Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Video Essay on Hate
Arnold Schwarzenegger's video essay: A Recorded Personal Essay
This video essay by Arnold Schwarzenegger startled me. As an admirer of the essays of Joan Didion, Phillip Lopate, Nora Ephron, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and more, I never would have imagined adding the name Arnold Schwarzenegger to an article about personal essay writing.
I was startled by the effectiveness when I stumbled across this effective video essay with its effective anti-hate message. Emerson honed his craft in sermons, so the spoken personal essay comes from a proud tradition.
Schwarzenegger uses a controlling metaphor, personal anecdotes, sensory details, and a structure of supporting points. He knows the audience and offers a generous understanding of the problematic personal history in his life and that of his father. The strong sense of self is the voice we writers seek on the page. Readers seek this too. So watch the video to learn about the attributes of an essay or watch it for the amazing call to turn away from hate. Take twelve minutes to be enriched by the craft of a personal essay. This time it's a video essay. Read a summary with more commentary below the video.
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Explore how Arnold Schwarzenegger's impactful message against hate using the personal essay structure--but this time it's a video.
A Call to Prevent the Path of Hate
Arnold Schwarzenegger draws from the horrors of the past to emphasize the need to combat hate and prevent history from repeating itself. His visit to Auschwitz serves as a stark reminder of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. This is his controlling metaphor/anecdote.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's video essay: Breaking Free from Hate's Grip
Schwarzenegger shares his personal journey of being surrounded by individuals influenced by hateful ideologies post-World War II. He highlights the negative impact of falling for such beliefs and urges individuals to choose a path of strength over hate. His ability to talk about his father, who was a Nazi, gives him personal credibility.
Empowering Through Personal Growth With a Strong Voice
By advocating for overcoming pain and resistance, Schwarzenegger encourages individuals to embrace discomfort as a catalyst for personal growth. Choosing resilience over hatred leads to empowerment and positive transformation. His language is specific to his body, builder past. He also veers into second-person writing, speaking directly to the audience.
Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life.
Schwarzenegger's Video Essay Becomes a Mentor Vehicle for Personal Essay Writers
The essay message resonates with a universal call to combat hate, find strength in adversity, and embrace personal growth. He uses examples to reach out to those who think differently. An essay writer can see the structure and direction clearly laid out and followed throughout this video essay.
Follow his example and cultivate a strong voice, use sensory details, have a specific point of view clearly articulated, consider a controlling metaphor to open and close your essay, write for a specific audience, and be personal. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a personal essay mentor: hell yes! Color me surprised.
