Topic

Abby Wambach’s commencement address “Make Failure Your Fuel” explores the topic of success. The topic is appropriate for the occasion, as the speaker addresses university graduates who are likely to be interested in achieving success in their lives. In order to explore this topic, the speaker links it with important sub-themes: the issue of unequal pay in the US, and the need for solidarity among women when fighting for their rights and dealing with failure.

To explore the issue of unequal pay, Wambach uses the example of her own experience as a female soccer player, who was as successful as her fellow male athletes but who earned less money than they did (ll. 48-58). The use of her personal story helps her establish credibility when exploring the topic. She then looks at statistics about the pay gap in the US and how this affects women’s lives (ll. 63-75).

In the next part of the speech she also offers a solution to this problem by giving her audience a recipe for success which includes four rules: “Mak...