Bill Cosby- Pound Cake Speech Essay - 1196 Words

An Emotional Uprising The Pound Cake Speech was given by Bill Cosby in May 2004, at an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. In this speech, Cosby was highly critical of some members and subsets of the African American community in the United States. He criticized the use of African American dialect, the prevalence of single-parent families, the emphasis on material gain at the expense of necessities, and various other social behaviors. Bill Cosby was effective in his speech because he combined a humorous approach with an emotional and logical appeal, that kept his audience engaged and interested in his speech. In this speech, Bill Cosby appealed to the pathos or, the†¦show more content†¦I wanted a piece of pound cake just as bad as anybody else (laughter) And I looked at it and I had no money. And something called parenting said, if you get caught with it you’re going to embarrass your mother. Not you’re going to get your butt kicked. No. You’re going to embarrass your family. (Cosby Par. 9) This greatly engages the audience in because Cosby knows that his audience likes humor. He uses his well known, classic, sense of humor and voice to tell a story that the audience responds to with laughter and applause. This is Cosby’s most effective form of appeal. Bill Cosby’s stereotypical humor gives his audience not only something to think about, but also a chance to laugh at a major issue we have today. Bill Cosby also does an excellent job appealing to the audience’s sense of logic, or logos. He appealed to the audience’s logic with ease because he easily related to his audience. He knew how his audience portrayed the world and how they thought about the issues of our nation. Cosby knows his audience is educated and speaks to them with language that they can understand and relate to. He appeals to their logic well in the eighth paragraph of his speech. â€Å"Fifty percent dropout rate, I’m telling you, and people in jail, and women having children by five, six different men. Under what excuse? I want somebody to love me. And as soon as you have it, you forget to parent. Grandmother, mother, and great grandmother in the same room,Show MoreRelatedBill Cosby1949 Words   |  8 PagesBILL COSBY William Henry Bill Cosby, Jr.  (born July 12, 1937) is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, and then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show,  I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the  situation comedy  The Bill Cosby Show, in 1969. He was one of the major characters on the  childrens television  series  The Electric Company  for its first two seasons, and created