Rhetorical Analysis Of Fdr's Inaugural Address

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When in times of weakness and confusion, one must find the strength to overcome the challenge of placing their trust in someone, despite their hardships or uncertainty of what is to come. At his inauguration in early 1933, after narrowly beating out Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, FDR, stepped into the presidency with America deep into the depression. After seeing what Americans are going through, FDR immediately realized that he must use this speech as not only an introduction to his presidency, but also reassurance to millions of Americans that they can trust him. In order to accomplish this monumental task of universal trust and acceptance from the country as a whole, he not only had to show Americans that he understood what they were going through, but also had to propose his strategy to get America back on …show more content…

By referring to the three Greek appeals as he spoke, he was able to fully engage the audience by tapping their emotional, logical, and pathological senses. This helped the audience connect to what he had to say and comprehend it better. When he used allusion and repetition, he was able to not only show people their situation was not as bad as they thought it was, but was also able to communicate that there were ways to overcome the moment and work for a brighter tomorrow. With so much to lose and so little to gain, many Americans held onto the one thing they could not lose, their ability to have faith, and no one would take that away from

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