Presentation - The Power of Words

The following is a presentation I did for English class about the power of words. Partly inspired by John Green's analysis of the book The Catcher In The Rye.

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Good morning, everybody. During the discussion about the power of words, I had a book and a personal experience to share. But I didn't do it because I was afraid. Afraid of what you might ask. Well, let's just say I had something precious, so precious that I was reluctant to share. I know I am not a great speaker, without any minimal preparation, I am afraid that I am gonna trivialize that precious experience by the way I say it. Now with proper preparation and your full attention, it is the right moment to say what I want to say.

This book by J. D. Salinger, The Catcher In The Rye (french Attrape Cœur) is about Holden Caufield's expulsion from school and his journey back home in new york city, where he lingers around for a few days trying to get people to listen to him. This is a dividing book, some readers find it boring, and some find it enlightening. I am one of the latter. You see, I met this book during the lowest point of my life so far. People always say that literature can do good to us, and that was the first time I actually felt that that statement is so true. I feel like the book understand me in the most improbable ways. I feel like holden is a real person and he says things that I have had always difficulty to say. And that, for me it is the greatest compliment anyone can give to a fictional work. Just like what american writer Ralph Waldo Emerson said, in the works of great writers, we find our own neglected thoughts.

Like Holden, I was too having difficulty expressing my thoughts, feeling like I was the loneliest person ever. Through this book, I know I am not that alone anymore. Holden had inspired me to write, as a tool, just like he did to get people to listen to him. Holden also told me, that no one can ever fully empathize with some one else. In my case, eventhough I did say I feel like Holden understands me better than myself, but still he can't fully empathize with me. That's why I keep reading, to find those losing pieces of me that make me who I am. Might be a bit cheesy, but it basically means to find myself.

So are words powerful ? For me it seems like a rhetorical question. Of course it is powerful and this book is one of many proves. It is exactly through words that Holden gets his way into millions including me. Thank you.

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