Rhetorical Analysis Of The Man With The Muck-Rake By Theodore Roosevelt

26th president. He gave one of the greatest speeches called “Conservation of a National Duty”. He gave this speech to try and save our natural resources. Also to talk about the amount of resources we use of technology today. He was a great supporter of the environmental policies and protection programs. He really wanted to make all of our natural resources last.

December 7, 1941 is a day that will live with us forever. On December 8, 1941, the next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave one of the most patriotic speeches this country has heard. He used several different rhetorical devices, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, to strengthen his argument.  His speech was an argument that was trying to get his fellow americans to stand up and fight for our freedom. He came across many groups of people who were totally against going to war but his speech was very logical and filled with emotion many of his fellow Americans backed his idea. Since, President Roosevelt had won over the majority of the americans he was able to get us ready to go to war and avenge Pearl Harbor. When the country is attacked, and

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as the 32nd president of the United States in 1932, the third year of the worst economic depression in America's history. At the height of The Great Depression about 25% of America's workforce was unemployed, and the country was crying out for change. This is what he promised in the inaugural address he gave on March 3, 1933: change. He gave his speech to show the hearts and minds of the people of the USA that they will come back from this great hardship. Franklin Delano Roosevelt used a powerful yet sympathetic tone of voice, dramatic pauses for emphasis, and plan to change how the country operated, in his Inaugural Address to reassure the nation that they will come back from the Great Depression.

Because of President McKinley’s death, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was put into office. Then, on March 4, 1905, Roosevelt delivered his Inaugural Address to disclose his ideas and goals to the American people as their leader. The audience of this speech were Roosevelt’s fellow citizens. He told the people to treat other countries with compassion and friendship because they became such a great nation. With his use of repetition, allusions, and his tone, Roosevelt was able to emphasize his point in making the country a powerful nation to bring tranquility throughout the world.

Coined “mudrakers” by President Theodore Roosevelt, journalists wrote investigative articles exposing social, economic and political scandals. The writers detailed the many horrors of poverty, urban slums, dangerous factory conditions, and even child labor. No one was safe from the “mudrakers”, their articles took aim at the food and insurance industries, prostitution and political bribery and corruption. All which satisfied the American public’s appetite for scandal. Not unlike the sensationalism used by media today to help influence public

In the Progressive Era, influential journalists wanted to expose the government and big business of their flaws to American citizens with using factual and proven evidence against them. Muckrakers, who are journalists that seek out the truth of corruption among the government and business leaders, became well known due to how many people were amazed by the revealed injustices and dishonesty in the

readers to be also engaged. His tone played a role to plant a sense of alert regarding

“A date which will live in infamy” is a phrase most associated with this day. An unprovoked attack aimed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 left the nation vulnerable to various outside powers. Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew the vital importance of creating and leading a crusade, so his purpose in addressing the nation was to declare war against Japan and rally the support of the citizens of America. Until the devastating bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japan had been considered an ally. Roosevelt’s speech was about bringing justice to the nation and being honest with the people about the terrible events that had just occurred. Roosevelt, serving as the thirty-second president of the United States, was in his second term when the attack happened.

The “Infamy Speech” was a brief speech, running to just a little over seven minutes. Secretary of State Cordell Hull had recommended that the President devote more time to a fuller exposition of Japanese-American relations and the lengthy but unsuccessful effort to find a peaceful solution. However, Roosevelt kept the speech short in the belief that it would have a more dramatic effect.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) is one of the most influential presidents in history of the United States. In FDR’s 1941 speech, “On the War with Japan,” he discusses the necessity of going to war in Europe and what it means for America’s future. His leadership skills in combination with his speech causes society to go from an isolationist policy to being motivated to enter and win the war. Through the use of rhetoric, FDR is able to captivate the listeners and encourage them to actively participate in the war. Not only does he play on the emotions of the audience, he also appeals to their sense of patriotism and logic in order to persuade them to get involved in World War II.

In 1933 history was changed for the better. Nineteen thirty three was an era where people were left devastated by the lost of many essentials that people today would take for granted. Eighty four years ago in Washington D.C the 32nd president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, gave his first inauguration speech before later serving four additional years to his country. Many of people were awaiting to hear his words spoken loud and clear stating that change was imminent with the assistance of hard work and dedication. The president’s aspiration was clearly presented as he was there to help improve their situation with plans to make things better. The purpose of president Hoover’s speech was to appeal to many through the use of pathos and ethos accompanied by his use of well known rhetoric devices such as amplification.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary a muckraker is someone who “searches out and publicly exposes real or apparent misconduct of a prominent individual or business” (“Muckraker”). During the 1890s to the 1920s, muckrakers were a group of American journalists who exposed the corruption in society and informed the public about important social issues. The term muckraker originally came around when President Roosevelt gave a speech about reporters who exposed political and corporate corruption ("Who Are the Muckrakers?”). There have been so many muckrakers in American history whose works have been the cause of new laws and changes; some of the most important and famous of these muckrakers were Upton Sinclair, Samuel Hopkins Adams, and Jacob Riis.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) addressed the nation in a “fireside” chat on December 29, 1940 called “The Arsenal of Democracy” ("Franklin Delano"). It was one of twenty-eight fireside chats that Roosevelt would eventually give, but it would become known as one of his best speeches (Roosevelt xi). In this chat he again used the radio to talk to Americans in their homes, where it felt relaxed and informal, despite addressing a serious issue that our nation faced (Roosevelt xi). Roosevelt wanted to tell the people of the United States about the threat caused by the Axis powers’ assault on Great Britain. He felt that America had a responsibility to help Britain and in doing so maintain our national security. President Roosevelt took a strong stance on the need to support Britain and in his speech laid out a plan to build an “arsenal of democracy” in the United States that would protect our country as well as our allies ("Franklin Delano").

The muckrakers wanted change and that is exactly the end result. Popular magazines, such as McClure's and Cosmopolitan, competed for readers and fueled the push for the provocative material. The bottom line for publishers was: the more shocking, the better (Click, n.d.). Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt, president of the United States from 1901-1908, nicknamed these investigative journalists muckrakers. He borrowed the term from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in which a rake was used to dig up filth and muck.

“Journal articles instructed readers on how to act, how to consume, and how to eat” (Barkan 20). Muckraker journalism was made to showcase the negative sides of society that may have not been exposed to readers directly. These journalists played a tremendous role in presenting major problems to the public, in turn also to Congress. Once the muckrakers caught on to what these industries were doing they investigated and gave all the information on what was going on behind the scenes.