DANNY FERNANDEZ

ENG 1010

BELIEVE
Rhetorical Analysis

The main thing each person that lives on earth has in common is life.
Each person living on earth was born, grew through the experiences of life,
and soon all shall depart it. Living life is the most beautiful thing but it is also
the hardest thing we will all ever face, but we can all come to understand
that life is more than just about getting through it, we can come to
understand that life is a one-time opportunity. Life is an opportunity to live
and do the impossible no matter how hard the opposition may be, in this
speech to his son, rocky balboa uses ethos, logos, and pathos from the
rhetorical triangle in sharing the most important life lesson he has come to
learn.

Ethos is the part of the rhetorical triangle that means credibility. The
ethos in this speech, or credibility goes to Rocky Balboa. We believe people
we respect. Rocky balboa is someone who has faced adversity dead on.
Rocky balboa has faced opponents in boxing matches who he had 0% chance
of defeating but because he believed in himself and never gave up even
though all chances of winning were gone, he learned that there is an
unbelievable potential within each individual in this world. In this speech to
his son he teaches him this lesson, he says to him, "you, me, or nobody is
going to hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you can hit, it's about how
hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and
keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" We can respect what
Rocky Balboa is teaching us, because he has been in the lowest of the low,

he knows how it feels but he knows how you can get back up and how
anyone and anything can change if you only just believe.

Pathos is the part of the rhetorical triangle that means persuading to

the audience emotion. The pathos is used heavily in the language and how it
affects the audiences emotions and if used correctly and effectively, it can
move us to do something. In his speech to his son, rocky balboa says, " now
if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But
you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't
where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that
and that ain't you! You're better than that! There is so much pathos in this
choice segment of rocky balboa's speech. The way he starts off by talking
about worth, self-worth and our knowledge of our own self-worth. Do you
know what you're worth? Then he continues to say if you do, go on and get
what you're worth. That drives anyone to seek for only the best that life has
to offer. The use of his language is powerful because he uses the individual
listening or reading to think if he points fingers at others or maybe life
complications as an excuse of a block to achieve your full potential. He uses
the word coward, calling those who use excuses Cowards, but then reassures
that, that isn't you and me because we won't give in or give up. Rocky balboa
uses language effectively in this part of his speech. Rocky used common
every day words, words we can all understand, words that are simple but

that are fueled by passion and words that can penetrate each and every one
of us.

Logos is the last part of the rhetorical triangle that means persuasion
through the use of logic. This involves a good flow from organization in
transitions and of logical appeal. So, why? Why would rocky balboa, boxing
champion, father and dreamer tell us this? The answer is found at the end of
his speech. At the end of his speech he says, "but until you start believing in
yourself, you ain't going to have a life." Do we believe? Do we believe in our
dreams, and our hopes? Do we believe we can? This is the logical appeal,
this is the whole reason Rocky Balboa said all this, to feel our faith to live our
life with no regrets, no fears, and to live our dreams. Throughout the whole
speech, Rocky builds up, he transitions so well that by the end when he is
done we are left silent and thinking, and filled with courage and positive
energy to go and achieve our dreams.

In this motivational speech, Rocky Balboa uses ethos logos and pathos
very well to teach us one of life's greatest lessons, to believe in ourselves, to
know that greatness is available to each and every single one of us, and that
on that last day we know we are the best that we can be because we never
gave up and gave in but in turn we believed, we stood back up and kept
going. You and I can live.