different style. Therefore, the whole speech seems to be a message giving speech. Every story of Job‘s life and experience is replete with useful messages for the students as well as the entrepreneurs. These stories essentially urge all the listeners to keep on doing efforts amidst obstacles and challenges of life. The basic purpose of Steve Jobs seems to instill motivation in the young graduates with his own experiences of success in adverse circumstances and turning buffets of time into blessings of life. In all these stories Steve Jobs emerges as ―an intervening variable between a stimulus affecting a person and that person‘s response.‖ (Fasold 147) In all the three experiences narrated by Jobs, a number of highly inspirational messages can be found out. These messages encapsulate universal connotations and are frequently used by common man in similar situations. Such sentences have been spoken in an aphoristic style, ―Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice‖, ―Don't be trapped by dogma‖, ―Don‘t settle‖ (BOBI 33) etc. Such imperative sentences became quotable and popular with the popularity of his speech. There is a strong practically proven message in the first story which depicts the truth of life ―you cannot connect dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.‖ (32) These dots are intriguing that reflect uncertainty which takes every individual in the grip and a feeling of insecurity. Such elements make a speech universal. These dots represent the past and the future. They point towards the uncertain path in future but a certain experienced track if we go backward. This makes the speech a source of inspiration where individual experiences lead to universal teachings. Such ideas travel across the border and are applied by the whole Kumar 45

human society. Not only this, the same concept of dots applies to his being fired from his own company Apple. When he was fired, he was desperate to get back. Future did seem to him very bleak and out of frustration he said, ―I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.” (32) So symbolically, the dots of experience were taking him to the uncertain future but when he turned back, he actually realized that these dots paved a way for him to go on the path of progress. Looking back in the hindsight, these very dots turned out to be a source of inspiration for him. Steve Jobs is very much hopeful and confident when he uses very simple philosophic statements such as “you have to trust in something -your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.‖ (32) These quips reflect Jobs‘ vision of existence of life and death and his faith in him. He seems to be saying that luck and action both play vital role in deciding one‘s destiny. Other than this, there are many inspirational lines in the concluding passages also such as: ―don‘t lose faith‖, ―you have got to find what you love‖, ―the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work‖, ―love what you do. If you haven‘t found it yet, keep looking. Don‘t settle.‖ (33) which further adds more motivational spirit to his audience when he directly addresses them by saying ‗you‘ time and again. The use of phrase ‗don‘t settle‘ again gives a profound message of making efforts without any thinking of the benefits which reminds us of message from The Gita, ―Karmanye Vadhikaraste ma Phaleshu Kadachana, Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani‖ i.e. ―You have a right to perform your prescribed action, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your action.‖ (Goswami 57) Towards the end of the speech, Steve Jobs gives another universal message with an assumption, ―If you live each day as if it was your last day, someday you will certainly be right‖, ―all external expectations, all pride, all the fears of embarrassment or failure- these things just fall away in the face of death.‖ ―Remembering that you are going to die is the best way…to avoid the trap of thinking.‖ (33) Such sentences do not reflect the dark side of his life in depression rather positivity, a hope, a determination to do, to fight against odds and a reflection of giving encouragement to the young guys. It shows that the speech is replenished with direct encouraging philosophic statements and action oriented statements. Such statements seem to be the voice of the inner soul which urges the youngsters and others to live and lead a fanciful life. Kumar 46

Further, there are many sentences in the speech which are not only inspirational but philosophic also such as: ―No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don‘t want to die to get there.‖, ―Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life‘s change agent” (34) Such lines remind us of similar quotes on death as that of J.M. Barrie Peter Pen ―To die will be an awfully big adventure.‖ (Barrie 96) While delivering such sentences of higher philosophy Steve Jobs proves himself an experienced and skilled orator and his lines about death seem to be the lines spoken by some great saint.. Other than this, there are some lines which are universally true such as: ―your time is limited, so don‘t waste it.‖, ―Don‘t be trapped by dogmas‖, ―Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” (BOBI 34) Such imperative sentences prepare the audience to be bold, emphatic and action oriented. Towards the end of the speech, Steve Jobs turns a little bit dramatic in uttering the dialogues. He himself accepts ―Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.” His expression is lucid, direct and forceful. He uses emphatically short and intensely gripping sentences. He seems to induce action in the listeners as if saying ‗get up, get ready and face the challenges of life.‘ The sentences are direct, forceful and emphatic as well as filled with a sense of urgency, something that can immediately spur the people into action. Among his many important expressions in the speech, the most quotable line in the business world is Stay hungry stay foolish which has been taken as the title of the speech also. Therefore, the concluding message of the speech Stay hungry stay foolish, acquires monumental significance coming as the punch line of the speech. The message seems not only dramatic but also prophetic. It is the ending of the speech that effortlessly and epigrammatically subsumes the inherent vision of the speaker into the grand tapestry of the speech containing varying strands, shapes and colours with other messages; “Stay hungry stay foolish” seems to be the most inspiring message of the speech. This phrase seems full of various connotations. It means we are extremely foolish, not going according to the conventions of society. Our quest takes us away from structured to unstructured system. Steve‘s story teaches us a lesson that in worldly terms we may be an utter failure for taking a decision which is extremely foolish. But if we are determined and have faith in ourselves, no one can stop us from getting success, our goal, our target. Talking to the young people Jobs doesn‘t talk of their physical hunger but their aspirations for which they must fight and keep on fighting till the goal is achieved. This is not a fight for right but for our inner love and Kumar 47

conscience as Steve Jobs says, ―to do what you believe is great work‖ and ―great work is to love what you do.‖ (34) So Jobs wants people not to settle with easy options as the general trend is, he urges the listeners not to keep striving for achieving the right sense of purpose, however trendy it may be. Rather be in quest for the achievement of our goal, however foolish it may be. Steve Jobs talks of his family ties only in the last story. His love and affection towards the family comes only when he was at the verge of death which reflects that he liked to struggle alone at every stage of life except the last moments of his life. His struggle at every step led to success which is a great massage for the young guys not to lose heart, be ready to take action, be devoted to your work and be determined to achieve goal.

STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF SPEECH The stylistic analysis of the speech of Steve Jobs reflects his unique style of speaking. Usually, stylistics is concerned with ―the study of style in language.‖ According to Verdonk ―style in language can be defined as distinctive linguistic expression‖ (Verdonk 3) and Jobs in this speech seems to have that distinctive expression. The style of a speaker arises from his unique and individual use of words and expressions that are later interpreted by the readers. This can be easily applied to Jobs‘ style in the present speech taken for analysis. With the introduction of three real experiences of his life, Jobs spontaneously uses a number of stylistic devices such as simile, metaphor, antithesis, alliteration, anaphora etc. With a healthy introduction of linguistic elements throughout, the speech is replete with figures of speech and everyday maxims of life. Lexical analysis of Job‘s discourse reveals his intention to infuse the minds of young generation with the power of fighting adverse conditions. In addition it also prepares the young minds for sustenance against the pools of frustration and keeps their morale high against the tempest of failures or drop outs. The lexicons used in the speech in the form of phrases and sentences are remarkably impressive and quotable. These lexical elements of the speech seem to have been woven together, thereby integrating the speech as a single document which reminds us of Halliday‘s statement: ―cohesive ties can manifest in the form of reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction and lexical cohesion.” (Halliday and Hasant 73) These two elements of coherence and cohesiveness run throughout the speech. Kumar 48

In the opening of the speech, Steve Jobs uses a rhetorical and conversational style to address the graduates of the university. In a rhetorical language, by telling just three stories of his own life, Steve is able to make a good connection between his message and his audience. But Jobs‘ style is different from that of other speakers. In this speech he doesn‘t support his experience with any other story, data or facts. He envisages only his own experiences and history as evidence. Through his ethos, pathos, emotions and his structure of speech, Jobs rhetorically substantiates his arguments. Steve Jobs uses very simple and plain colloquial language to communicate his thoughts to the students and to give a healthy message to the entrepreneurs. Many sentences are almost equal in conveying the basic idea yet Steve Jobs‘ innovative use of language reminds us of Hu Zhunglin‘s words, ―although two sentences may have exactly the same ideational and interpersonal functions, they may be different in terms of textual coherence.‖ (Zhuanglin Hu and Wangqi Jiang 704) This statement also reminds us of M.A.K. Halliday‘s three metafunctions of language, i.e. ideational, interpersonal and textual. The use of motivational or inspirational sentences seem to infuse energy even in the readers while for a researcher it is very interesting to look for stylistic finesse in terms of persuasive tone, parallel sentence structure, repetition of some phrases, the anaphoric use of sentences and the use of antithesis, similes and metaphors etc. Too many imperative sentences have been used by Steve Jobs throughout the speech. Many of these sentences are owe inspiring ones. There seems to be a direct call in the speech for the youngsters to get up and take action such as, ‗don‘t be trapped by dogma‘, ‗Don‟t let the noise of others‟ opinions drown out your own inner voice.‘ ‗Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.‟ love what you do‟ „Don‟t lose faith.‟ „ keep looking. Don‟t settle. “stay hungry stay foolish‖ (BOBI 34) Antithesis has been used by Steve Jobs at many places to present a strong contrast i.e. juxtaposition of seemingly dissimilar things as in; ―Death is very likely the single best invention of life‖ ―The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again‖ ―If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in.‖ (32) this style of using contrasting words in the same sentence keeps the listeners and readers alert and helps them grasp the message effectively through the use of antithetical elements in speech. Kumar 49

Further, the anaphoric use of language makes the audience pay attention to the speech with the repetition of certain words and phrases in a sentence such as ―all external expectations, all pride, all fear, ―It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes‖ Anaphoric use can be seen in parallelism also in sentences such as: ―That my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.‖ (31) This type of structure helps in easy understanding of the speech by the audience. Besides this, the speech abounds in good use of metaphors. This metaphorical use of language adds beauty to his speech. While dealing with metaphors, the abstract ideas are configured into concrete ones. At the age of 30 when he was fired from his own company apple, Jobs recalls that experience and says, “it was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don‘t lose faith.” Also “I felt that i had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me.” (32) Such a use of metaphorical language reflects skillful use of language by the speaker which keeps the attention of the audience and they remain fascinated to both the conceptual profundity and stylistic finesse. Thus, in Steve Jobs they are bound to think over such linguistic expressions because this seems to be a real far-fetched comparison representing the actual definition given by Perrine, ―Metaphor is used to compare things that are essentially unlike. Such uses are intended to say something more clearly and forcefully.‖ (Perrine 565) Alliteration is another figure of speech which provides rhythm to the sentences. In this speech also, alliteration provides rhythm to Jobs‘ vigour and tempo of inspiring the graduates with the stories of his own experiences as in ―don‘t be trapped by dogma‖, ―Don‘t let the noise of others‘ opinions drawn out your own inner voice.‖ (BOBI 34) Such a use of sentences maintains the interest of the listeners. Other than these figures of speech, very simple vocabulary has been used by Jobs except, rare use of a few literary words like ‗renaissance‘ which has interestingly been used to narrate ‗drop out‘ episodes of his life. The words, phrases and sentences used in the speech are easily palatable to the audience. Some of the words used in the speech are very common while some words used by the speaker are not frequent such as; biological mother, biopsy, endoscopy, diagnosis etc. all come from the medical terminology. Kumar 50

Throughout the speech Steve Jobs uses different categories of nouns. The abstract nouns used in the speech are in abundance such as; ‗graduation‘, ‗adoption‘, ‗creation‘, ‗generation‘, ‗stories‘, ‗young‘, ‗middle‘, ‗commencement‘, ‗tuition‘, ‗value‘, ‗idea‘, ‗money‘, ‗savings‘, ‗curiosity‘, ‗amount‘, ‗impossible‘, ‗failure‘, ‗life‘, ‗impression‘, ‗choices‘, ‗expectations‘, ‗embarrassment‘, ‗death‘, ‗incurable‘ etc. Some of these abstract nouns and adjectives highlight the positive aspects of life such as; generation, adoption, commencement, value, expectation etc. while some others highlight the negative aspects such as; ‗impossible‘, ‗failure‘, ‗death‘, ‗incurable‘, ‗scary‘, etc. Collective nouns have also been used to represent the social entities of human beings such as; family, catalogue, generation etc. Some abstract nouns signify the events, for instance; choices. Some abstract nouns refer to the moral qualities such as; ‗value‘, ‗idea‘, ‗impression‘, etc. The adjectives used in the speech serve the purpose of enhancing the power of nouns and pronouns. They have been used in the speech attributively such as; ‗We had just released our finest creation‘, ‗What makes great typography great‟, ‗my biological mother‘, ‗their entire life‘, ‗practical application‘, ‗wonderful typography‘, ‗great relationship‘, ‗most important tool‘, ‗external expectations‘, ‗amazing woman‘, ‗successful animation‘, ‗remarkable turn‘, ‗awful tasting medicine‘, ‗current renaissance‘ etc. Many adverbs have been used by Steve Jobs which qualify the verbs used. Such adverbs empower the speech for stronger action such as; ‗felt very strongly‘ ‗it was devastating‘, ‗I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford‘, ‗our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.‘ The use of such words reflects upon the knowledge of the speaker about the proper linguistic usage. Some of the non-finites have also been used to qualify the noun or adjectives used in the speech. Jobs has used many weak and strong verbs throughout the speech, especially gerund and participles as in; ‗I found it fascinating‟ ‗I could stop taking the required classes‘ ‗Remembering that I‘ll be dead soon‘ ‗keep looking‟, ‗you cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward‘, ‗and began dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.‟ Similarly, past participles and to-infinitives have been used frequently in the speech. Some of them are as follows: ‗we have an unexpected baby‘, ‗spaced fonts‘, Kumar 51

‗and then I got fired, how can you get fired from a company that you started.‘ ‗the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe.‘ With such a use of gerunds and participles Steve Jobs brings forth necessity of action on our part. The use of to-infinitives shows the requirement of the purpose to be done, action to be taken and to be completed in future as in; ‘It was impossible to connect the dots…‘, ‗I really did not know what to do for a few months‘, ‗I… tried to apologize for screwing up so badly…‘, ‗but something began to dawn on me‘, ‗so I decided to start over‘, ‗It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.‘ Further, he uses to-infinitives in sentences like; ‗Pixar went on to create the world‘s first computer animated feature film‘, ‗And the only way to do work is to love what you do‘, ‗I should expect to live no longer than three to six months‘ Throughout the speech, Jobs uses personal pronoun ‗I‘ to share his experiences with the college graduates. Only at some places he uses ‗we‘; but most of the time he goes with ‗I‘ and gives the message of his fight with birth, life and death. It also reflects his struggle at every stage and shows how he had to fight himself with all the oddities of life. So, this ‗I‘ doesn‘t reflect his ‗ego‘ rather it is the symbol of his internal power, his struggle, his vigour, his own strong will. On the other hand he uses ‗I‘ to inspire the young graduates and seems to be saying, ‗if I can succeed through all adverse situations, why can‘t you? So this personal ‗I‘ becomes universal and an icon for the students. To enable the students understand the speech, various types of exercises have been developed. Following are some of the exercises based on the text of the speech. They have been designed to help students grasp the content and expression in a practical manner. The exercises given below have been framed on almost all the paragraphs. By attempting these exercises, learners can develop greater insight into the text of the speech and also improve their linguistic and communicative abilities in English. Therefore, with analysis of the speech of this young business tycoon Steve Jobs, exercises have been devised for a better understanding of the speech.

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Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: Exercise- 1. Paragraph no. 1-4 I am honoured to be………………………………that looked interesting. Q.1 Steve Jobs was a…………………. a. Graduate b. undergraduate c. postgraduate d. scholar Q.2 What was one of the best decisions Steve Jobs made? Q.3 Why did his biological mother refuse to sign the papers? Q.4 The word ‗adoption‘ is derived from a. Adopt b. adapt c. adopter d. adaption Q.5 Steve Jobs was adopted by…….. a. a teacher b. lawyer couple c. a businessman d. a doctor Exercise- 2. Paragraph no. 5-7 It wasn‟t romantic…………………..ten years later. Q.1 What type of hard labour did he do? a. He slept on the floor b. He returned coke bottles c. He would walk seven miles a day d. all the above Q.2 Jobs would go to…………to get one good meal a. Friend‘s room b. hotel c. Hare Krishna temple d. none of them Q.3 Calligraphy is the art of………. a. Singing b. dancing c. handwriting d. designing Q.4 Why did Jobs take calligraphy classes? Q.5. Use in your own sentences the following words from the passage : Typography designing Exercise -3 Paragraph no. 8 – 10 Again you can‟t connect…………….decided to start over Q.1. How many people started ‗Apple‘? a. One b. two c. twenty d. four hundred Q.2 Steve Jobs was…………from Apple. a. Fired b. hired c. tired d. retired Q.3. Which of the following words is similar to the word ‗eventually‘? a. Extremes b. decidedly c. ultimately d. untimely Q.4. Who is an entrepreneur? Define. Q.5. Find four adjectives from the paragraph 8-10..

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Exercise- 4. Paragraph no.11-13 I don‟t see ………………………………don‟t settle. Q.1What was the best thing for Steve Jobs? a. getting success in life b. getting fired from Apple c. becoming a beginner again d. becoming a loser Q.2 How many companies did Steve start? a. One b. two c. three d. four Q.3 What is the opposite of ‗animated‘? a. unanimated b. dead c. inanimated d. alive Q.4 According to Jobs what is ‗the great work‘? Q.5 Which figure of speech has been used in the following line? ―Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick‖ Exercise- 5. Paragraph no. 14-16 When I was seventeen……………………..….your goodbyes Q. 1 What is truly important according to Jobs? Q. 2 what is the most important tool to make the big choices in life? Q.3 which disease was Steve Jobs suffering from? Q.4 ‗Buttoned up‘ means …………… Q.5 Find out the words similar to ‗definitely‘ in the above passage. Exercise- 6. Paragraph no. 17-19 I lived with it …………………………… is quite true. Q.1 Why was the endoscopy done for Steve Jobs? Q. 2 What is a microscope? Q.3 What was the closest thing that Steve observed? Q.4 Why does Steve Jobs say sorry towards the end of the passage? Q.5 Find words from the passages 17-19 for the following: Identify quiet and dignified Exercise- 7. Paragraph no. 20-22 Your time is limited …………..……stay hungry stay foolish. Q.1 Steve Jobs inspired the students to follow their a. heart b. intuition c. mind d. all Q.2 What are the Dogmas Steve Jobs talks about? Q.3 Find some plural nouns from the paragraph 20-22 Q.4 What do you mean by hitchhiking?. Q.5 Find a gerund and a participle used in the above passage. Kumar 54

Therefore, the analysis of Steve jobs‘ speech opens new ways of analyzing the speech from a learner‘s point of view. This inspirational speech offers a good chance to the students to keep on trying and establishing themselves till the goal is achieved. The three stories by the orator give great morals separately. The epigrammatic style attracts every listener and reader of the speech. This is because the pithy sentences used by Steve Jobs remain longer in their memory and can be used as adages in a suitable situation. The opening of the speech is apt and humourous while the ending is emphatic. In comparison to the abrupt starting, the ending of the speech brings the tempo of the speaker down for a while and so it is prosaic a little bit but the punch line comes with a bang ―Stay Hungry Stay Foolish.‖ The linguistic pattern and the stylistic analysis together make the speech a great document in the history of speeches and also bring Steve Jobs in the lineage of successful orators. With his short, simple and elegant sentences, Steve Jobs seems to have left a long lasting impact upon the minds of Stanford graduates and the listeners and readers of the speech. This style of speech makes him an orator, par excellence.

The analysis of Steve Jobs‟ energetic speech opens avenues for analysis and its comparison with Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam‟s cool, calm and composed speech in the other part of the chapter. Let us now discuss a greatly inspirational speech of Dr. Abdul Kalam. The present study is an effort to explore how the analysis of a speech can be useful to the students. It also opens new avenues for the teachers to experience various modes of teaching the students practically and for students to learn various modes of learning from their teachers‘ experiences. This analysis also helps the learners comprehend any speech and answer the questions from the passages of the speech. For serving this purpose, the comprehension exercises have been developed from the whole of the speech for the learners similar to the exercises on stanza or a passage. This study presents stylistic and linguistic analysis of a speech delivered by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2003, the then president of India. The speech is particularly addressed to the teachers and students of the nation. It was delivered through All India Radio on the momentous occasion of Teacher‘s Day i.e. 5th September with the title, ‗Teachers Should Be The Role Models.‘ The speech finds a place in the book Pupils‟ President (2015) edited by Satyam Raychowdhury, Bee Kumar 55

Books, Hemaprabha Printing House, Kolkata. In this speech, Abdul Kalam tells three stories of his life. Two of his three experiences are directly related to his journey of shaping his life as a great scientist of India while the third one is related to his professional career. Out of a number of speeches of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, his speech ‗Teachers Should Be The Role Models‘ has been taken for analysis in this part of the research. This speech has been famous for its moral and inspirational values. Though many of his speeches carry good messages with valuable suggestions yet the three experiences of his life in the form of stories in this speech are worth analyzing similar to those of Steve Jobs‘ experiences. In these stories Kalam refreshes the memory lane and shares his true experiences with the listeners. The systematic way of narrating the stories one after the other showing the three stages of life imparts a good structure to the speech. The basic structure of telling the true stories seems to be the same as in case of Steve Jobs i.e. the story of childhood, the story of young age and the story of professional life. Comparatively, the structure of the speech by Dr. Kalam is well set and excellent. Before telling the three experiences he gives a little background about teachers, and then elaborately explains the three stories which define the qualities of an ideal teacher and sum up whatever has been taught to him by the three teachers. Throughout the speech he gives due credit to his teachers and feels obliged when he ultimately says, ―What a fortune and blessing I had from my three teachers!‖ (Pupils‟ President 2015, 175) It reflects his firm faith in his teachers. The cohesive way of thoughts leads to great inspiration for teachers as well as students. This makes it a single document that carries a universal tone of learning at every stage. Owing to these aspects, the speech has been analysed for its style, content , motivational impact, language used, sentence structure, cohesion, coherence, the use of figures of speech, lexical elements such as words and phrases, grammatical elements and their importance in a particular context. The common theme of learning moral values and educating the people through his own experiences runs throughout the speech. Through his own example, Abdul Kalam highlights the importance of family values, the impact of taking gifts, effect of obeying his teachers, consequences of his being devoted and determined to his goal. A detailed analysis of speech finds the use of a number of pithy and impressive sentences which elevate the height of the speech and teach us moral values. Many of Kumar 56

these sentences have become sentences of universal import. Not only this, sentences which reflect seemingly universal truths have also been used throughout the speech. Through his individual examples, Kalam touches the height of universal teachings. Many such sentences used by Dr. Kalam depict the truth of life and add to the moral aspect of the speech such as: ―We should not allow problems to be our masters but we should defeat the problems‖, ―Every one of us in this planet creates a page in human history‖, ―The schools must have the best of teachers.‖ (174) etc. Comparatively, in his other speeches also Kalam uses a number of adages which have become all time famous quotations such as: ―Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.‖ (243) ―success will sparkle‖ (127) ―Creativity is the key to success in future.‖ (Kalam website… https://www.brainyquote.com) ―To succeed in your mission, you must have single minded devotion to your goal.” (ibid) These and many other quotable sentences have crossed the border and are hailed by the people in different parts of the world. Similar to Steve Jobs, Dr. Kalam also reiterates three memorable experiences of his life. His first experience is the story of his childhood which teaches us a moral lesson and reflects Kalam‘s innocent nature and a habit of grasping positive thoughts and making them permanent feature of his life. In the very opening of the speech Abdul Kalam uses rhetoric and persuasive style by recalling about three teachers who helped him in shaping his life. First of all he gives due respect to the great educationist Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan by quoting his line, ―Teachers should be the best minds in the country.‖ (PP 171) Not only to Radhakrishnan but to all the teachers he gives honour by saying ―the teachers lay the foundation for creating enlightened citizens for the nation.‖ (106) Kalam‘s giving this due regard to the teachers reflects how obliged he felt to the teachers even at later stages of his life. Not only this, he seems to be proving the line ‗teachers are the national builders‘ by giving his own examples. With the help of his own teachers, he ultimately came out as a national builder. It shows that Kalam wants to highlight that we should never forget our teachers who have shown us the path of progress, who have taught us how to live, how to learn the lessons of life and have guided us through thick and thin. In the beginning, in the matter of learning, his greatness is reflected in considering his own father, Janab Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen as a teacher. The discussion of the matter about his father‘s principle of taking gifts is fairly very simple and plain. In a conversational style, he recalls that his father taught Kumar 57

him a lesson of manners and behaviour and how to live life when he was studying in school. In a narrative style, he tells that his father was elected as Panchayat Board President. In his childhood, his father had never beaten him. But, one day, he got a thorough beating for accepting a gift in the name of his father. It reflects that honesty always prevailed in society in those days as in case of his father not accepting any gift or any type of bribe. This is reflected in the speech when ―someone came and left some items on the cot and went away.‖ (172) When his father came and looked at the items, he got enraged and beat him black and blue. The beating taught Abdul Kalam a permanent lesson which he carried with himself throughout life and through the speech also he wants the teachers and students to learn a lesson of not accepting a gift or bribe. But before telling about the beating, Kalam gives a statement which heightens the impact of beating, ―I was the youngest child of my father, he really loved me and I also loved him a lot‖ (172) He wants to expose that even after such a strong bonding between him and his father he was badly beaten so that he could learn a moral lesson. Therefore, family roots have been exposed by giving full respect to father and mother and obeying them in all respects. The fondling of the child by both the parents reflects family ties in our country. Also their going for namaz reflects the religiousness of the families and devotion to the Almighty in those days also. So, this is the style of the speaker to present a type of contrast that even when father loved him a lot, he didn‘t hesitate in giving punishment to the child. Though, he was not fully at fault because ―father had gone for evening namaz and mother was also on namaz. Even then he beat him thoroughly for accepting the gift, so that he could learn a lesson of not accepting anything unnecessarily. Though, after sometime his father came and touched his shoulder lovingly with affection and advised him not to receive any gift in life quoting an Islamic hadith, ―When the Almighty appoints a person to a position, he takes care of his provision. If a person takes anything beyond that, it is an illegal gain.‖ (172) Then Kalam himself said that the words used by his father regarding the gift after that beating still resounds in his mind, the punch line was – “A gift is always accompanied by some purpose and a gift is a dangerous thing. It is like touching a snake and getting the poison in turn.‖ (172) Kalam feels that this incident taught him a very valuable lesson in his life. The diction speaks of universal teachings of not accepting the gift. Kumar 58

Moreover, he quotes a line from Manusmriti regarding gifts that ―by accepting gifts, the divine light in the person gets extinguished.” (172) He gives the crux of what is said about gifts in Manusmriti also that by accepting gifts we have to feel obliged and do the things which, otherwise are not permitted according to law. The impact of accepting the gifts can be felt practically in day to day life where a person has to feel his power subdued after accepting gifts in the form of bribe. He feels, ―Under an Obligation in favour of the person who gave the gift.‖ (172) This incident reflects that family values and faith in God existed with firm determination in the family when Kalam makes a reference to Islamic Hadith and Manusmriti together. Both the epics weigh taking gifts or something beyond means as illegal. He hopes the teachers and listeners practise this art of not accepting anything illegal. It reflects his hope from the future generation and his effort of passing old Indian values to the next generation. In the second incident, Kalam gives a detailed description of the teaching style of one of his teachers who adopted pragmatic approach in teaching. This story of his student life in school teaches us learning through pragmatic approach which is a universal phenomenon of getting permanent imprint upon one‘s mind. It again reflects to grasp the practical approach instead of theoretical one. Dr. Kalam describes about his teacher who became a role model for him. His approach of teaching the children impressed him to the extent that it could never vanish from his brain. The practical scene of birds‘ flight left a permanent impression upon his mind and that was the turning point for Dr. Kalam in choosing a career for himself. For explaining this turning point of his life, Kalam gives a very good example of his teacher in middle standard when almost all the students of his class said that they all did not understand clearly about bird flight i.e. the principle behind birds‘ flight. The teacher didn‘t get upset and eventually succeeded in making them understand practically by taking the students out at canal in the evening and showing them the birds‘ flight and making them understand the process visually. It refers the incident which proved a milestone in Abdul Kalam‘s career as he says, ―that one incident of my teacher teaching the lesson, showing the visual live example proved to be a turning point in my life which eventually shaped my profession.‖ (174) Such statements highlight the impact of practical experience in our life that makes the difference between theoretical and practical aspects of life. Kalam, through this experience wants to convey a message to the teachers that they must explain the Kumar 59

phenomenon practically if the students do not understand theoretically. Explanation given by all the three teachers in all the three experiences told by Kalam reflects another message for the teachers to teach and explain the issues lovingly, practically and patiently. Kalam seems to be saying that teachers must practically make the students understand the phenomenon so that they may clear their doubts about the problem. Kalam suggests giving, ―the theoretical lesson coupled with a live practical example available.‖ (173) Secondly, he wants to convey that teachers mustn‘t feel upset if the students don‘t understand rather he must be determined to teach them through different methods. This type of methodology can bring about a turning point in the life of students. In his third story, he quotes an example of his experience of meeting and taking guidance from professor Satish Dhawan a scientist in Indian Institute of Science who extended outstanding help in making Contra Rotation Propeller. This story of his adulthood teaches us to maintain the tempo, confidence and determination in achieving the goal. In the third story, the rhetoric style continues and Kalam‘s use of persuasive language is so convincing that he is able to make the listeners understand his speech easily. The relation between the teacher and the taught shows how disciplined both of them were. Dr. Kalam talks of the help that he sought for clearing his doubts about contra rotation propellers and he got this help from professor Dhawan, a senior scientist from ISRO. Devotion to work from professor Dhawan inspired Dr. Kalam a lot. As a result he was able to achieve his goal and got the title ―missile man.‖ All this reflects the true relations between a teacher and a taught and the zeal of learning on the part of the orator. It also reflects the devotion of the teacher towards his sincere student Kalam which highlights that if the teacher and the taught both are devoted and determined success will certainly knock the door as has been said by Dr. Abdul Kalam in his book ―success will sparkle‖ (175) Through this phase of life Abdul Kalam learnt that a teacher must be visionary. Through the example of Professor Satish Dhawan, Dr. Kalam teaches the teachers to recapitulate and prepare the students for acquisition of knowledge. Not only the teachers, Dr. Kalam seems to be much concerned for students also. On one hand, he suggests the teachers to be the ‗role models‘ on the other hand he suggests the student ―to build himself with best of qualities and to get ignited with a vision for his or her future life.‖ (174) Moreover, His consideration of teachers more responsible than the parents is reflected in his words when he says, ―the school must Kumar 60

have the best of teachers with ability to teach and love teaching and build moral qualities.‖ (174) Ultimately Kalam makes a conclusion with a discussion on three basic characteristics which we must learn i.e. moral values, to be a role model and develop confidence and will power to learn respectively in the three stories. Further, it has been observed that Nature and natural settings play a vital role in kalam‘s learning process. In both the incidents of learning, his love with Nature comes to the fore when he is found fully involved. Observing bird flight he refers to nature saying, ―we enjoyed the roaring sea waves knocking at the sandy hills in the pleasant evening,‖ when ―birds were flying with sweet chirping voice.‖ (173) This reflects his love of nature and learning in the lap of nature e.g. The ―flapping wings‖ and ―twisting tails‖ were noticed too closely by Kalam that he thought his ―future study has to be with reference to flight and flight systems.‖ He was so impressed with this incident that he urges the teachers saying, ―I am sure many of the teachers in schools and colleges will follow this example.‖ This way he wants to convey the art of teaching to the next generation. Another time at the time of launching SLV-3 for injecting Rohini satellite into the orbit, he again refers to nature saying, ―Nature has its own way to link the student‘s dream.‖ (175) This again reflects transfer of age old traditions and respect for nature and Almighty from one generation to another. Kalam learnt these things from his father and wants to transfer them to the coming generation through the contribution of teachers. Through these three experiences, Kalam gives a general message to the people of the nation to be ready to face the up surging challenges of life. The speech gives message of respect and obeying the parents and teachers, doing study with full concentration, faith in God, not accepting anything illegal and be committed to your profession etc. The three stories account for the learning from experience, learning from pragmatic approach and learning from firm determination. Dr. Kalam proved himself a real leader of the country by giving such messages in almost all of his speeches. Through their speeches at such different occasions, leaders like Kalam emerge as icons for the people who always think philanthropically. In this speech, delivered particularly for the teachers Abdul Kalam seems to ―have relied on the spoken words to convince others of the benefits that arise from their leadership.‖ (Black 1) It seems that he knew how to convince the people so that he could make them understand.

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STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT Modern stylistics uses the tools of formal linguistic analysis coupled with the methods of literary criticism. It is ―the practice of using linguistics for the study of literature‖ (Simpson 3) In stylistic analysis some figures of speech have been traced from the speech with speakers‘ style of using other stylistic devices like persuasiveness, parallelism etc. Style has always been an object of study for the research scholars. The great scholars such as Aristotle, Cicero, Demetrius and Quintilian treated style as the proper adornment of thoughts. A writer or an orator is expected to frame his ideas with the help of model sentences and by quoting examples suitable to the mode of discourse. In this speech also Dr. Kalam uses a different mode of telling three examples of his own life and inspires his listeners. So, persuasiveness runs throughout the speech with a language palatable to common man and it seems that Kalam was successful in convincing the people through his speech. Stylistic analysis of the speech of Dr. Kalam includes the analysis of his style, the way he delivers the speech in a cohesive way, systematic utterance of three experiences one after the other, finding use of figures of speech etc. It also analyses lexical and grammatical elements used in the speech. While doing stylistic analysis we have to explain how the words of a text create the feelings and responses that we get when we read the text or listen to it. This analysis of the speech reveals the proper usage of stylistic elements through effective and essential expressions. Usually, stylistics is concerned with ―the study of style in language‖ (Verdonk 3). According to Verdonk, ―style in language is the distinctive linguistic expression. The style of a speaker arises from his unique and individual use of words and expressions that are later interpreted by the readers.‖ (Verdonk 3). This fits to Kalam‘s style in the present speech taken for analysis. With the introduction of three real experiences of his life, knowingly or unknowingly Kalam has used a number of stylistic devices such as simile, metaphor, antithesis, alliteration, anaphora etc. The three stories are linked to each other through cohesive elements. The coherence of the passages and the cohesive ties tell us how to fuse one idea or thought into another. The cohesion in the speech has been achieved with frequent use of cohesive devices such as co-reference pronouns, adjectives, participles and conjunctions. Also with the use of persuasive language, compound and complex Kumar 62

sentences, figures of speech etc. Dr. Kalam keeps the listeners and readers engaged in listening to and understanding his speech keenly. Many simple and compound sentences have been used throughout the speech to make the listeners and readers understand the language easily. During the discourse, complex sentences also find a place. Such sentences keep the interest of the listeners intact. Some of the sentences used in the speech are in conversational style as if Dr. Kalam is directly talking to his friends. The very first line is in conversational style. ― I am talking to you on this special occasion of Teacher‘s Day‖, ―I was at that time studying in school‖, ―Somebody came and he kept this for you‖, ―I am sharing this thought with all of you‖, ―He was a visionary teacher‖ (PP 171) etc. This seems a great narrative style as if the story is being told to the children by grandpa and grandma with very simple and plain sentences. Some of the sentences in such situations have been used in passive form. Passivisation is another feature of an orator which is used to emphasize the object and to show it in action. Use of passive sentences exhibits the importance of object as in: ―The bird is powered by its own life.‖, ―The bird flying exercise given by my teacher.‖ (172) ―His life is more influenced by the teachers.‖(172) In such sentences passivisation has been used to emphasize the action taken by the subject. Many sentences have been used in the form of direct narration in the speech as in the situation when someone brought a gift for his father and Kalam quoted the same words spoken by the stranger and his father; ―He said, ‗I have brought something for him, can I keep it here?‖ He asked me, ―What is this? Who has given that?‖ I told him, ―Somebody came and has kept it for you.‖ (171) On the other hand indirect narrations have been used in the speech which reflects that Kalam is very informal while delivering the speech. These sentences have been spoken in a conversational style as if Dr. Kalam is talking to someone and telling him a story, such as: ―Some of my friends told me that I could approach……‖, ―Professor Dhawan asked me what the problem was that I wanted to discuss‖, ―Prof. Dhawan told me that he would teach me‖, ―Somebody opened the door, came in and asked me where my father was‖, ―I told him that father had gone for evening walk.‖(171) Such sentences teach us the use of conversational style in a speech. Through such a rhetoric style, every speaker wants to convince his audience as much as he can. With his persuasive style he tries to convince the listeners according to his own ideas. So, he tries to convince the audience rhetorically. Rhetoric style Kumar 63

adds beauty to the speech as in the expressions; ―How nice it was!‖ and ―Every one of us in this planet creates a page in human history, irrespective of which he/she is!‖ (173) Dr. Kalam, rhetorically introduces many questions during the speech. Very eloquently he speaks in rhetoric style of language, ―My father taught me a great lesson when I was a young boy. What was that lesson?‖ (171) At another instance when he was learning, ―Where the engine is and how is it powered?‖, ―We all understood the dynamics from this practical example. How nice it was! Our teacher was a great teacher. The three teachers in my life, what did they give me?‖ (171) All these statements contain a hidden answer and the answers given by Kalam himself i.e. Sometimes hidden in the text while sometimes explained by Kalam himself. This way he elaborately explains the value of teachers and the lessons he learnt from them. The vocabulary used in the form of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and non-finites is very simple and easily understandable that enriches the scope of understanding the speech by common man. All types of nouns have been used throughout the speech. A few abstract nouns such as: ‗occasion‘, ‗qualities‘, ‗dream‘, ‗independence‘, ‗nobility‘, ‗incident‘, ‗status‘, ‗permission‘, ‗information‘, ‗ability‘, ‗alert‘, ‗problems‘, ‗solutions‘, ‗opportunity‘, etc. have been used positively and reflect the moral values required in our behaviour. All these words have been used with a positive wave of expressions. Many adjectives have been used in the speech to enhance the power of nouns and pronouns such as; ‗special occasion‘, ‗great educationist‘, ‗best minds‘, ‗great lessons‘, ‗young boy‘, ‗beautiful place‘, ‗good human being‘, ‗pleasant evening‘, ‗future career‘, ‗rocket engineer‘, ‗live example‘, ‗visionary teacher‘, ‗moral qualities‘, ‗entire course‘ etc.. Many adverbs have been used throughout the speech to specify the mood of the verb as in: I was reading the lessons loudly. It is deeply embedded. He touched my shoulder lovingly, if you practise this sincerely, gratefully, reading lessons loudly etc. Other than the grammatical elements, many figures of speech have been used by Dr. Kalam in the speech. The use of anaphoric elements, as in sentence ―Teacher‘s Day is very important for all our people, for our students and even for all the parents...... for the nation‖ (171) enriches the emphatic style of the speaker. Anaphoric elements also find a place when Kalam says, ―among the listeners there may be many parents, many teachers and a large number of students.‖ (175) Kumar 64

Another example of anaphora can be seen in sentences like ―the creation of professional capability leading to confidence and will power to make a design; to make a product, to make a system, bravely combating many problems. ―Through this project, I learnt the techniques… Above all, I learnt that in a project.‖ (175) ―He patiently explained it to me that I should complete 8th class, and then go to high school, and then I should go to engineering.‖ (173) Such an unintentional use of anaphora reflects a very simple and conversational style which gives the speech a little bit of rhythmic pattern. Similarly, another figure of speech, alliteration gives rhythm to the speech in many sentences such as in ―This lesson stands out always in my mind even when I am in my seventies‖ (172) Also Kalam says, ―Among the listeners, there may be many parents, many teachers and a large number of students.‖ (171) Another good example: ―This light, let it light many lamps.‖ (175) Another figure of speech, simile has also been found in sentences such as; ―a gift is like touching a snake and getting the poison in turn.‖ (172) Such a comparison reflects the internal abhorrence for gifts in Dr. Kalam and it became his instinctive power not to accept gifts. The language used by Kalam throughout the speech, seems to be the language of a saint who is preaching. During such preaching, a number of adages have been used by Dr. Kalam which depict the truth of life and add to the moral aspect of the speech. Some of these lines can be used as the maxim of life. Some of them are: ―Every one of us in this planet creates a page in human history irrespective of who he/she is.‖ (175) ―We should not allow problems to be our masters but we should defeat the problems.‖ (175) ―Success will sparkle.‖ (175) ―The school must have the best of teachers who have the ability to teach, love teaching and build moral qualities.‖ (171) Other than these, in his other speeches also Dr. Kalam has used many such sentences which are highly quotable sentences. Such sentences reflect his command over language. There are some sentences and phrases which have been repeatedly used in the speech for a good impact upon the listeners and the readers, such as; the phrase ‗a gift‘ in sentences like; ―A gift is always accompanied by some purpose and a gift is a dangerous thing.‖ (172) This repetition expresses speaker‘s emphatic style so that the listeners and the readers of the speech may learn a moral lesson. Dr. Abdul Kalam emphasizes the following phrase related to ‗time‘ which signifies that he enjoyed doing anything for the first time. While analysing the speech Kumar 65

a special feature of Kalam‘s personality can be observed that he never hesitated in breaking the ice for anything even if it was risky. That highlights his tempo of taking risk and doing the things first time. Moreover, if we observe keenly the phrase ‗first time‘ has been used repeatedly in the speech: ‗That was the first time that………..‘, ‗That was the first design in my career when………‘, ‗I was the first pilot for this hover craft………….‘, ‗That was the time I realised that…‘, ‗I was at that time studying in school.‘(172) Non-finites have also been used frequently in the speech of Dr. Kalam. Infinitives, gerunds and participles all find a place in Kalam‘s speech. Some infinitives have been used purposefully for the teachers and students to inspire them for taking big challenges in life e.g. ‗I am going to talk to you‘, ‗We used to study under Kerosene lamps‘, ‗I asked the person to leave the item‘, ‗get permission to receive the item.‘ Gerunds act as central and stressed words in a sentence and suggest continuity such as: ―Teachers lay the foundation for creating enlightened citizens.‖, ―Teachers who helped me in shaping my life.‖, ―I used to learn by reading aloud in my younger days.‖ (172) Non-finites have been used with gerund and participles during the speech. The analysis teaches the learners the use of past participle and how to differentiate them from Gerund and Participle. In the context of designing contra-rotating propeller, Kalam says, ―Hovercraft design needed development of a ducted contra-rotating propeller for creating a smooth flow balancing the torques.‖ (174) After observing the different aspects of Dr. Kalam‘s speech, following exercises have been developed on the basis of the text of the speech. For learners, a variety of questions has been given so that they may be able to create similar or different exercises and learn the nuances of the speech.

Exercises based on the speech Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: Para – (1) I am talking to…………the Panchayat board. Q.1 Whom is Dr. Kalam talking to and why? Q.2 For whom is the Teacher‘s Day very important according. to Dr.Kalam? Q.3 Why was his father elected as Panchayat Board President? Q.4 Change the following words into nouns: elected, narrate Kumar 66

Q.5 Change the following into adjectives and use them in your own sentences: president, religion.

Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow: Para – (2) I was at that time studying…………embedded in my mind. Q.1 Dr. Kalam studied in the light of kerosene lamp in those days? True / False Q.2 Why did father give a thorough beating to Kalam? Q.3 How did father define a gift? Q.4 Find at least two past participles from the passage and use them in your own sentences. Q.5 What is the moral of the passage?

Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow: Para – (3) I would like to mention……………a committed teacher. Q.1 How does Manusmriti warn according to Dr. Kalam? Q.2 What was the approach with which the teacher taught and Kalam got much impressed? Q.3 How did the birds set Kalam‘s goal? Q.4 We noticed closely and found that the birds…… Replace the underlined word from the following a. nearly b. keenly c. side by d. finely Q.5 Write the opposites of the following: a. theoretical b. pleasant

Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow: Para – (4) Our teacher said that……………….eventually shaped my profession. Q.1 That evening the students enjoyed a. roaring b. boating c. knocking d. flying Q.2 Find out the gerunds and the present participles in the given paragraph and make a separate list. Q.3 Use the most suitable word from the passage in the blank: Human beings are ………………..by their thoughts. Q.4………………….. I have reached my goal. Q.5 One of the three experiences was a turning point in his life? True / False Kumar 67

Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow: Para – (5) A student during his school life………..for the next six weeks. Q.1 What is the opposite of ignited a. lighted b. cool c. subdued d. submissive Q.2 The synonym of rotating is……… a. moving b. rounding c. oscillating d. hovering Q.3 The student must be alert to………. a. build himself with best of qualities b. get ignited with a vision c. both the above d. none of the above Q.4 Aeronautics is the study of a. aircrafts b. airplanes c. space crafts d. all Q.5 The verb form of engineering is a. engineer b. engineering c. engineered d. engine

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: Para – (6) He was a visionary teacher………success will sparkle. Q.1 Prof. Dhawan told me that…... a. I was ready b. I was developing c. I was not ready d. none Q.2 Why did Prof. Dhawan prepare the schedule? a. For reference b. for entire course c. for books d.for himself Q.3 What happened first time in Kalam‘s life? a. it was the first design b. he was the first pilot for that hovercraft c. first launch of SLV-3 d. all the above Q.4 Fill in the blanks with suitable words from the following words According to Dr. Kalam Nature has…………. a. good greenery b. has its own way c. both d. none Q.5 What are the maxims used in the passage?

As a result of the above analysis, a reader‘s perception is that the art of delivering a speech can be learnt from a skillful orator like Kalam. The linguistic ability of the orator makes the speech fit into the frame of the occasion on which it was delivered. After a detailed analysis, it is found that this speech is not merely an expression of thoughts by telling the stories but a purposeful address to the makers Kumar 68

and builders of the nation suggesting to them how to work, how to explain, how to prepare for teaching and how to set example for others through their own examples. The use of linguistic and rhetoric devices has been highlighted for a long lasting and permanent impact of his address. The speech also reflects that the high level of education of the speaker has been responsible for including variables in the speech from learners point of view which helps in bringing together various tools of persuasiveness. Because of such inclusion, the speech has produced a desired effect. Regarding his style, Kalam adopted a very simple narrative technique which throws opportunity for the analyst to find out various elements of cohesion, figures of speech, grammatical and lexical elements. Regarding the theme of speech, it can be strongly said that it is learning life lessons through experience, implementing pragmatic approach in teaching and through determination and resolution in the three stories respectively in his three experiences of life as has been said by Dr. Kalam himself. The connotative and denotative meanings of the words serve well the narrator‘s purpose of conveying the message for the teachers to be the role models. The use of compound and complex sentences throughout the speech is suggestive of coherence and use of cohesive elements in the speech. The sentences used are very simple but are of varied lengths. Overall, this analysis is a good example of how stylistic analysis of a speech can be helpful in bringing out the hidden ideology of the speaker. Lastly, the exercises devised on the basis of speech paragraphs provide the learners opportunity to learn how to comprehend the paragraphs and answer the questions that follow. The practice of solving the exercises adds new style of comprehension to the knowledge of the learners. ------

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Verdonk, Peter. (2002). Stylistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press Walker, Marsha Jelonek and Jonathan D. Walker Eds. Healing Massage: A Simple Approach, New York: Cengage Learning, 2003. Print.

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