Michael Moore, Propagandist Or Documentarian. . The Question

The idea of a documentary being an artistic or even personalised expression of a director is long gone, or so it seems in recent times. In Michael Moore’s latest documentary, Bowling for Columbine, he attempts to get across to viewers his, and essentially only his point of view, on the topic of gun laws. Although what Moore is trying to say is not necessarily wrong, he is at the same time not taking into account the other side of the argument either; all he is trying to do, essentially is hypnotise viewers into thinking

President Bush, shares his view on the matter throughout this speech. Bush’s purpose is to try and help Americans not panic during such a terrifying situation that has changed American history. Since Bush understands what Americans or people in general the world must be feeling, he is able to address the matter in a calm and collected way. In “Bush’s 9/11 speech,” the author, President George Bush, uses various rhetorical devices to reinforce his position on the 9/11 attack.

President Bush’s 9/11 speech was addressed because of a series terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001; the attacks took the lives of thousands of innocent people. As stated by Bush, the U.S.

It displays him professionally sitting in his oval office, with the American and Presidential flag framing him at his desk. The symbolism of patriotism and power seen in this image are affecting the audience in believing that anything Bush would say that evening would be official and be true to the people. For example, “ we will make no distinction between the terrorist who committed these act and those who harbor them.” Based on Bush’s statement about seeking out those who committed the attacks as well as the ones who helped shows that he understands there is no moral distinction between the two. The criminals that committed the attack are just as evil as the ones that helped to plan it out. Therefore his threat is credible in the sense that he is President of the United states and he has the resources to back up his statement. Another example would when he says, “Tonight i ask for your prayers for all those who grieve.” Bush incorporated ethos into the speech by asking the audience to pray for those who grieve. This is ethical because prayer is apart of his moral beliefs. And using this collectively creates the sense of

The most basic definition of propaganda is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc (Propaganda).Anything that falls under misleading or biased falls into this category as well, including promotions that one doesn’t view as deceitful. Propaganda in United States’ history dates back as early as the Revolutionary War, but most Americans would argue that propaganda is of the past. Propaganda is alive and well, living in campaign platforms, advertisements, and news channels, attempting to contort their audience’s thoughts to mimic their own.

was that doing so would weaken al-Qaeda, the terrorist group behind 9/11. However, in reality,

President Bush addresses to the country about the tragedy accident that has happened to the United States citizens. Throughout his speech he says, ”Terrorist attacks can shake the foundation of the biggest buildings but they can not touch the foundation of America” .The terrorist group, Al-Qaeda attacked

After the twin towers fell and condensed to rubble on September 11, 2001, the Bush administration quickly formulated a plan to maintain the nation’s sense of national safety and security. John Lewis Gaddis summarized the administration’s directions to the public when he wrote, “Bush requested, and only partially received, what amounted to a global police action against terrorism, combined with a call for vigilance at home and abroad, combined with the suggestion that, despite what had happened, Americans should carry on with their ordinary lives” (Gaddis at 37). The citizens were to follow the example of former British politician Sir Winston Churchill; Bush believed the nation would best react to the crisis by applying Churchill’s words

Bush uses his presidential platform to help alleviate the fear of the American people. In doing this he had to act poised, calm, and professional as his predecessors had to in times of catastrophe and tragedy. Bush had been in the middle of a book reading at an elementary school in Florida at the time of the attack. As soon as the attack happened Bush was contacted and immediately boarded Air Force One, flew from Florida to Washington D.C., made this address to the nation, and finally he flew to New York to aid the first responders in the cleanup of the wreckage. This showed professionalism on Bush’s part because he had dropped everything to help his country. This made the people want

The purpose of this speech was, overall, to address the tragic acts of terrorism. President Bush accomplishes this in an informative and effective manner through his elegiac tone throughout the speech. This mournful way of writing gives a respectful and empathetic feeling to the address. This is incredibly important, as many people were feeling grief, loss, fear, and heartache at the time. Another purpose for the speech is to call the American people to action. President Bush, through his use of imperative statements, successfully rallies his audience to action. After describing some upcoming changes to the government, he said “These measures are essential. But the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows” (“George Bush Speech”). This imperative statement gets the audience feeling determined to do their part to destroy terrorism. Soon after, he said, “I have a message for our military: Be ready. I’ve called the Armed Forces to alert, and there is a reason. The hour is coming when America will act, and you will make us proud” (“George Bush Speech”). This specifically calls the military to action, which is a critical aspect of the speech. President Bush also uses this speech as an opportunity to thank people who made a difference in the tragic event, saying “I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an important time”, “I thank the world for its outpouring of support”, and, “…I thank you for your

The speech took place on September 20th which is nine days after the attack occurred. There are several reasons that Bush waited nine days before presenting the speech, but having nine days to prepare for a speech of this magnitude is hardly any time at all. When he addressed the nation the night of the attack the speech must have been much easier to prepare for due to the fact that there is not yet a plan in place. When addressing congress a plan needs to be in place and it needs to be said efficiently. There was a clear objective in the message Bush was trying to convey to congress,

Moore also suggests that Bush didn't do enough to go after Bin Laden because of his family connections. The fact that the US sent in over

President Bush’s (BE #12). first reaction was the thought that the pilot had a heart attack. However (BE #7), as soon as the President realized that this was an act of terrorism, he declared war with the statement “I made up my mind at that moment that we were going to war” (Haulley 2005). In President Bush’s first address to the public after the attacks, he stated: “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.” (“9/11 Attacks,” 2010.)

Propaganda, according to The American Heritage Dictionary, is "the dissemination of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those people advocating such a doctrine or cause." The book fits this definition by attempting to

On September 11, 2001, America was attacked by terrorists. Before this traumatic event, one could not even imagine someone doing such a thing. When this event occurred everyone had been unaware and continuing their daily activities only to be stopped by this life changing news. The president at the time was George W. Bush. Doing day to day activities like the rest of us, he was reading to a second grade class that bright Tuesday morning. Upon hearing about the news, he was utterly shocked along with the rest of America. At approximately 8:40 p.m., which is around 12 hours after the event, he gave a speech to address this horrendous event. President Bush had successfully created a sense of unity and security throughout the country with his speech by using ethos, pathos, logos, tone and imagery.