Background Information:

On June 4th, 2016, three-time world heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, died at the age of 74. Ali was
an internationally renowned sportsman, celebrity and activist famous for his exploits not only in the boxing arena
but on the political stage as well. He famously refused to fight in the Vietnam War stating, ‘"Why should they ask
me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in
Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?"

EULOGY TO MUHAMMAD ALI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boK_OyKXeLA
At Ali’s funeral, one week later, comedian Billy Crystal delivered this eulogy. His words of friendship and respect do
more than simply reflect on the life of a man, they very carefully position the audience to see Ali as unique, and his
influence on the world and the people who knew him as important and life changing.
Below are a number of extracts from Billy Crystal’s Eulogy to Muhammed Ali. Examine the following extracts in
terms of the persuasive strategies used and their impact on the audience.

Extract 1
It’s very hard to describe how much he meant to me; you had to live in his time. It’s great to look at clips and it’s
amazing to have them, but to live in his time, watching his fights, exper — experiencing the genius of his talent,
was absolutely extraordinary. Every one of his fights was an aura of a Super Bowl. He did things nobody would do.
He predicted the round he would knock somebody out in, and the he would do it! He was funny, he was beautiful,
the most perfect athlete you ever saw – and those were his own words. [audience laughs]
But he was so much more than a fighter as time went on, with Bobby Kennedy gone, Martin Luther King gone,
Malcolm X gone, who was there to relate to when Vietnam exploded in our face?
There were millions of young men my age eligible for the draft for a war we didn’t believe in, all of us huddled on
the conveyor belt that was rapidly feeding the war machine. But it was Ali who stood up for us by standing up for
himself. [audience laughs]
And after he was stripped of the title – after he was stripped of the title and the right to fight anywhere in the
world, he gave speeches at colleges and on television that totally reached me. He seemed as comfortable talking
to kings and queens as the lost and unrequited. He never lost his sense of humor even as he lost everything else.
He was always himself: willing to give up everything for what he believed in. And his passionate rhetoric about the
life and plight of black people in our country resonated strongly in my house.

Explain each of the quotes below in terms of what it suggests about Ali and how it positions the audience to see
this man.
‘and those were his own words.’
In humorously referencing Ali’s mischievious self-promotion , Crystal invites the audience to remember not only the
talent of Ali but also the incredible personality of ‘the most perfect athlete you ever saw’.

‘with Bobby Kennedy gone, Martin Luther King gone, Malcolm X gone, who was there to relate to when Vietnam
exploded in our face?’
a war we didn’t believe in, all of us huddled on the conveyor belt that was rapidly feeding the war machine. But it
was Ali who stood up for us
he was stripped of the title

He never lost his sense of humor even as he lost everything else…willing to give up everything for what he
believed in.

Write an analytical paragraph focusing on this extract. Note the way Crystal moves away from a
discussion of Ali’s fighting talent to his greater significance as a political voice.
Crystal begins by referencing the well known ‘genius’ of Ali’s talent using rich, emotive words to describe
this man who was ‘extraordinary’, ‘funny’, ‘beautiful.’

Extract 2
One time he asked me if I would like to run with him one morning, do road work. I said: “Well that would be
amazing. Where do you run?”
“Well, I run at this country club, and I run on the golf course early in the morning. It’s very private. Nobody bothers
me. We’ll have a great time.”
I said: “Champ, I can’t run there. The club has a reputation for being restricted.”
“What does restricted mean?”
“They don’t allow Jews there; they don’t have any Jewish members.”
He was incensed: “I’m a black Muslim and they let me run there. Little brother, I’m never gonna run there again.”
And he didn’t. [audience applause]

Explain the quote below in terms of what it suggests about Ali and how it positions the audience to see this man.
“I’m a black Muslim and they let me run there. Little brother, I’m never gonna run there again.” And he didn’t.

Write an analytical paragraph focusing on this extract and the anecdote used by Crystal to reinforce Ali’s values.

Crystal anecdotally describes the time when Ali suggested they run together at country club with a ‘reputation for
being restricted.’ Ali’s response…

Extract 3
That – that my friends, is my history with a man and I have labored to come up with a way to describe the legend.
He was a tremendous bolt of lightning created by Mother Nature out of thin air, a fantastic combination of power
and beauty. We’ve seen still photographs of lightning bolts, at the moment of impact, ferocious in its strength,
magnificent in its elegance. And at the moment of impact it lights up everything around it so you can see
everything clearly.

Muhammad Ali struck us in the middle of America’s darkest night, in the heart of its most threatening gathering
storm. His power toppled the mighty foes and his intense light shined on America and we were able to see clearly:
injustice, inequality, poverty, pride, self-realization, courage, laughter, love, joy and religious freedom for all.
[audience applause] Ali forced us to take a look at ourselves, this brash young man who thrilled us, angered us,
 confused and challenged us, ultimately became a silent messenger of peace, who taught us that life is best when
you build bridges between people, not walls. [volume audience applause]

Explain each of the quotes below in terms of what it suggests about Ali and how it positions the audience to see
this man.
a tremendous bolt of lightning …..a fantastic combination of power and beauty. …ferocious in its strength,
magnificent in its elegance.

it lights up everything around it so you can see everything clearly.

Muhammad Ali struck us in the middle of America’s darkest night, in the heart of its most threatening gathering
storm.
his intense light shined on America and we were able to see clearly: injustice, inequality, poverty, pride, self-
realization, courage, laughter, love, joy and religious freedom for all

this brash young man who thrilled us, angered us, confused and challenged us,

who taught us that life is best when you build bridges between people, not walls.

Write an analytical paragraph focusing on this extract and the lightning metaphor used by Crystal to describe Ali.

Crystal sums of the legend of Ali by metaphorically describing him as ‘a tremendous bolt of lightning,’….

Extract 4
My friends – my friend only once in a thousand years or so do we get to hear a Mozart, or see a Picasso, read a
Shakespeare.
Ali was one of them, and yet at his heart, he was still a kid from Louisville who ran with the gods and walked with
the crippled and smiled at the foolishness of it all. He is gone, but he will never die.
He was my big brother.
Thank you.

Explain each of the quotes below in terms of what it suggests about Ali and how it positions the audience to see
this man.

only once in a thousand years or so do we get to hear a Mozart, or see a Picasso, read a Shakespeare.

he was still a kid from Louisville who ran with the gods and walked with the crippled and smiled at the foolishness
of it all.
He was my big brother.

Write an analytical paragraph focusing on the conclusion of Crystal’s eulogy.

Crystal concludes by placing Ali in the context of other great men who dominated their respective fields of
endeavour including ‘Mozart’, ‘Picasso’ and ‘Shakespeare.’