Topic > Analysis of Steve Jobs' New Year's Speech at Stanford

In the year 2011, the world lost one of the most successful figures in the high-tech industry: Steve Jobs. He was the creator of Apple, Pixar Animation and NeXT. On Stanford University's 114th commencement day in 2005, he shared his personal anecdotes and urged graduates to pursue their dreams and discover the window of opportunity in life's obstacles, as well as in death itself. In the first line of his speech, Steve Jobs compliments Stanford graduates by immediately appealing to their emotions. “I am honored to be with you today as you graduate from one of the best universities in the world” (Jobs). He then claims that he never graduated from college. He humbles himself a little, making the audience feel very accomplished at the same time. We cannot deny that Steve Job's continued modernization of work with technology has transformed the world permanently. His goal in this speech to encourage students to follow their dreams was expressed very directly and persuasively. Jobs pulled out three stories from his life and used them to illustrate his philosophy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay His first story was about connecting the dots; go after the things you want and by having faith in doing so, everything will come together. “You can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to have faith in something." And this will make the difference. He told his second story in relation to love and loss. In his early years he stumbled upon what he loved to do; It was then, at the age of 20, that Steve truly loved what he did when Apple was born in his parents' garage with Steve Wozniak. Thanks to his hard work, 10 years later, Apple Inc. has grown into a $2 billion company with both and over 4,000 employees. At the age of 30, the release of the first and best Macintosh took place. Meanwhile, Jobs was fired from the company he founded. He compared his emotions to a fallen baton being passed to him. He shared that he still loved what he did and decided to start over. Obstacles are inevitable and will disturb your path, but don't let the loss of confidence take over. There is always good in a bad situation. In his third story, he described his near-death experience. He skillfully connects with his young audience on how to regain success by finding their passion. Here is a part of his speech that really fascinated me. “When I was 17 I read a quote that went more or less: “If you live every day as if it were your last, one day you will definitely be right” (Jobs). This idea of ​​remembering that one of us will soon die has been a huge tool in helping him make the big choices in life. Jobs suffered from a rare form of pancreatic disease that was diagnosed in 2003. He found himself in an extremely hostile situation, but was later prepared to overcome the catastrophe. It is essential to understand the difference between the two types of verbal messages, both denotatively and connotatively, because it allows us to give clear messages while communicating. “The denotative meaning is the literal or dictionary definition of a word. Connotative meaning is the interpretation of a word based on personal experiences.” Steve uses the denotative meaning of the word “beginning.” The dictionary definition of commencement is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred on graduating students. Also used as a denotative meaning is the word “death”. Steve uses the.