A Critical Metaphor Analysis Of The Commencement Speeches By American Universities’ Presidents

According to the 2023 QS World University Rankings,the number of American universities accounts for about half of the top 100 universities,indicating that American higher education is of a high standard.Commencement ceremonies serve as a ritual for graduating students to reflect on their time at university and mark the beginning of their social life.Therefore,commencement ceremonies are of great significance both to universities and graduates.In commencement speeches,university presidents express their wishes to graduates,and meanwhile,they convey the educational philosophy of their universities.Metaphors are not only rhetorical devices but also a way of thinking that reflects the speaker’s attitudes.Critical Metaphor Analysis can help to reveal the thoughts and attitudes implied by metaphors.Applying Critical Metaphor Analysis to exploring metaphors in commencement speeches could reveal the educational philosophy of American universities and interpret the characteristics and strengths of American higher education.This thesis focuses on commencement speeches made by presidents of several top American universities,taking Critical Metaphor Analysis as the analytical framework.With the help of the online corpus analysis tool Wmatrix5 and corpus analysis software Ant Conc3.5.9.,qualitative and quantitative methods are used to explore what conceptual metaphors are mainly used,how they convey educational philosophy,and why they are chosen in commencement speeches.It is found that the most commonly used conceptual metaphors in commencement speeches are journey metaphors,war metaphors,building metaphors,plant metaphors,money metaphors,machine metaphors,and religion metaphors.Conceptual metaphors simplify educational philosophy by mapping the concrete features of the source domain to abstract educational philosophy,making them more accessible to graduates.Compared with the direct way of emphasizing educational philosophy,conceptual metaphors can arouse graduates’ cognitive experience of source domains.Thus graduates can automatically decode the educational philosophy embodied in conceptual metaphors.The conveyed educational philosophy includes three aspects: personal aspect,emphasizing the importance of maintaining individuality,setting appropriate goals,pursuing truth,and learning to be grateful;institutional aspect,emphasizing the importance of education;and social aspect,encouraging students to actively take on social responsibilities,solve social problems,and have the courage to change and create the world.The choice of conceptual metaphors is closely related to the speaker’s experience,but it is also influenced by American ideology,economy,history,and culture.Conducting the critical analysis on metaphors of commencement speeches given by American university presidents is a meaningful attempt to highlight the value of conceptual metaphors in commencement speeches and interpret the educational philosophy contained therein.