Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech

The purpose of Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech is to give the students at the University of the Arts advice. He encourages the student to live life and to do what gives them joy.  The main point he makes is to inspire them to make good art.

Act: a commencement speech

Purpose: to inspire the graduates students to make good art.

Scene: a graduation ceremony at the University of the Arts

Agent: Neil Gaiman, a writer and artist

Agency: Gaiman speaking to the graduates.

The significant ratio that I found was between agent/purpose. Neil Gaiman is a known artist and writer. He is a credible speaker who has lived his life and pursued his dreams, the same thing he is inspiring the students at the University to do. The students are able to understand his point of view and take in what he is trying to tell them. 

Make good art.

The purpose of this commencement speech was to give the graduating class advice about making art in the real world. The main point of the speech was make good art. He stressed that a lot during his speech and it was the last words he said at the end. The agency of the speech was only through speaking, there was no other visuals. The agent of the speech was Neil Gaiman, a fiction writer and comic. What is he was going, the act, was a commencement speech and the scene was at a University for the arts. This purpose of the speech was to tell the audience everything he’d wish he’d known starting out, a few things he did know, and the best piece of advice he’d ever gotten. In the speech he said, go do what you want, don’t do things for money, make mistakes, make good art, make your art and enjoy yourself.

            I think a very important ratio in the dramatistic pentad is the relationship between scene and purpose. This speech would only would for very few audiences because it is extremely specific to the arts and to young people. Even if this speech were given at a convention to an older group of authors, it wouldn’t be quite appropriate for their stage in life. This speech would definitely not be appropriate for a military school commencement. This speech is so successful because of the scene going perfectly with the purpose. The act and the purpose also go together because giving advice is appropriate for a commencement speech. I really enjoyed the little bits of humor and his advice to make good art. 

Not Just Another Graduation Speech

Agent: Neil Gaiman

Agency: A direct speech from a podium

Act: Directly addressed the graduates

Scene: Commencement Ceremony for The University of the Arts Class of 2012

The Purpose: Inspire the graduating class to pursue their dreams

As aforementioned, the purpose of this speech was to inspire the graduating class to pursue their dreams. The main point Gaiman made was that life is tough and unpredictable, but you have to continue to pursue your dreams. In the pursuit of your dreams, you must also do something that you love and strive to do it well. The purpose of the speech seems to be broader while the main point focuses in on one-two tag lines for the graduates to remember. 

Although there were several ratios in the speech, I think the two most effective were the agent/purpose and scene/agency. 

Gaiman is an artist and has written many books and comics. He has pursued his passion, which is something that a lot of people give up on when times get tough. Because of Gaiman’s success, he is able to confidently and passionately convey the purpose of this speech. He is not telling these graduates to chase their dreams even though he did not. Instead, he is a real-life example of what it looks like to chase your dreams and to do what you love. The graduates can relate to him and trust what he is saying. In addition, he tells that graduates that they need to be good artists (they need to do what they love and do it well). Clearly, Gaiman does what he loves and he has done it well. The purpose of Gaiman’s speech is to inspire, but he is an inspiration as well.

The other strong ratio is scene and the agency. Usually, when I think of graduation speakers, I think of boring people who say things that no one remembers when they leave the building. Gaiman, being an artist, made his speech interesting and captivating. Although the act was a speech from a podium (just like any other graduation speech), Gaiman utilized the excitement (for graduation) in his audience to really drive home the idea of passion and excitement for the arts. He did this through humor and inspiring words. Most graduation speeches end up being a podium speech, but Gaiman’s truly was a motivational speech, which is why this agency/scene ration is so strong.  

Neil Gaiman

This commencement speech set out to inspire the graduates to find careers that made them happy. He suggests that it does not matter exactly what you do, as long as it is good art. He supports his purpose by stating that you cannot plan your life, so there is no point in trying.  

Scene: University of the Arts graduation

Act: Commencement Speech

Agent: Neil Gaiman

Agency: Addressing the graduates

I believe that there is a very important relationship in this speech is the connection between purpose and agent. Because he is an artist himself, his listeners are persuaded to believe his message. The very high level of self-disclosure allows for his listeners to understand that he only did what made him happy. Without this strong relationship, this speech would not be persuasive at all.

Gaiman Commencement Speech

Neil Gaiman’s Commencement speech’s main point that came across was for the graduates to simply make good art and enjoy themselves in the process. One should make art for themselves, not for money. The agent of this speech was Neil Gaiman, an accomplished artist, which is fitting for the scene of the 2012 Graduation of the University of the Arts. The purpose of the speech was to inspire the graduates. He challenged them to follow their passion, whatever path that may be and to expect both failures and successes. Overall he wanted to encourage them to follow their dreams and to make mistakes along the way to learn and grow. The agency used was humor as well as personal experience. He made himself relatable by telling stories about his personal failures and his own paths. The act was addressing this graduation class through a speech inspired by his creative experiences.
    One ratio I found important was that between the purpose and the scene. Commencement speeches are always meant to inspire that class to do something great and that is exactly what he did. He encouraged these graduates to go out and make great art. Another important ratio is the agent and the agency. Gaiman is a respected and influential writer, so through the agency of hearing his personal stories, he can inspire others. He used humor and his own creativity to establish himself as a credible speaker and entertain the graduates.

Neil Gaiman Commencement Speech

The purpose of Neil Gaiman's commencement speech was to inspire the students at the University of the Arts to do what makes them happy in their careers after college. He tells them that they career they choose can be anything they want as long as they are making good art.

His main point is that life is unpredictable and there is no point in really having a plan because you cannot plan your life. Just do what makes you happy and do it well.

Act: commencement speech
Agent: Neil Gaiman
Agency: addressing the class
Scene: University of the Arts graduation ceremony

The agent and the purpose for me were very related. Neil Gaiman is a very successful man and writer so he has the ethos to talk to the graduates about how to succeed in the arts or whatever field they choose.

Neil Gaiman

Purpose/Main point
His purpose was to encourage the graduates to make good art.
His main point was that life can be tough, but you must keep going.

Dramatistic Pentad
The purpose was too encourage the graduates to make good art.
The act was addressing the graduates.  
The scene was the graduation ceremony for the University of the Arts.
For agency, Gaiman simply stood and spoke to the graduating class. 
The agent was Neil Gaiman, a renowned writer.

Significant ratios
Agent/Purpose - As a renowned writer himself, he was able to speak from personal experience.  
Agent/Scene - As a renowned writer, he had already done what he was inspiring them to do...giving him credibility and making it believable that they could actually do what he said they could do. 

Neil Gaiman Commencement Speech

The purpose of Gaiman’s speech was to inspire the students at the University of the Arts.  His main point was for them to pursue what truly makes them happy rather than searching for money and not noticing all the wonderful things around them.  His main point was for them to go out into the world and “make good art.”

Act: Giving advice to the graduates at the University of the Arts

Purpose:  To inspire the graduates to do what they are most happy with, regardless of how frequently        someone may question their work.

Agent:  Neil Gaiman

Agency: Speech given through genuine feelings and humor

Scene: Graduation ceremony at the University of the Arts

The most significant ratio of Burke’s dramatistic pentad I found was between agent and scene.  Although Mr. Gaiman never attended a university, he was able to connect with his audience through personal experience and knowledge of the field most of the graduates were entering.  The point he was trying to get across to the student was not to waist fourteen years of their lives worrying about money but rather enjoy what they do for a living and be happy with the work they create.  Having the ability to connect with the students with advice that Mr. Gaiman wished he had taken would help carry the graduates at the University of the Arts into the real world.

Neil Gaiman Commencement Speech

The purpose of Neil Gaiman’s Commencement speech at the University of the Arts was to inspire the graduating class of 2012 to simply follow their dreams and pursue what they want from life despite all the difficulties.  The main point of the speech is that life is hard and sometimes things go wrong, but if you keep trying and do your best it’s all worth it in the end.

Act: Being an artist is difficult, but it’s worth it.

Agent: Neil Gaiman

Agency: Commencement speech

Scene: University of the Arts 2012

Purpose: To inspire graduating students to keep pursuing art, no matter how hard it gets

I believe the purpose and the agent were significantly connected.  Neil Gaiman was a very good choice to give this speech, since he is a writer and he has been in the shoes of those graduating students; although he said he never attended university, he knows what it was like to be a young artist who didn’t really know what he was doing.  He had many personal accounts and stories to help the students relate to him; he also offered a great amount of advice to help them on their way to becoming successful artists.  The purpose and the scene had a very important ratio as well.  This speech was received by a large group of graduating young artists, about to start pursuing their careers.  These graduates needed advice and Neil Gaiman knew this, and he provided many useful life lessons and tips.

Neil Gaiman Commencement Address

I believe that the purpose of this speech was for Gaiman to inspire, and give words of encouragement to the graduates of The University of Arts. He wanted to share his experiences with the graduates and share with them guiding words. I think his main point was that life is full of surprises. You never really know what's going to happen next so you might as well make the most out of everything. Keep doing what you love, produce art, write, make music, do anything that you are passionate about.

The act of this is a graduation speech; the agent is Neil Gaiman; agency is standing at a podium addressing the graduating class; the scene is The University of Arts 2012 graduation ceremony; the purpose was to give the students words of wisdom and inspire them to chase their dreams.

The scene and the agency ratio was one that really caught my eye. Usually when I think of speeches given at podiums I ususally think of boring and maybe not that interesting. This was definitely not the case. Even though Gaiman was standing at a podium and addressing an audience of young adults, he did a fantastic job. He was so uplifting and cheerful that it was hard not to fall in love with him. His words were straight from the heart and he did such a wonderful job of keeping everybody engaged. Keeping your audience engaged can be hard to do when standing at a podium which goes to show how strong that ratio really was.

Neil Gaiman was the perfect man for this speech and because of that I want to highlight on the agent and purpose ratio. Gaiman has gone out into this world and not only chased, but accomplished many of this dreams. He does what he really loves and wants others to feel the passion that he does. He wants these graduating students to go out into the world and be part of something that they are passionate about. I especially loved when he told the students to "make good art" no matter how tough the journey gets. This was a really inspiring speech that I wish I could hear at my graduation!

Neil Gaiman Commencement Speech

Act: Commencement speech at University of the Arts
Agent: Neil Gaiman
Purpose: to give the graduating students advice and inspire them to enjoy what they do
Scene: University commencement, some kind of auditorium, speaking to students and professors
Agency: standing at a podium and speaking into a microphone


I really enjoyed this speech and noticed many ratios between the act, purpose, agent, scene, and agency.  The two I chose to focus on are the ratio between purpose and agent and between scene and agency.
Neil Gaiman was an appropriate agent for this speech because he is a successful artist. He has written many well-known books, movies, and comics.  Mr. Gaiman has experience in the art world and knows what it takes to make a name for oneself.  His being an artist connected with his purpose because the purpose of his speech was to give advice to and inspire graduating art students.  He has the proper ethos to give this advice.  Gaiman tells the students to "make good art" no matter how tough life gets.  He knew what it was like to be a struggling artist just starting out trying to balance enjoying his job and making enough money.
The other ratio I wanted to mention was the one between scene and agency.  The scene of this speech was the University of the Arts and his audience was graduating students and their professors.  This relates to the agency because he was speaking at a podium with a microphone.  That set up is typical for this kind of speech.  Even though Gaiman was restricted to a podium he used facial expressions and gestures to enhance his speech.  He also used humor to make the speech engaging.

Graduate Address

I think that in this speech the main point and the purpose are basically the same, but vary slightly. The purpose of any speech can encompass a main point. The purpose of Neil Gaiman’s speech was to share words of wisdom with the graduating class of The University of the Arts. The main point within this purpose was that the real world is unexpected. Sometimes you cannot know what to expect, but you have to strive to produce good art and enjoy the ride. When diagramming Gaiman’s speech in the dramatistic pentad the act would be a graduation speech. The next point in the pentad, the agent, would be Neil Gaiman. The agency would be standing and addressing the graduating class. The scene would be the University of the Arts 2012 graduation ceremony. The purpose of the speech once again would be to share words of wisdom with graduates. The most important connector in this speech would be the agent and the purpose. The purpose in this speech is so much more meaningful because of the experience, talent and understanding of the man who is presenting the speech. Without an important agent the purpose of this speech could be lost. Another important connector would be the purpose and the scene. The speech centered around “making it” in the world of the arts. It would be appropriate to address the graduating class at the University of the Arts. The connection between the scene and the agency can be made as well. At a formal graduation you expect that a speaker with get up and speak with this same style and demeanor. 

Neil Gaiman pentad

The purpose of this speech is to inspire graduates to do something they love with their life and let them know it is ok to make mistakes. The purpose was also to give advice that they should follow during their futures. The main point of the speech was to make good art. Neil said that if these students focused on making good art, they would be happy and things would fall into place.

            The agent in this speech was Neil Gaiman, a famous successful writer. The purpose was to give artists advice to live by for the rest of their lives based on mistakes he had made and experiences he had. The scene was at a graduation ceremony for the School of the Arts, which is important because he is a credible speaker that these students look up to and has made a success living in the arts. He used humor at some points to get his points across but also he wrote the speech very well because he is a professional writer and I could tell by the way the speech came out. He also split up the speech into parts and gave different pieces of advice which all had separate stories. The act was that he had a lifetime of experience that he wanted to share with these new graduates.

            I think the connection between the purpose and the agent was really important. Since he was so credible and such a great example of a successful man of the arts, the students really took into heart what he was saying. The connection between the agent and the scene was important as well because he was speaking to a lot of hopeful students that wished to be as successful as he was with his profession. He had lots of advice and experiences to share with this specific crowd.