LIVING PASSIONATELY:
https://www.ted.com/talks/isabelle_allende_how_to_live_passionately_no_matter_your_age
SUMMARY:
This ted talk primarily focuses on how to keep passion in your life despite your age. Isabel Allende opens with discussing the idea of aging. She says that society labels us as old at about 65, and that's when we feel most of our aging. In reality, we are constantly aging, but our minds stay young. She says that aging is all about our attitudes and how we react to it. We must say yes to life and allow ourselves to age and not fight it. It's all about learning to accept things and enjoy life. She says that it takes practice and training. This idea of acceptance isn't easy for everyone, and we must train ourselves for it. She says we must choose to stay engaged in life, not let our age weigh us down.
TACTICS:
Allende uses a variety of pathos and logos to further her ideas. We all experience aging, it's very personal for all of us. She talks about parts of her body "dropping" and how she no longer feels like she is noticed by others. This is something most older women can relate to and feel on an emotional level, creating pathos. Allende also uses humor, like the video of the child meditating. It gets the attention of the audience and engages them, creating more pathos. Allende also gives examples of women she believes to be living passionately; some activists, some average women, which is a pretty large spectrum. This is considered logos, because it's like supporting evidence. "If these women can do it, so can you!" sort of thing going on. I think to give this idea more credibility, Allende could have explained why she thinks they are "living passionately" and how they got there in the first place.
PERSONAL CONNECTION:
This talk is personal to me because of my particular situation: I'm a senior in high school about to graduate, a basic milestone in everyone's life. It shows signs of growing up and entering the real world. So when I was confronted with this idea of aging and living passionately, I was interested. We all want to find purpose in our lives and know how to find passion. As I am entering this new stage in my life, I want to know how I can enter it with passion, and continue to have it forever. That's why I chose this talk.
I really liked the way you highlighted her use of photographs to illustrate (pun intended) her points and to strengthen them. Especially since we as a society put such an emphasis on looking youthful, these photos would have a greater impact on the way people view ageing. The idea that we are aging at all times is one of those concepts that I don't think about very often and then it will catch me off guard. This happen more often right before transitional points in my life (so like right now).
ReplyDeleteFirst, I just read An Tran's blog, and she did hers on the same topic you did. So, I think it is very interesting how you perceived the TED talk versus how she did. You both use Pathos and Logos as your language tools, but use them differently. I like how you make it clear that we are all aging, going through this time period. I also agree with Margaret. The idea of using photos as a way of communicating was a nice touch, and offers different perspectives.
ReplyDeleteGreat connection to the talk!
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