Rhetorical Analysis of Speech a Speech by George W. Bush Essay

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.

Another way Clinton uses pathos is when he tries to comfort the people who have lost loved ones by saying, “You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything.” Clinton lets the audience know that they have people that will help them through this hard time and they have the nation behind them: “You have certainly not lost America, for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes.” Clinton ultimately reaches his goal of comforting his audience by using ethos and pathos strategies throughout his speech.

Rhetoric is found virtually everywhere, from billboards to commercial ads on television, it is a part of the 21st century’s daily routine. Communication thrives on rhetoric because it is the foundation of opinion. Without discussion or opinions, life will become dull and uninteresting. Political debates towards the end of presidential elections are predominately a few of the greatest examples of this. By the end of elections, a majority of people have lost interest in the repetition of each candidate, with rhetoric, people become more inclined to tune into their television to listen to two candidates debate.

Once he begins to appeal to the emotions of the audience, they forget that he has no credibility and are roused by his compelling arguments. He began the conversation by saying, “we’re gonna spend as much time as we need today” making sure that the audience knew they were the center of attention for as long as needed. Continuing in his opening remarks, Trump flattered the audience by saying he won the south states because “the evangelicals were so incredible.” Trump indulges the conscience of the audience with his flattery. The evangelicals that were listening felt important and crucial to the Trump campaign. At the end of the conversation Trump went as far to say that the evangelicals are “the most powerful group in the county” and that “there’s nothing more important to him than this group of people here.” This was just another dip into the audience’s ego and another vote for Trump on the

The first rhetorical appeal used is Pathos. This is the rhetorical appeal he uses the most and can be found throughout his whole speech. Pathos is referred

In this paragraph he uses lots of pathos talking about the attacks. He uses pathos by saying things like the attacks filled us with disbelief,terrible sadness,and unyielding anger. Bush also talks about the negative things that the terrorists did to our country. Toward the end of the paragraph Bush turns positive and talks about these attacks were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat but they have failed talking about the terrorist failing to ruin our country.

President Kennedy addressed the nation to express his displeasure after the U.S. steel companies raised steel prices by 3.5 percent. Since the nation was in the process of rebounding from a recession, Kennedy tried his absolute best to keep the steel prices the same and the wages to be steady, which would benefit the American people. The increase in prices however, hurt the people instead of helping them, as people consumed more and more steel at the time. In his speech, President Kennedy expresses his displeasure with the price increase and how it hurts not only America, but the entire world. The proper use of Pathos also emphasizes the disappointment Kennedy felt.

We will discuss the elements of a rhetorical triangle when applied to a rhetorical artifact, as well as their importance within criticism. The basis of the system of rhetoric per Aristotle is, “The faculty of observing in any given situation the available means of persuasion .” Rhetoric’s purpose as it is associated with speech, is to apply certain influence on the conduct of the audience. This means that President Obamas intention should be to evoke a certain emotion from the audience. This is done in such a way that the audience agrees with, or is persuaded in favor of the person giving the speech. If the rhetor, in this case President Obama, fails to apply influence upon the audience, this begs the question of purpose and intent of the speech. There are several methods that are used to survey the intent of a speech and the message intended to an audience. One of the first and very early methods used is Neo-Aristotelian Criticism. This is a form of criticism that was developed in the initial stages of rhetorical criticism. It involves three principles such as the situation, the speaker, and the

In Aristotle’s Rhetoric he talks about three proofs that define it. The proofs being ethos, pathos, and logos. When all these proofs are put in public speaking the persuasion really takes a toll on all of us Americans. The Faith in america speech really draws attention to these three proofs that make up Aristotle’s Rhetoric. In this religious speech Mitt Romney is trying to connect with the voters on a religious and personal level and

President Donald Trump announced an extremely important policy that he wanted to an enact… through the popular social media site called Twitter. A summarization of what his tweet means is as follows; Transgender individuals are a disruption to the victory of the military. This message provoked outrage and, consequently, little approval nationwide. In order to formulate his message, President Donald Trump used the tool of rhetorical appeals. As stated by Doug Downs, Aristotle observed that people usually made three kinds of appeals: to logic, to emotion, and to a rhetor’s credibility (Downs 469). Emotional appeals, also called pathos, toy with a reader’s feelings, through the use of manipulative claims, in order to convince the reader of something

This speech intends that the listeners are all Americans and politicians. Ethos and Pathos are present in Obama’s speech. President Obama appeals to ethos because he is giving credible information about his address. He talks about his life and giving a history of his family. When President Obama is addressing his speech, he mentions that he has “gone to some of the best schools in America.”

For instance, Obama said “Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House” in his victory speech (2008). The direct speech to his daughters and the lively expression, “the new puppy” have created intimacy between the American people and this newly elected president. Lastly, ethos is for the speaker or writer to win the credibility or trust from audiences or readers, which is maintained by the tone and style revealed in the speech or writing. Many speakers or writers use first-person narration, and Obama is not an exception.

The final two rhetorical strategies I found in “The Evil Empire” speech given by Ronald Reagan was the usage of pathos and logos. An example of pathos in this speech is when Reagan refers to the abortion matter that was taking place in this time period. He states that, “Unless and until it can be proven that the unborn child is not a living entity, then its right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness must be protected” (Reagan 4). The use of this sentence is to appeal to the audience’s emotions and get the audience to start thinking about what abortion really is. Reagan wants the American people to realize what

There is not one rhetorical strategy used in this speech as ethos, pathos, and logos are all seen. Obama appeals to emotion very successfully reaching people affected by racial issues. Obama successfully uses allusion and repetition, along with personal anecdotes to relate with the audience. Ethos is a rhetorical strategy used to appeal to

Presidents Obama and Trump engage readers through emotional connectedness, and use tone to establish a relationship between themselves and their audiences. Obama’s tone is reassuring and heartening throughout his speech effectively creating a powerful bond. For example, Obama states “And no act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans” In Obama’s statement, he reassures the public that no shooting will allow the values of Americans to be destroyed. Such words heartens Americans to continue their values