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Sarah Proulx

ENGL 1302.08

Professor Moore

8 February 2017

Sandra Bullocks Appreciation of The People

Sandra Bullock presented a speech when she was acknowledged for an Oscar Award for

best actress in a leading role for the movie The Blind Side where she played Mrs. Tuohy, the

mother. The speech was given March 7, 2010 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Sandra Bullocks main reason as to why she gave this speech is because she was nominated for an

astounding award. When given that award she was not obligated to make a speech, but she

appreciated everyone and their hard work so she wanted to make it known. Sandra Bullock uses

ethos, pathos, and logos in her 2010 Oscar acceptance speech to convey her sincerity of gratitude

for those who have taught her life lessons and helped her through her career.

Sandra Bullock uses ethos in her speech to not only thank the audience, but also to help

the flow of her speech when talking about her beliefs and ideals. Sandra Bullock announces, I

have so many people to thank for my good fortune in this lifetimeI, in particular, failed to

thank one. If I can take this moment to thank Helga B. (par. 4,7). Bullock thanked many people

the night of her speech but Helga B, which was her mother, made a vast impact on her. Bullock

acknowledged the Tuohy family for being able to play them in the movie, to the family who

made the film, to the actors John Lee Hancock, Gil Netter, Alcon and the Warner Brothers in

paragraph four for being in the film and for many other close people who supported her through

this journey. She thanked these people here because they made a huge impact on her. Bullock
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wanted these people to be recognized by her and to know how appreciated she is of their help.

Bullock also had a caring and supportive mother, Helga B, So, if I can take this moment to

thank Helga B for not letting me ride in cars with boys til I was 18, because she was right. I

would have done what she said I was going to do. (par.7). Sandra Bullock brought this up to

show her strong beliefs on how people should obey their parents, because parents are always

right. Ethos brought the speech together by helping her approach her beliefs and also

acknowledging how grateful she is for those who were always there for her.

Sandra Bullock used pathos to help bring her point across by using her words to make a

connection to the audience. Bullock told a story about her life and what Helga B reiterated to her.

In the story, Helga B stated to Bullock that theres no race, no religion, no class system, no

color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving

of love. (par. 7). By Bullock mentioning what Helga B used to say to her when she was growing

up gave a good idea to the audience about Sandra Bullocks background as a child. Talking about

her background also helped Bullock get a better connection between her and the audience. The

audience will feel like they know Bullock better and be able to emotionally understand what she

is trying to say and also understand how sincerely grateful she is for everyone. Pathos

strengthened her speech, making it more meaningful and thoughtful.

Logos helped Bullock with her speech because she was able to persuade people with why

she was so thankful for them by giving numerous examples of what they did for her to appreciate

them. While thanking many people in her speech she also gave reasons as to why she was

thanking them. The first thing Bullock stated in her speech was, I would like to thank the

Academy for allowing me in the last month to have the most incredible ride with rooms full of

artist that I see tonight (par. 2). The Academy is the whole Oscar Awards and the people who
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run it, so it was very nice of Bullock recognize them for putting on this whole ceremony. She

said this so she can show the Academy and people working it how appreciated all their time and

hard work is. Bullock also thanked a few other friends, Gabby, I love you so much. You are

exquisite. You are beyond words to me. Carey, your grace and your elegance and your beauty

and your talent makes me sick. Helen, I I feel like we are family through family and I I dont

have the words to express just what I think of you. (par. 3). Thanking people and letting them

know how much people appreciate what they do will make them feel good about themselves.

Also, when thanking people, they see how much of what they do means to the person and will

keep on doing the actions that satisfy the other person. Sandra Bullock said all those pleasant

things about those people to show how much she appreciates them and to let them know how

thankful she is that they are in her life. Bullock also made a point to not leave anyone out in her

acceptance speech. She thanked everyone, from the people in charge of the Academy, to the

audience and then her closest family and friends. By not leaving anyone out she is making

everyone know how much she appreciates them. Bullock used logos in her speech because she

wanted to be straight forward with what she was saying, and also let the audience and people she

was thanking to think on their own and let them determine how they feel about the situation.

Sandra Bullock captured the audiences attention and was able to properly acknowledge

them through her speech while using ethos, pathos, and logos. Bullock used ethos to guide her

into recognizing everyone who has helped her. Pathos was used so she could have an emotional

effect on people through what she was saying. Lastly, logos was used to help her with the

information she wanted to talk about so that in a way she can convince them how much she

appreciates them. Sandra Bullock using these three main points has helped her catch the

audiences attention and get her point across.

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Works Cited

Bullock, Sandra. Oscar Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Acceptance Speech.

American Rhetoric Online Speech Bank. Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles. 7 March 2010.