Sarah Caviglia

Professor Arini

English 102

February 25, 2019

Comparative Rhetorical Analysis

Oprah Winfrey is an iconic figure, her list of accomplishments and jobs go on and on.

Some examples are being a “media executive, an actress, a talk show host, a television producer,

a philanthropist, all while running twenty-four consecutive seasons of her talk show.” ("The

Oprah Winfrey Show", 2019) One could say she has the secrets to success. From starting out as

“Nashville's first African American female co-anchor of the evening news on WTVF-TV”

("Oprah Winfrey Biography", 2019) at only the age of nineteen. Oprah’s career took off in

almost a domino effect because of the skyrocket of ratings after her appearance on the news. She

used the power of her words to take her to where she is now.

Courtney Ferrell has been in the game of motivational speaking for around fifteen years

and has made a name for herself. Her main focus is to “inspire corporations and the people who

run them to embrace change and fuel passion to generate new ideas.” (Multimedia, 2019). I

assume her moment of exigency was her taking the extra step from inspiring corporations to

inspiring people. Even without the long list of accomplishments, her energy has a way of pulling

you into what she is saying.

 Since Oprah was born and raised in Mississippi and African American. In the general

sense, she didn’t have a lot of opportunities coming her way. She was taught how to cook and to

do chores because that was viewed as all her life would imply. But, she told herself, "This will

not be your life. Your life will be more than hanging clothes on a line. I wanted to be a teacher.

And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be." ("Every

Person Has A Purpose", 2019) Her motive to not conform to the traditional role of an African

American female was her driving force.

One of Oprah’s major points is, as she states, “I believe there's a calling for all of us. I

know that every human being has value and purpose. The real work of our lives is to become

aware and awakened, to answer the call,” ("Every Person Has A Purpose", 2019) which plays

back to her own personal motives.

Courtney, the mother of two girls, got her motive from her daughters. Courtney states she

wants, “to make young women feel as big and as valuable as they are.” (Longstreth, and

Longstreth, 2019) It is one of her major points of her TED Talk, “Girl Up: The Secrets to an

Extraordinary Life.”

These two speakers major points are similar. They both talk about value, the value of a

person. These two want their listeners to understand their own value and not to dismiss it. They

embrace the feeling of being empowered. They want to feed their listeners with empowerment,

in hopes they do something to better themselves. Oprah and Courtney want to inspire people to

do better and reach farther to achieve their goals.

 These two women address their audience in different but similar ways. They use many

rhetorical devices. Oprah has a calm, wise, honest tone and vocal presence that makes you stop

for a moment and truly listen and open your eyes to what she is saying. She appeals mostly to

pathos, she has a way of connecting with your emotions. She uses her own personal battles to

help others relate. For example, she admitted to struggling with her weight and had it had always

been a problem for her. Emotionally, almost every human can relate to having a personal battle

with something.

Courtney has an upbeat, fun, fast pace energy to you can’t help but wanting to listen. By

doing this, she draws in your attention and keeps it. She uses repetition to help drill a saying in

your head. Courtney does this for her listeners to remember what she is saying. Courtney appeals

to ethos, logos, and pathos. In her same speech, Girl Up, she talked about being prepared. She

states, “In order to act on your gut feeling, you need to be prepared to get out of a situation.

Practicing what you’re going to say ahead of time, so you don’t just go along with something

you don’t want to do.” (Longstreth, and Longstreth, 2019) That is a logical and ethical point she

made. People always say they know what they would do, but have they ever had to actually do

it? Things aren’t always going to play out as it does in our heads. Courtney also talks about her

life and all the emotional aspects of it. She talks about her ups and downs as a wife, mother and

as a person. Thus, appealing to pathos.

Although both of these speakers have a different presence, they both intrigue your

interest. They have a way to keep pulling their audience in, like using a funny personal story/
experience, or saying exactly what one needs to be told. Also, relating to one as a person. Their

audience is relatively general, but some could argue they favor women more. The reason behind

that, is they relate to other mothers/women with their struggles.

Courtney and Oprah both have a way of persuading/ convincing me. With all the energy

and movement, Courtney brings, it makes me want to get up and go out and do something.

Courtney’s energy is also very similar to mine. I am very energetic and outgoing just like

Courtney, which I feel is why I relate to her very well. On the other hand, Oprah has a calm

presence that reminds me of my mother, which makes me really relaxed and relieved. Oprah

gives me that sense of home and comfort that my mom has. Naturally, I bond with that feeling,

thus, making me relate to her. Even though these two speakers have completely different

personalities, they both have characteristics that relate to me.

I also relate to both these speakers message. Personally, I have struggled with my

confidence and self-esteem. Oprah, just like me, has struggled, but she doesn’t let them limit her.

I want to aspire to have her confidence and follow in her self empowered footsteps. I also, love

Courtney’s Girl Up speech. She talks about the struggles and problems girls face and how to deal

with them. It really inspires me to think about things from a different point of view.

These two speakers are different but are also very similar. They both reach the same type

of viewers/ audience and have similar messages. Their journeys to where they are now are both

compelling and have truly helped formed their motives. Even though their approaches are

different, they both shoot for the same goal and are succeeding.
 Citations:

"Courtney Ferrell At Tedxsmu 2012". Youtube, 2019,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPQiM8cme1Q. Accessed 13 Feb 2019.

"Every Person Has A Purpose". Oprah.Com, 2019, https://www.oprah.com/spirit/how-oprah-

winfrey-found-her-purpose. Accessed 13 Feb 2019.
"Girl Up: The Secrets To An Extraordinary Life | Courtney Ferrell | Tedxrva". Youtube, 2019,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6dnl9srW5k. Accessed 13 Jan 2019.

Longstreth, Jessica, and Jessica Longstreth. "A Message From Courtney Ferrell: Girl Up! -
Deliberate Magazine". Deliberate Magazine, 2019, http://www.deliberatemagazine.com/a-
message-from-courtney-ferrell-girl-up/. Accessed 13 Feb 2019.

Multimedia, CO+LAB. "Courtney Ferrell | Tedxrva". 2015.Tedxrva.Com, 2019,

https://2015.tedxrva.com/speaker/courtney-ferrell/. Accessed 6 Feb 2019.

Oprah.Com, 2019, http://www.oprah.com/app/the-oprah-winfrey-show.html. Accessed 13 Feb 2019.

"Oprah Winfrey Biography - Life, Family, Childhood, Parents, Name, Story, History, School,
Mother, Young". Notablebiographies.Com, 2019, https://www.notablebiographies.com/We-
Z/Winfrey-Oprah.html. Accessed 11 Feb 2019.

"THE Greatest Speech Ever By Oprah Winfrey [YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS]". Youtube, 2019,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkSgxuQrYwY. Accessed 13 Feb 2019.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show". Oprah.Com, 2019, http://www.oprah.com/app/the-oprah-winfrey-

show.html. Accessed 6 Feb 2019.