As George Saunders (2013) argues his proposal to the audience, he begins with this
quote: 'Down through the ages, a traditional form has evolved for this type of speech, which is:
Some old fart, his best years behind him, who, over the course of his life, has made a series of
dreadful mistakes (that would be me), gives heartfelt advice to a group of shining, energetic
young people' (that would be you)'. With this introduction Saunders sets up a portal to
discuss his issue of kindness. He makes his argument timely, along with the context of the
speech he is presenting. Following this quote, he includes a short anecdote about a girl named
Ellen, a girl whom he failed to show kindness to enough times to regret.
This anecdote is useful because he sets up a scenario that people in the audience have, more
probably than not, experienced, and which seems to be an issue that is currently scrutinized by
many: bullying. Also, most of the audience is probably familiar with this as a topic that is related
to kindness, especially perhaps due to increased attention of college hazing in the media. With
this he tries to compel the audience to action, to be more kind.

What Saunders does, in a way, is makes this issue timely; he makes it applicable to that
precise moment based on the context of the speech, and his reference to other issues that are
intertwined with the topic of kindness. He appropriately includes lines of his argument that
consider the needs and values of the audience. For example, he explores the fact that they are
recent graduates and perhaps they have other things to worry about. To contest to this, he
expresses his regret, the one thing that he regrets most in life: he regrets not being kinder. Regret
is a part of life that is not an appealing concept to college students at this moment, a lot of the
anxieties of the young have to do with wanting to do all the proper things, so as the regrets will
be limited. And once you regret, the act is in the past. Saunders understands that when he
rhetorically inquires, 'Now why do I regret that? Why, forty years later, am I still thinking about
it'. He goes on to support his argument by creating a list of his regrets, but then
highlights kindness as a topic that we will all inevitably regret preponderantly not doing, if we do
not focus on it soon. This is what Saunders asserts to the students to suppose a further urgency of
his argument; it is better to begin sooner than later, the habit of kindness.

Saunders also considers alternate interests at stake for his argument. He phrases it in a
specific way, and begins by asking the audience who they remember fondly. The assumption for
the way he frames this is that the audience will consent to his answer: those who were kind to us.
Then Saunders asks, 'What's our problem? Why aren't we kinder'. He introduces
reasons why we may not be nicer, what he believes about the issue. First he makes the general
claim, 'We're central to the universe (that is, our personal story is the main and most interesting
story, the only story really'; then Saunders goes on to say, 'We're separate from the universe
(there's US and then, out there, all that other junk ' dogs and swing-sets, and the State Nebraska
and low-hanging clouds and, you know, other people), and lastly, 'we're permanent (death is
real, o.k., sure ' for you but not for me)'. Following this reasoning
Saunders then recognizes that perhaps we know better, but that this is more of an instinctual
feeling. He wants to guide the audience into realizing that perhaps this is a more mature view of
his topic, that we were born with these feelings but in time we will find them to be useless to our
development as a person. As college graduates, Saunders opens the possibility to them that this
should be a priority to focus on.

Saunders uses the process of stasis by describing that kindness does exist. Further than
that, Saunders claims that, in itself, kindness is a good, which he effectively implies when
claiming that we ultimately should make time for it. The concept of what context we can include
kindness in is defined ' the story of the girl who was picked on ' as well as what kindness is not
in the context of this example. Saunders explores why we may not engage in kindness on a
moment to moment basis, or even daily basis, but leads to the idea that we can change ourselves
to implement kindness in our daily lives. He goes on further to say that eventually we will
become kind through natural experiences in our lives and thus we should seek to incorporate
kindness into our lives as a habit now, as opposed to later, or attempting to avoid it altogether.
He says, 'Do other things' but as you do, to the extent that you can err in the direction of
kindness. Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that
would reduce you and make you trivial'. Alluded to in the argument is
the claim that engaging in being kind is right and honorable; he does so by claiming that it is one
of the things he regrets to have not done more of in his life, and implicating that we will
inevitably feel the same way one day when we reach a similar juncture in life.. He, in a way,
compares it to the audience's ideals of being successful. However, he says unlike kindness,
accomplishment is unreliable, and we shouldn't let the idea of succeeding overshadow the 'big
questions' and allow them to go unanswered. Immediately he enters
right into the questions of why we do not already practice kindness regularly, describes what we
can do to change this behavior, and what actions would be desirable (in this particular situation,
executing kindness).

Saunders introduces the idea that the audience should implement kindness. He claims,
'It's a little facile, maybe, and certainly hard to implement, but I'd say, as a goal in life, you
could do worse than: Try to be kinder'. With this, Saunders answers the
practical question of should we by explicitly claiming that we should. Subsequent to the general
assertion of this position, that we should practice kindness, and why we do not, Saunders briefly
suggests why we should practice kindness: 'we don't really believe these thing ' intellectually
we know better,' as in if the audience truly are intellectuals, they would realize this. He then
goes on to say that we do these things 'even though what we really want in our hearts, is to be
less selfish, more aware of what's actually happening in the present moment'.
Theoretically, in terms of his argument, Saunders uses this as a point in which to say,
making us different from other animals, in our human nature, we want this, we want to be kind.
Toward the end of his essay, Saunders beats on this idea hard, 'There's a confusion in all of us, a
sickness: selfishness. But there's also a cure,' and then continues the metaphor stating that we
should be good and proactive in finding the cure, which is analogous with a good.

Finally, after discussing what kindness is, and perhaps is not, with the story of Ellen, and
convincing the audience that it is right to be kind, Saunders quickly breezes through how we may
implement kindness. Saunders introduces the question of, 'How might we DO this? How might
we become more loving, more open, less selfish, more present, less delusional, etc., etc.'.
He then goes on and briefly lists how to achieve periods of High
Kindness rather than Low Kindness, and proposes, 'Education is good; immersing ourselves in a
work of art; good; prayer is goo; meditation's good; a frank tlak with a dear friend; establishing
ourselves in some kind of spiritual tradition ' recognizing that there have been countless smart
people before us who have asked these same questions and left behind answers for us'.
He includes this section to further guide the audience toward kindness,
suggesting strategies to begin our adventure toward kindness.

With his use of Kairos, Saunders is able to expose a timeliness to his issue. He prepares
alternate arguments in an attempt to create an appeal to his audience based on his position and
the audience's particular counterarguments, as well as includes issues tied to kindness which are
timely, such as bullying and describing the proud parents. His use of stasis theory is also evident.
He answers questions of conjecture, when he suggests off the bat that the topic of kindness does
exist and why it exists, and also what kind of act it is, exemplifying his use of the question of
definition. He then invents his argument to explicitly attempt to convince the audience that the
act of kindness is good and that we should not try to avoid doing it, for many reasons he
suggests. Finally, he address that action should be taken and, with his use of language,
demonstrates that there are possible solutions, and that there is not even a question that this
change will occur, just a question of time. Saunders is able to create a rhetorically effective
argument which appeals to the audience's needs and ideals, and eventually is convincing enough
to compel the audience to action.

