1. Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street (1987)
“Greed is Good”
Gordon Gekko
from the movie Wall Street (1987)

2. The Rhetorical Situation
Speaker: The fictional character Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglass), who works as one of the most powerful stockbrokers on Wallstreet
Audience: fictional audience of the shareholders of Tedlar Paper—real audience of movie-goers (has real-life, broader implications)

3. The Rhetorical Situation
Context: 1980s New York financial district (the setting of the movie)—at a time when some men were getting VERY rich by investing both legally and illegally
Purpose: In the movie—to convince shareholders of Tedlar Paper to revolt against the 33 company VPS; to a broader audience—to highlight the disturbing rationale of hyper-rich investors
Message: Greed is an evolutionary impulse that drives all progress in society.

4. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're not here to indulge in fantasy, but in political and economic reality. America has become a second-rate power. Its trade deficit and its fiscal deficit are at nightmare proportions. Now, in the days of the free market, when our country was a top industrial power, there was accountability to the stockholder. The Carnegies, the Mellons, the men that built this great industrial empire, made sure of it because it was their money at stake. Today, management has no stake in the company
connotative diction jargon specific diction
Here, the word “second-rate” deflates the meaning of the word “power”—America often considered THE world power, so this evokes the competitive spirit in his audience
“Trade deficit” and “fiscal deficit,” in addition to much language throughout the speech relating to finance/economics, reveals Gekko’s frustration with the large scale deficiencies of our economy because of people like the VPs
Specific references to great families like the Carnegies brings to mind families with important legacies—in comparison, the management he refers to throughout the speech remains general, obscure, unmemorable.

5. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're not here to indulge in fantasy, but in political and economic reality. America has become a second-rate power. Its trade deficit and its fiscal deficit are at nightmare proportions. Now, in the days of the free market, when our country was a top industrial power, there was accountability to the stockholder. The Carnegies, the Mellons, the men that built this great industrial empire, made sure of it because it was their money at stake. Today, management has no stake in the company
declarative periodic appositive phrase
This opening, declarative sentence sets the tone for the speech—one that is confident and direct. Most of the sentences are declarative as Gekko states the facts as he sees them in order to win over his audience. Contrasting the word “fantasy” with “political and economic reality” in the same sentence stresses the idea that he is here to drop some harsh truth.
Gekko uses a periodic sentence to reflect back on what he believes to be the past—the days of a “free market,” when our nation was on “top.” The sentence ends by reminding the audience that these were also the days of “accountability to the stockholder.” By leaving this information to the end, he stresses the importance of this accountability in creating those conditions favored by people in the business of making money.
By using the appositive phrase “the men that built this great industrial empire,” Gekko reinforces the importance of these families’ lagacies.

6. Insert additional slides
This PowerPoint is missing 2 additional excerpts from the speech