Viola Davis and Tom Hanks Commencement Speeches Compared
This paper compares and contrasts two commencement addresses delivered by well-known actors: Viola Davis's 2012 speech and Tom Hanks's 2005 speech. Despite sharing the same occasion and profession, the two speakers took dramatically different approaches. Hanks built his speech around a single, accessible metaphor — the "power of four" — channeling it into a call for collective action through the word "help." Davis, by contrast, offered a deeply personal and philosophical address urging graduates to discover their purpose and resist societal pressures. The paper examines both speakers' rhetorical techniques, thematic choices, delivery styles, and overall effectiveness.
- Introduction: Two Actors, Two Approaches: Context and overview of both speakers
- Tom Hanks: The Power of Four and the Word 'Help': Hanks's traffic metaphor and call to help
- Viola Davis: Self-Discovery and Inner Demons: Davis's personal, philosophical approach to purpose
- Rhetorical Style and Delivery: Diction, presence, and emphasis compared
- Thematic Differences and Deeper Messages: Saving the world versus saving oneself
- Overall Effectiveness and Conclusion: Evaluating clarity, impact, and closing messages
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper uses a clear compare-and-contrast structure, examining each speaker individually before drawing direct comparisons — a sound organizational choice for this type of rhetorical analysis.
- Direct quotations from both speeches are used throughout to ground observations in evidence rather than relying on vague generalization.
- The paper goes beyond surface description to evaluate effectiveness, noting that Hanks's simplicity made his message easier to follow, while Davis's philosophical approach sometimes obscured her central point.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates basic rhetorical analysis by identifying the central metaphors each speaker employs — Hanks's "power of four" and Davis's imagery from The Exorcist — and tracing how those metaphors carry each speech's argument. This technique shows how figurative language shapes persuasive effect in public address.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by introducing both speakers and their context, then devotes individual sections to each speaker's theme before moving into direct comparison. The comparative section examines delivery, rhetorical choices, thematic depth, and personal versus universal messaging. The paper closes with an evaluative judgment on overall effectiveness. The structure is straightforward and appropriate for a short analytical essay at the introductory undergraduate level.
Introduction: Two Actors, Two Approaches
The two speeches compared and contrasted in this paper were both delivered by actors. Viola Davis gave a commencement address in 2012, and Tom Hanks gave his commencement speech in 2005. While both are accomplished actors who chose to speak to college graduates, their remarks were vastly different in style and substance.
Tom Hanks: The Power of Four and the Word 'Help'
Tom Hanks began his speech — after a brief joke about the length of his introduction — by referencing an article he had recently read about gridlock on Southern California freeways. He reported that "some smart folks" had run a computer simulation to determine how many cars would need to be removed from a traffic jam to restore the flow of traffic. The finding: if just four cars out of every hundred, or forty cars out of every thousand, were removed, traffic would move smoothly again.
Hanks said nothing about himself or his career. Instead, he found his central metaphor in that number — four. From there, he pivoted to another four-letter word: "help." He emphasized that just four people can change a commute, then extended the metaphor: four musicians from Northern England — John, Paul, George, and Ringo — changed the world. "Take the power of four and apply it to any and every area of your concern," he said. The four-letter word he returned to for the remainder of his speech was H-E-L-P.
Works Cited
Davis, Viola. (2012). Viola Davis gives commencement address. YouTube. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
Hanks, Tom. (2005). Tom Hanks: "The Power of Four" speech / commencement address. YouTube. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
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