Elements Of Oral Tradition : Ronald Reagan 's A Time For Choosing

“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny” is perhaps the most famous line from the speech. People are inspired by the speech because Reagan gives the American people hope for their future and their children’s future. His use of repetition conveys to us that we “have the ability and the dignity and the right to make our own decisions and determine our own destiny”. Repetition is a powerful rhetorical technique that Reagan exercises to emphasize unity among the American people. Reagan kept his audience eager for more.  He would expose an issue or problem and then create a solution.  Exposing faults within the existing government Reagan is able to crack part of the “once believed” solid foundation of the U.S. government.  He also exposes how the seediness and greediness of the government is leaking into the minds of other fellow Americans.  He states situations where individuals are taking desperate measures such as divorce, in order to earn a higher salary so they can provide for their families.  Reagan tells us that there are ways around this and that these issues are not individual but collective.

Reagan spoke with passion and sorrow. But he showed an appreciation and respect for those who fought. He uses the word “we” very often, which unites the people and shows union. In his speech he uses the word we 19 times to show the bond between us as a people, and as a nation. He uses rhetorical questions asking why they served and fought till their last breath. “You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.”(Reagan). He answers his questions with love and loyalty for their families and their country. Reagan uses this in his speech to make the audience think deeply about why the men did what they did and

Due to the rapidly changing America, in his farewell address, Ronald Reagan expresses the need for unification of America, and America’s culture. In Reagan’s address, he uses many rhetorical devices to advance his purpose of unifying America, for instance, Reagan utilizes tone, syntax, and pathos to portray his pride, hopefulness, and patriotism for America. He uses these devices to show Americans of the unification America needs.

I feel that the substance and context of Reagan’s speech were eloquently put. Reagan states that "nothing ends here" the space shuttle program will continue. President Reagan came across with certainty, respect, gratitude and compassion. Reagan also appeared strong but comforting. Reagan only had a short period of time to prepare for the speech which to me only solidifies his

President Ronald Reagan’s speech “A Time for Choosing” was my selection for this assignment. Prior to his presidential election, Ronald Reagan was catapulted forward in his career by his motivational speech later titled by some simply as “The Speech”. At the time, Regan had recently changed from a long-standing Democrat to a Republican. Although his speech was unable to prevent President Lyndon Johnson’s ultimate win, it was very memorable due to the emotionally powerful and deeply moving presentation. Creating an unknown, yet powerful pull for his inevitable position as President. By conveying his points with such an emotional drive, “A Time for Choosing” became one of the most important speeches of his career. The soon to be President delivered this speech with strong words many Americans were not prepared to hear but came to accept. A speech that created many questions and provided many answers managed to express a level of emotion that seemed urgently calm. As one of President Reagans greatest speeches “A Time for Change” provided the world with a preview of a President in the making.

In presidency, character is everything. Born on February 6, 1911, Ronald Reagan, “Dutch,” never knew that he would grow up to be famous. He served two terms as governor of California, but before that he starred in Hollywood films. Originally a liberal Democrat, Reagan ran for the U.S. presidency as a conservative Republican and won, his term beginning in 1980. Ronald Reagan became the oldest President elected when he took office as the 40th President of the United States. He was also the first U.S. president after Dwight D. Eisenhower to get re-elected and finish two complete terms in office. Reagan was president from January 20, 1981 to January 20, 1989. He was an effective president, measured by his popularity and by his influence on

Ronald Reagan is known as “The great communicator” and it shows in his speech, he is able connect to the audience and this works very well for him, his speech “Address to the national challenger” it is a drastically emotional and important speech for the American people at the time it became one of Reagan’s great speeches and it was crucial to the American’s as they were all in such pain due to the accident which was the Challenger disaster. Instead of doing his report on the state union, he talks about the disaster and honors the members who had passed on board and he wishes that the United States will not stop its space exploration due to this. When listening to the speech is it distinguishable that is the speech is not something to joke about and the tone had an emotional and solemn feel with great respect to all involved being felt.

For the audience he gives them examples of how government interference hurts Americans and also allusions to past times such as the revolution and how the founding fathers did not want a big government. He shares that he has “an uncomfortable feeling that this prosperity isn’t something on which we base our hopes the future.” Reagan’s ability to connect with his audience was rare and unlike many of his colleagues. Whether the topics he spoke on were always relevant to that of the listener, it did not always matter.

His speech is stirring, remembering the great contributions to history of fallen and living soldiers of all nationalities who fought for their beliefs in the Second World War. Reagan’s dramatic and detailed descriptions of the heroism of the Army Rangers are skillfully complemented by his use of rhetorical devices such as tetracolon, anaphora, tautology, and synchises. His eloquent yet simple style allows him to weave vivid images of history into his listeners and readers’ minds, adding a new dimension to his speaking. Reagan’s speech surely served its purpose: to commemorate the actions of the Rangers, to commemorate the power of unity, and to commemorate as well as celebrate the dedication, bravery, and spirit that makes the American people

The last element of the rhetorical situation is speech. Reagan’s primary objective of this speech was to show his condolence to those of who suffered from the accident and involve audience to join for grief. Throughout his speech his ideas were carried in a coherent way, without deviating from his objective. Reagan achieved this through using various words and phrases that magnify his emotion. Using phrases such as “slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of god” illustrated his feeling towards the situation without much of explanation. In addition, because he understood that the audience of this particular speech consisted of diversity of

The most obvious way President Reagan delivers rhetoric to his audience is through his own ethos. Ronald Reagan wasn’t just your average president; he was a communicator. Reagan started his career as a sports announcer and continued on as an actor, which led to his later career in state and national politics. By the time President Reagan had delivered his address, the president had been in the spotlight his entire career and was looked up to worldwide. He had established an extrinsic ethos well before delivering this speech. By being the president of the free world, Reagan’s audience

The post is an effective appraisal of the Reagan speech. Your comments on his movements show that you were able to see that he refrained from over exaggerated action and maintained a calming yet urgent message. His correlation with their religious background, political views, and aligning himself with them allowed Reagan to build a bridge to convey his message and call for response. Reagan effectively brought his audience to specific action, which was the ultimate goal of the speech.

When it comes to leaders of the free world, there are going to be times when they all must talk to the public. In this sad event that took place at the Kennedy Center, seven astronauts were on a mission to reach the moon. Sadly, the rocket that was carrying all seven killed every member inside. When President Reagan made his speech to the public, about what just happen. I like to think that he did a great job address the public. One of the main reasons I like to agree about it was the fact that his words were in perfect order. I like to assume at the time, people were afraid, mad, upset. But President Reagan had a nice cool calming effect in the way that he delivers to the people of the United States of America. First, President Reagan address

One of the elements that made Reagan´s speech effective is style, sentance design and word choice. Reagan used repetition

More formally, this paper will argue that Reagan solidifies his identity as “The Great Communicator” during his A Time for Choosing speech, by using unprecedented rhetorical strategies in order to create and unify an audience around his new conservative populism. This paper will first provide historical context for the speech, then the paper will address the