Quotations and Serial Killers

A couple of classes ago we discussed the structure of a speech. One component of the speech is the introduction, which requires an Attention Getter, that is, something to capture the attention of your audience. One possible Attention Getter is the often-used quotation. Why do so many people like quotations? Well, they are things said by famous people (usually), and we generally tend to like famous people. But let's turn our attention to quotes that are not necessarily geared towards public speaking.

I am a particular fan of quotations, but not only the kind that comes from famous people. I also like the ones said by the wisest of all people – Anonymous.
Now, Anonymous has said some very interesting, engaging, inspirational, funny, poignant, and just about every other possible adjective, thing out there. In fact, I like quotations so much, that it is listed as one of my interests on this little thing called Stumble Upon (which really is the bane of my existence because it eats up so much of my time that I could possibly have invested in doing homework, for instance, or other useful activities).

Here is but a small collection of some interesting quotes.

I think this last one is my favorite.

So, rhetorical analysis time! What is it about these quotes that we find so inspiring? Let's take this one as an example.

Now, this quote makes me happy. Why? Well, I'm a generally happy person and messages that tell me to be happy just make me more so. And what about the appearance of the quote itself? It's kind of an ad that way, I guess. The way it is visually constructed also contributes to how the quote is perceived. I won't lie, my first impression of this was a serial killer letter comprised of letters cut out from a magazine. In fact, it made me laugh that such an inspirational and “life loving” message would come in a serial killer format. But if we disregard this particular interpretation, we can focus on a more positive one.

Every single letter of this quote is a photo of a letter somewhere out in the world. They are generally bright or somehow upbeat, making the reader/viewer aware that there is lots of happiness out there in the world, where all the letters can be found if they only looked hard enough. So perhaps that what we should do. Let's all listen to the message of this compilation of happy letters and experience every day with joy and anticipation, even for the little things that make us happy in life.