Tragedies, they will happen without a hint of awareness but they cannot be stopped or answered for. When they do occur it leads people to shock and grief. However tragedies brings forth something that gives people unity, hope, and direction. This something is called a leader and throughout history many people have embodied this quality. There are many instances where people have stood up an embodied this quality. For instance G.W. Busch during 9-11 and Abraham Lincoln with the Gettysburg Address. These two occasions might be different in many ways but they share a person rising to an opportunity to provide inspirational words for the people. Specifically, we can look at Ronald Reagan and how he rises to an occasion and unifies people while providing direction in a speech about the tragic “Challenger” event. My paper will use the Neo-Aristotelian criticism method, which explores the rhetorical situation and cannons of rhetoric. The rhetorical situation consists of four aspects of the speech. The first aspect is to …show more content…
Being personal is a good way to unify people. In this speech President Regan uses a rhetorical canon; which is style, effectively. President Reagan personalizes his speech by talking directly to the families of the fallen heroes. Personalizing the speech was a good choice because it is a more effective way of talking about the situation rather than just talking about the incident an informing what happened. Also his choice of using the words “us” and “we” triggers unity among the nation. In my opinion this helps comfort the families by informing them that we all stand with them One example of this is when Reagan says “But we feel the loss” in the fourth paragraph. Also Reagan strays away from the negative aspect of the disaster. The focus of staying positive provides a sense of purpose. Regan explains how the “seven” was full of courage and that they died doing what they
By including such refutations, Thatcher proves the influence of Reagan while emphasizing the amount of work Reagan has done for the country. Later in the eulogy, Thatcher similarly applies this technique to describe the natural way that Reagan aided his country with mention of the war, stating that “when his allies came under Soviet or domestic pressure, they could look confidently to Washington”. The continues use of the technique of contrast through anaphora helps Thatcher compare Reagan to other people around the world and helps Americans know that Reagan is dependable and
Ronald Reagan has already been elected as president of the United States. On march 8, 1983, he decided to call a group of evangelists for a speech in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Reagan opens up by thanking the spiritual people for their prayers and uses an anecdote to appeal to his audience as so to connect them. Reagan’s speech talks to present concerns in America during the 80’s. Most of these concerns, the President believes, can be fixed or mediated with a Christian belief system in which America was founded upon.
President Nixon is one of the most famous Presidents in American history for being the first one to resign from office. While Nixon is famous for doing such an unthinkable act, he is also the one that gave one of the best and most well known speeches in political history, The Checkers Speech. The speech was given by (Senator at the time) President Nixon when he was running for Vice President on General Eisenhower’s Presidential ticket. A newspaper, the New York Post, had a front page with the headline "Secret Rich Men's Trust Fund Keeps Nixon in Style Far Beyond His Salary"; the article alleged that people were donating to a secret fund that Nixon had for his personal benefit in trade for political favors.
Another point that he stated that included the entire country was, “They served all of us” (3). These statements address the country as a whole and target those that were in desperate need of support for the loss of their loved ones. Ronald Reagan’s pronoun use to include and address the audience had a great effect on making those that tuned into the speech feel included. Ronald Reagan’s speech was effective in its purpose of honoring and mourning those that were involved in the disaster and promoting NASA. He succeeded in this purpose by effectively using a supportive and optimistic tone, the use of ethos and pathos, and his use of pronouns to address and include the audience.
How we think and feel during a speech is often the result of the words a speaker uses and the tone they take. Clinton’s speech had a very specific goal of showing the audience that he was humble and sorrowful, and garner sympathy and forgiveness so that the president could continue holding his status. Clinton used many techniques and his own charisma and personality to drive the speech to be as influential, and be as memorable, as it is. Its masterful use of language and the careful presentation created a lasting impression that Americans today can reference when discerning what is really being said when a politicians
In his emotionally inspiring speech, “Shuttle Challenger Address,” Ronald Reagan expresses his deepest condolences to the people most affected by the Challenger accident. He advances his speech with a gentle yet strong willed facade in order to inspire the future generations of astronauts to not let this tragedy affect their future endeavors. Raegen then briefly puts his presidential status aside in order to further express the depth of his pain, not only at a presidential level, but as an American citizen concerned for the well being of his country. Raegen applies different types of rhetorical devices in order to emotionally appeal to the people most affected by the accident, while at the same time encourage the general public to not let this
He again appeals to the emotions of the listeners by stating that “we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much” (Reagan, 1986), “Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit to say, “”Give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with joy”” (Reagan, 1986), and “They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us” (Reagan, 1986). He expresses his mourning to the loved ones in order to show that he truly cares and that “we’re thinking about you so very much” (Reagan, 1986). Reagan conveys a touching tone that we feel the pain and sadness you do towards your loved
“We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together” (2). Listing creates a moment for the nation to mourn together. Also shows how much care and empathy Reagan has for the families who had loss their member from the
The first rhetorical skill that Reagan uses is ethos. In the very first sentence he implies his status and authority by stating, “I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans.” By showing us his power as President of the United States (the
Grant-Davie describes thoroughly the term rhetorical situation and how the development of the definition and its constituents has contributed to the discovery of the motives and responses behind any discourse. The analysis of rhetorical situations could determine the outer or inner influences of the rhetors, the audience, and their particular constraints. Grant Davie supports his claims by using the earlier definitions of scholars and teachers as his foundation. He also addresses his own analysis drawn by life experienced discourses which it also helps the reader understand the causes of rhetorical situations. This is important because it teaches any writer or reader to analyze a situation and think about the options and paths it could lead
On January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan gave his “First Inaugural Address” with the United States listening; some people were able to experience firsthand Ronald Reagan’s passion and views for our country, in Front of the Capitol Building, while others tuned in to listen on the momentous occasion. Ronald Reagan sets the stage for his presidency using logos through logical sentences that are meant to bring the audience a better perspective on his point of view. Diction was a key factor in showing Ronald Reagan’s strong sense of nationalism; he chose powerful, hopeful words and phrases that were intended to unify the people. He shows syntax through anaphora, repetition, and parallelism. By using these rhetorical devices, he states key phrases more than once to create an urgency and therefore grab listener’s attention.
In Reagan’s eulogy Thatcher uses pathos to unite herself with the audience, through the mutual feelings of grief and sorrow over losing a friend. In the opening lines of the eulogy Thatcher creates pathos by using diction. In lines one and two Thatcher said that a “Great President… Great American… Great man….” has died. Her choice of using the word great instead of good or any other adjective, effects the audience by showing what kind of man Reagan was. Since death is a universally known topic, it is safe to say that everybody has experienced the pain of losing a great person to death.
The speech conducted by former President Ronald Reagan titled “Evil Empire” was to address the National Association of Evangelicals. The speeches main topic is to focus on the evil that is among us. Former President Reagan conducted this speech at the time Congress was debating on a resolution for nuclear freeze. The speech’s main point is to inform and give hope to Christians to make sure America stays a free and great country.
In 1962 President John F. Kennedy held a press conference in which he informed the audience on his stance for the rising steel prices. Kennedy not only wanted to inform the audience, he wanted to get them on his side of the argument. He wanted to show the audience that the rising steel prices were going to have a negative impact on the nation. To do this Kennedy used some of the rhetoric strategies and tools. He used periodic sentences, anaphora, and diction.
Rhetorical Devices Open Ended Response In Ronald Reagan`s speech, ethos and logos are two rhetorical devices using either exquisite knowledge and integrity or logicality to persuade his audience of knocking the Wall of Berlin down. Throughout Reagan`s speech, ethos is a rhetorical device in which he uses to demonstrate and express his knowledge, and show integrity to those listening. Subsequently, this technique is what convinces the author of the continuous idea of knocking down the Wall of Berlin; overall, knocking down the wall would no longer separate Europe, and would spread the freedom between East and West Berlin. Ronald states, “President von Weizsacker has said, ‘The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed,’