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Besar Sinani

Mrs. Cox

Advanced Comp

12 Sep 2022

Matthew McConaughey: To make the loss of these lives matter

On June 7, 2022, at the White House, Matthew McConaughey gave a heartfelt speech to

commemorate the innocent people who lost their lives at the tragic Robb elementary school

shooting. The speech shares vast stories about the people who lost their lives on that day as a

means of honoring their legacy. Mr. McConaughey outlines the horrific events that occurred on

that very day and urges his audience to take his side on reforming gun control. McConaughey

uses the techniques of anecdotes, rhetorical questions, hypophoras, and anaphoras to engage the

audience, allow the crowd to think, make the audience realize the severity of the situation, and

persuade them to move to action.

On May 24, 2022 Robb Elementary School was faced with a school shooting. 19 kids and

2 teachers lost their lives that day. The culprit was an 18 year old male named Salvador Ramos.

Ramos shot his grandma earlier that morning. At around 11am in the morning a report was made

about Salvador being outside of the school. Gunshots were later fired. Officers arrived but sadly

did not enter the building until a devastating hour had passed. An hour that could have made a

difference between a kid living and not. Throughout his speech McConaughey speaks about the

wonderful lives the victims lived. He then shows how fast and gruesomely they were taken away.

The audience members are urged through the speech to make sure that these victims are

remembered and something like this never happens again.

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To begin, Matthew McConaughey uses an anecdote to kick off his speech. For instance,

“Uvalde, Texas, is where I was born. It’s where my mom taught kindergarten less than a mile

from Robb Elementary. Uvalde is where I learned to master a Daisy BB gun” (McConaughey).

When this anecdote is used it allows the audience to sense Matthew’s personal tie to this issue.

The audience feels his connection and sincerity. As soon as it is explained that this same town is

where one kid learned to shoot a BB gun and another learned to shoot up a school the audience

immediately becomes engaged with the story because of such a drastic comparison.

McConaughey doesn’t mention the shooter yet, however the thought already becomes implanted

in the audience’s consciousness. This allows the audience to think how in the world could such a

tragedy happen when kids once grew up here learning to shoot BB guns, but now they are

shooting up schools.

To continue, Matthew McConaughey uses rhetorical questions to allow the crowd to

think. For example, “Can both sides rise above? Can both sides see beyond the political problem

at hand and admit that we have a life preservation problem on our hands?” (McConaughey).

Here Matthew McConaughey talks about the struggle between Democrats and Republicans. He

questions their ability to come together. Also, a question emerges. The question of can both

parties come together for stricter gun laws. Immediately the crowd formulates an answer to the

question in their mind. This allows the audience to search for solutions and be curious as to what

the speaker will say next. When a rhetorical question is posed it allows for thought, problem

solving, and curiosity to become involved with the situation at hand. By using a rhetorical

question the audience is more likely to think of solutions and actually become interested in what

the speaker has to say.

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Additionally, Matthew McConaughey uses hyphoras to make the audience realize the

severity of the situation. A hypophora is the act of asking a question and answering it. To

illustrate, “They needed extensive restoration. Why? Due to the exceptionally large exit wound

of an AR-15 rifle. Most of the bodies so mutilated that only DNA tests or green Converse could

identify them” (McConaughey). Here Matthew McConaughey poses a question and then answers

it. When he answers the question it is with shocking details. The fact is gut wrenching and

bloodcurdling. The audience hears this answer to a horrific question and realizes how serious this

problem of guns is. When the speaker describes something in such a way like Matthew

McConaughey did it is impossible for the audience to not think to themselves about how bad this

problem is getting. People most likely don’t expect such a shocking answer when the question is

posed, however would be more than shocked when the answer is provided.

Finally, Matthew McConaughey uses anaphoras to persuade the audience to move to

action. An anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a line with the

purpose of adding meaning to the phrase. Such as, “We start by making laws that save innocent

lives…We start right now by voting to pass policies….We start by giving Alithia the chance to

be spoiled by her dad….We start by giving Maite a chance to become a marine biologist” (

McConaughey). Anaphoras allow for a repetitive sequence of words to be repeated to a point

where they almost get stuck in a person’s mind. When McConaughey uses these phrases it

allows him to connect one on one with the audience and sort of tell them what to do. It is almost

demanding. These phrases are heard along with inspirational details that allow for a spark to be
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ignited into the crowd’s heart. The crowd hears of these amazing lives that were so tragically and

abruptly ruined and are inspired to make sure that it doesn’t happen to any others.

As demonstrated, Matthew McConaughey takes advantage of anecdotes, rhetorical

questions, hypophoras, and anaphoras to engage the audience, allow the crowd to think, make the

audience realize the severity of the situation, and persuade them to move to action. This engages

readers from the beginning and keeps them engaged. Not only does this speech touch one's heart

but inspires them to act on the situation. Even though the speech was overall well put together,

there were a large amount of anecdotes that became repetitive from time to time. However, for a

speech like this it is almost necessary to use a large amount of anecdotes because it allows the

audience to sympathize heavily. The speech finishes with inspiring audience members to do

something about what they have heard. Members are urged to never forget and never stop trying

to find a meeting point between Republicans and Democrats so that something this disturbing

never occurs again.

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Works Cited

Brisco, Elise. “Read Matthew McConaughey's Full White House Speech on Gun Violence:

'Real Change Can Happen'.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 8

June 2022,

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2022/06/08/matthew-mcc

onaughey-talks-gun-violence-white-house-read-speech/7551975001/.

The New York Times. “What to Know about the School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas.” The

New York Times, The New York Times, 25 May 2022,

https://www.nytimes.com/article/uvalde-texas-school-shooting.html.