J.K. Rowling speech: “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination”
Rowling’s Speech
J.K Rowling is one of the prominent people who has been able to achieve much success in this world as a result of her personality. She is known for being the author of Harry Potter which is a significant book series. Rowling went to Harvard University and met thousands of young graduates. It is during this occasion that she decided to unleash the speech which has since then been recognized as one of the best speeches ever in Harvard University. The famous “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination” was then dropped at this occasion (Rowling 23).
Rowling did not waste much time giving a monotonous speech but rather preferred to talk about her life which she believed would have some impacts on the society. She asserted that she had turned out to be the biggest failure she had known. She was also living in abject poverty at one time in her life. When she was in college, she had feared to fail so much, but with time she had to accept it. She also taught about how people are separated by imagination. People often imagine something that has been achieved in our minds even if we have not experienced it ourselves. Humans also imagine the emotion the other one is experiencing and try to put themselves in their shoes (Al Harbat, Rima and Khalaf 90).
General Purpose
When doing anything, it is usually crucial to have some purpose to be fulfilled. When giving out a powerful piece of speech, it is usually significant to consider and outline your aim. It will help in ensuring that you are not off the topic thus losing your audience. The main purpose why Rowling did this speech was to ensure that she had conveyed an insight and also explained what had happened to her in life. She uses these related stories to encourage the graduates to do what they want to do in life. It shows that they should conduct their actions and imaginations as they overcome failure (Haqq-Stevens 23).
The Organizational Strategy
Rowling does the speech in a very good organized manner using a clear, direct strategy. She organizes the speech into four parts namely introduction, failure, imagination then she completes with the conclusion. She ensures that this organization is followed in order of the topics so that the graduates can follow keenly. To give more details, she goes on to tell her story, “half my lifetime ago…”.
Credibility of the Speaker
J.K Rowling is someone who is trusted by the students in this institution. Before she begins her speech, it is evident that she is someone who is well known. She is also very sure on what she is saying to these students since it is her life history. She also respects these students a lot and knows that one day they will be great. She wishes all of them success in the future as the best thing and that they should not fear to fail and they should continue with their levels of imagination as a surest key. How she presents herself is also a clear depiction of her credibility (Todd-Meyer 89).
Overall Impact of the Speech
The speech will have some positive impact on the life of many graduates. It will change their life when they join the corporate and business world. The speech encouraged the graduates to conduct their actions and imaginations as they overcome failure. So many lives would be changed if the people would have to put their dreams into reality. Most of the graduates were motivated to face the world more determinedly.
Works Cited
Al Harbat, Rima, and Khalaf Al Saqarat. "The Role of Religious Institutions, Electronic Games, Books, and Educational Stories in the Development of the Child’s Culture from the Perspective of Jordanian Mothers According to Some Variables." International Education Studies
10.4 (2017): 141.
Haqq-Stevens, Elisheba, et al. "New Paths to Professional Nursing: Using Encouragement to Prepare a Minority Workforce to Enter the Nursing Profession." Creative nursing 23.3 (2017): 158-166.
Rowling, J. K. "Text of JK Rowling’s Speech." Harvard Gazette (2008).
Todd-Meyer, Lois M. Lest I forget: Case studies in listening to high school students struggling with academic literacy. Diss. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015.
