Striving to find the Spark by Keyra

Striving to find the Spark by Keyra - February 2025 Scholarship Essay

It was a typical afternoon at school, during English class. I was astonished by the power that literature holds. In my previous years at school the aspect of learning literature, and how to speak properly didn't fill my interest. It wasn't until that day, that I couldn't shift my focus to anything else but the lesson that my teacher was giving. Ms. Garcia, my AP English teacher, showed us a video of a Nike Ad playing a tribute to Kobe Bryant, of his hard work, and strong dedication to basketball. This commercial included short clips of other famous sports figures and citizens with a voice over constantly repeating the word, “better.” The repetition of this word was to convey a message of hard work, and becoming a better version of yourself each day. This all tied back to the lesson being taught of rhetorical situations. Rhetorical situations mean identifying who your audience is, the context of a text, the topic, and most importantly the word choice that you decide to include in a speech, article, text video, etc to get your message across.
The commercial did a great job of incorporating rhetorical devices, by appealing to pathos, by evoking emotion in the audience, with the voice-over and the legendary figures they used to motivate us. It may have been a short one-minute video, but it obtained its goal, in portraying its message clearly, and directly. Despite it being a short one-minute video, I was touched by the heartfelt message of motivation and perseverance that it conveyed. When we are educated in using these literary devices properly, it strengthens the message and purpose that we intend to portray to our audience.
Little did I know that this day would have contributed to my intellectual curiosity. After recognizing how much influence literary devices hold, I learned that it contributes to the way I express myself and how I perform in life. My eagerness to pursue a higher education and to keep on reaching my educational goals has increased. I cannot wait to see all the opportunities that I will encounter, and how much educational intelligence I will gain in the future.