Blind Patriotism Research Paper

Despite the several terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, America remained strong and united. In the speech “Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks”, George W. Bush, addresses the terrorist attack of September eleventh to let the citizens know they can overcome a tragic and mournful incident by remaining unified and a powerful country. The primary audience are the citizens and the family members of the ones who had died or were involved in the incident. The secondary audience are the terrorists to let them know American’s are not scared and will stand together against them. Bush uses ethos, pathos, and figurative language to encourage the citizens to be stronger, united, and feel safe.

One of the most catastrophic events America has faced were the September eleventh terrorist attacks. Our nation faced one of the most damaging attacks in our history and it was up to our president, George W. Bush, to address the entire nation and assure everyone that America still remains a strong and functioning country. Our President George Bush was called upon to address the nation, a nation that was currently suffering from loss, fear, and despair. His goal was to persuade Americans to take comfort in the effort being put forth in resolving the aftermath of the attacks and the fear they caused. Recognizing his audience as being innocent victims of an unknown evil, President Bush ultimately had to present a speech that mastered various techniques

American Patriotism can be defined in different ways. When people think of the word patriotism, most often say "to love one 's country". That is true in some aspect, but being patriotic means much more than that. In the words of Mark Twain, he states, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” True patriotism is to support what 's best for this country and contribute in ways to help that can be beneficial for everyone. However, to a socialist, patriotism can be viewed within three main perspectives: the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist perspective.

“None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.” That was one of George W. Bush’s many emotional yet strong sayings in his speech of the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York city. His goal of unifying, making the country feel bonded together, was achieved through vivid and organized word choice. He chose these words to connect with the people of america's emotions and feelings, while also displaying authority and logical sense that terrorism is a threat to the world.

The 9/11 terrorist attack on the U.S. had its nation shook and will forever be commemorated by its citizens. Just hours after the incursion, President Bush stood up for his country and addressed the nation with a speech in a live broadcast. In his speech, he used many rhetorical strategies to invigorate his country. His use of tone alternated throughout the speech, which displayed his many different attitudes toward what had happened. President George W. Bush’s Address to the Nation brought patriotism within the nation by promising that America will recover from the horrid terrorist attack.

When Bush addressed the nation, he had to assure the American people of their country’s strength, which would undoubtedly triumph through this unthinkable misfortune. George W. Bush states, “These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong (Eidenmuller).” This shows how Bush is trying to create an emotional connection to the audience by instilling in Americans that our country must remain unified and strong during this time of terror. Bush also states, “These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve (Eidenmuller). This statement testifies that our country cannot be broken, and our country will prevail. About one-in-five Americans cite the country’s response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as the time in their lives when they felt most proud of their country (Gramlich). This indicates just how powerful our country can be if everyone works together. The terrorist attacks on the United States will forever be burned into the memories of Americans. That being the case, Bush’s attempt at creating an emotional connection to the audience was successful because he brought the country together with words of strength.

First looking at President Bush’s speech, the overall situation being shared throughout this piece of work is that the incident of 9/11 was a devastating tragedy and we should always remember it as a reason for why we should continue to stay strong and surpass the limit. Although Bush never did say all this, but he reflected the idea in we should never feel at complete sorrow whenever we remember this incident, but instead, feel the need to improve and advance to prevent this act of terrorism. It is never a wise choice to sorrow over a problem and leave it untouched. Ever since the incident of 9/11, the United States of America has excelled and advanced ever since in order to prevent future terror-influenced acts.

On September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush made a speech on the terrorist attack, which took place on September 11, 2001. The people of America needed support and direction on how to handle what just happen. The American people demanded that the President addresses the Nation after the attacks and guide them. Nine days later, President Bush did just that. Over the next few days, emotions ran high in the country. “Will this happen again?” “Is it safe to leave in my home?” many wondered. Everywhere throughout the Nation, airlines had stopped service, the New York Stock Exchange was temporarily suspended, and every tv channel around the country played the latest news about the attack. The American people understandably asked and asked “What’s next?” from their leaders, so when President Bush gave his

Jensen presents two alternative definitions of patriotism in his speech. The first one suggests that patriotism is to

In a period of crisis, following the devastating aftermath of the tragic events taken place on September 11, 2001 (9/11), President George W. Bush assures the citizens of the United States that they will continue to prosper in his “9/11 Address to the Nation.” On 9/11, four planes were hijacked by terrorists, two of which were directly launched into each of the Twin Towers in New York City, killing thousands of innocent people. During his speech, he explains that the United States is the most powerful nation in the world, and that it will not crumble to the hands of the diabolic terrorists that attempt to steal their freedom. Bush’s speech is designed to motivate the people of the United States to keep a positive outlook for the future.

According to David Plotz, “20 percent of Americans know or have a friend /relative who knows someone injured or killed from the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001”. Even if one doesn’t fall into the 20%, the 9/11 terrorist attacks still affects them and their country. When the planes first struck the twin towers, the employees inside had a very limited amount of time to evacuate the building. Unfortunately, nearly 3,000 people never made it out alive. This is entirely due to the lack of education/preparedness for emergency situations prior to this day. The greatest loss of life on 9/11 was caused by the incorrect survival strategies of the people within the twin towers including distractedness, unpreparedness of emergencies and elevator

9/11 is a tragic day burned into american history forever. The horrifying scene in Manhattan, NY which killed 2,600 has been described as something out of a movie. The footage of the attack is overwhelming, and the effects it had on the world, are even more so. Being part of the generation that was born just before 9/11, most of our emotions attached to the event are not very sensitive, in fact to many it is seen almost as a joke at times, since even today vines and memes about the twin towers are everywhere. On the other hand, it also created hate and islamophobia in some, distrust towards our own government in others, and even a stronger sense of patriotism.

President Bush’s speech regarding the 9/11 terrorist attack, directed towards American citizens, can be an example of resilience in our united nation against evil for the world to witness and implement.

Do you ever have one of those moments in your life in which you will never forget where you were? I remember waking up early on September 11, 2001, getting ready for school and my dad telling me hurry up to watch the news with him. Being in 8th grade at the time, the news really wasn’t something I would watch in the mornings so I knew it had to be something important. Then I saw it. An airplane crashing into a tower, people panicking, and mayhem ensuing in a city very well known to me. When any tragic event like 9/11 occurs, the effect it will have on a nation is tremendous. It left America in shock, anger, and sadness just to name a few adjectives to describe the insurmountable amount of feelings that we felt on that day.

Patriotism is defined as “love of and devotion toward one’s country, which includes its people and institutions” (LaMothe 2008). These these feelings of love, pride and loyalty are essential for groups because they establish solidarity and unity among members (Finell and Zogmaister 2015). However, within the patriotism literature, Erving Staub distinguishes between two types of patriotism: Blind and constructive. Blind patriotism “connotes uncritical loyalty and support for any action engaged in by one’s own group” (Finell and Zogmaister 2015). This kind of patriotism creates an ingroup-outgroup dynamic, in which people are only concerned with what occurs to their ingroup and do not really care about the outgroup. Blind patriotism means that people will without question support any action taken by their group (Spry and Hornsey 2007). In this kind of patriotism there is no regard for the harm that the actions taken by the person’s group might have on others.