John Godinez
Erin Rogers
Writing 1010
25 January 2019
We all know him for his funny jokes and wild sense of humor or from watching his
comedy movies. I am talking about the famous Jim Carrey an actor, comedian, and painter ect.
On May 24th, 2014 Jim Carrey went out and spoke to Maharishi University of Management
(MUM) and gave out an inspirational speech to the graduates of class 2014. A speech that
motivated the upcoming faces of the future, a speech that they will forever remember. Jim carrey
encourage the graduates to always look forward and to never look back, because there is nothing
behind you all that exist is what’s ahead. To never let fear get in your path of success and to
always chose love over fear. Jim Carreys main point of his speech is to inspire people to follow
their dreams and to not let fear stop them from achieving their goals in life. For this essay I will
be exploring how Jim Carrey uses ethos, logos, and pathos in his Commencement Speech.
“I am here to plant a seed that will inspire you to move forward in life with enthusiastic hearts
and a clear sense of wholeness.” This quote from Jim Carrey’s speech is ethos because he’s
bringing up the subject that he is trying to communicate to his audience. Jim Carrey isn’t
focusing on himself but more on his audience. Filling there hearts with words that will inspire
there playful hearts making them feel unbreakable, ready to take on the World. Giving them the
seed of inspiration for them to walk strong into reality filled with joy. Planting that very seed that
will have a chance to take root and throughout time grow into a flower but in order for that seed
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to bloom into a flower it will need light to shine down on it for it to be filled with beauty. “Your
need for acceptance can make you invisible in this World. Don’t let anything stand in the way of
the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory”. This quote is ethos
as well because the speaker seems to know a lot about the difference between love and fear
which gives his listeners a sense that he is knowledgeable on the topic he’s talking about and it
gives his audience a feeling of honesty, which makes him be more focus on the audience and not
himself. He fills in his audience with mindful of reality and risks we should take in life, that we
they shouldn't let fear get in the way of their glory that shines bright.
“Your job is not to figure out how it’s going to happen for you, but to open the door in
your head and when the doors open in real life, just walk through it. Don’t worry if you miss
your cue. There will always be another door opening. They keep opening”. This quote is logos
because Jim Carrey is giving the audience a fact about life. Giving a sense to his audience by
telling them a life lesson that being before they walk through any door to first open the door in
their minds, to first figure out what they want to do with their lives and when the time comes to
walk through those doors. If they miss those chance they shouldn’t worry about it because there
will always be new doors opening later in life since opportunities take time to come. To take
risks in the game of life and to take every of those chances you get. Not to wait for others to open
your own door but to open the doors you wish to walk through, and if your curious of what’s
behind that door that stands in front of you to take that chance of opening it. And to never hold
back on achieving your dreams that await for you. But what makes Jim Carrey logic believable is
his personal experience, Jim Carrey has opened many doors throughout his life and has missed
some big opportunities but that never concerned him since he knew that there will be even bigger
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opportunities later in his life. Jim Carrey sometimes wonders where he would be if he never took
the chances of opening doors that came his way. What’s behind that other door is a blank canvas
waiting to be dyed with a variety of colors. “You are the vanguard of knowledge and
consciousness; a new wave in a vast ocean of possibilities. On the other side of that door, there is
a World starving for new leadership, new ideas”. This quote is logos as well because Jim Carrey
is backing up his other quote that was given above, saying that if you aren't positive of what lies
on the other side of every door that it’s a World filled with new ideas and opportunities. Jim
Carrey is telling the audience that they step through the doors not knowing what’s going to be
on the other side but what’s on that other side is everything. Soon to be leaders of the future once
they walk through the doors of reality, and to be aware over their surrounding in order to seek
new ideas. For that place to be filled with creativity, love, and faith.
“You are ready and able to do beautiful things in this World and after you walk through
those doors today, you will only ever have two choices: love or fear. Choose love, and don’t ever
let fear turn you against your playful heart”. The reason the statement above is considered pathos
is it includes emotion. It includes the words; love and fear both which are words that describe
emotion. The statement above almost enhances the reader to almost imagine the choice. This is
possible since people have experience fear and love at some point in their life; assuming that
they have. It makes the reader think of both emotions, a certain scene pops into their heads
making them visualize how love and fear feel. It plays with their feelings making them think of
what would happen if they were to choose fear over love. Jim Carrey touches his readers hearts
by filling them with confidence, telling them that they are ready to take on the World. “fear is
going to be a player in your life, but you get to decide how much. You can spend your whole life
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imagining ghosts, worrying about your pathway to the future, but all there will ever be is what’s
happening here, and the decisions we make in this moment, which are based in either love or
fear”. This quote would also be considered pathos because Jim Carrey gives a positive feeling
towards his audience saying that every decisions we make in this every moment will be base on
love or fear but we are the ones that get to choose which one. Jim Carrey makes the audience feel
the same way as him, knowing that we as human beings worry about our own pathways to the
future.
I have given examples of how Jim Carrey used ethos, logos, and pathos in his
Commencement Speech and explained why they would be considered ethos, logos or pathos. For
ethos I gave examples of how Jim Carrey used credibility to bring up the subject that he was
communicating to his audience, which is all about not letting fear rule your life. Another thing is
that Jim Carrey doesn’t put himself first but puts his audience before him. He gives a lot of
information on a topic that he well knows about since he has had personal experience with. For
logos Jim Carrey is every reasonable with the audience by being in a well structured position to
remind the audience that anything can be achieved. Giving them a logical sense of reality and
about their choices they make that every moment will either be based on love or fear. His logic is
so clear that you get a vivid image in your head that image being a door and seeing yourself walk
through it. Now for pathos involved plenty of emotion, Jim Carrey used emotion in the quotes
given. He touched the audience hearts by using emotions such as love and fear, these two
emotions give a positive feeling to the audience. Another thing was that the Jim Carrey made a
connection with his audience by sharing the same emotions as them. Jim Carrey used all three of
those devices in his Commencement Speech in order to send that message to his audience.
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