Rhetorical Strategies In Frank Schaeffer's Speech Military Families

In 1944, the United States war effort in Europe was just starting to pick up. Even though the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred just three years prior, the growing power of the Third Reich could not be ignored. During this time, France was already occupied by Nazi Germany and Hitler's war machine was on the path of conquering all of Eurasia. In an attempt to combat this immense threat, the U.S. formulated a plan to engage the German forces through an invasion of Normandy. This bloody offensive would be remembered in infamy as D-Day. Shortly before this violent clash of U.S. and German forces, the inexperienced men of the United States Third Army was given an encouraging and inspiring speech by the four star general George S. Patton.

Immediately following the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Robert Kennedy's job was to inform his African American audience of King's passing. After realizing that the crowd’s initial reaction would be the desire to revolt violently, Kennedy knew he needed to subdue their immediate emotional reactions and make them respond rationally and peacefully. The speech Kennedy gave was crucial in the maintenance of peace in tragic times. In order to prevent revolts, Kennedy established common ground with his audience, he created an empathetic tone, and references a Greek poet to instill peace in the minds of his audience.

The fear of killing and being killed in battle is no easy thing to contemplate or to inspire. Inspiring soldiers to participate earnestly in battle is crucial to winning wars. Approaches to accomplish this have been studied and tried by military leaders for millennia. George S. Patton attempted this very thing in his speech to the Third Army. Patton delivered a profane and vulgar speech to untried soldiers who have yet to see combat. Patton is able to inspire his soldiers by using his reputation while dismantling his authority, using obscene humor, and appealing to their sense of honor and courage.

John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech is was one of the best speeches ever written. It wasn't just remembered for the length of the speech, but it was remembered for the speeches content . Kennedy said that he will unify the United States of America and the whole world. Kennedy also says that he will not allow the enemy to threaten the U.S. or its allies. Through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos, Kennedy strongly tells this message to the American people and to all the leaders of world.

There are many things that a speech must contain to make it a well written and spoken speech. John F. Kennedy 's speech he gave on September 12th 1962, titled “Address at Rice University on the Nation 's Space Efforts”, better known as “We Choose to go to the Moon” contains many of the important factors of a successful speech. Kennedy used rhetorical strategies and skills to help him influence the American people to help accomplish the major goal of reaching the moon. Kennedy did not only want to reach the moon, but he wanted to be the first country to do so. President Kennedy effectively told the objective he found important by using ethos, pathos and kairos throughout his speech to help get the support of the people. By using these three rhetorical strategies Kennedy gave a moving speech.

Hours after Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan, gaining worldwide headlines, giving millions unanswered questions, the speech, Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation was given one day after the event. On December 8th 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech to be remembered today, by using rhetorical devices and figurative language to strongly picture his message to the public, making great use of parallel structure, personification, parallelism, and climax ordering to enforce his key point of wanting Americans to stand up against the Japanese forces for the deliberate actions done towards there peaceful country, with no threat or hint of war or of an armed attack. With hopes of gathering support for the decision to declare war on Japan.

The famous speech Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation by Franklin D. Roosevelt shows us a vast amount of rhetorical appeals: Pathos, Ethos, and Logos to the nation. The speech given by Franklin D. Roosevelt shows us the intended audience and the persuasion used in order to change the peoples’ minds to defend our nation. Let’s begin with the Pathos for this particular speech.

Passion is a necessary trait all excellent speakers use to persuade their audiences. A passionate speaker uses pathos to sway his or her audience to the speaker’s side by playing with the audience’s emotions. Before pathos is used to move the audience emotionally, it is smart for the speaker to use ethos to build good credibility. With credibility, the speaker has the ability to make the audience trust him or her. That trust is beneficial to help the audience believe what the speaker is saying. Logos is another trait that a strong speaker must make use of to show intellect. It is the appeal to logic. Logic is needed to show the audience that the speaker knows his or her facts and can effectively back them up. Ethos, pathos, and logos are three vital aspects of a good speech. Elizabeth I uses all three appeals subtly throughout her speech, using pathos the most. The queen also uses rhetorical devices to emphasize her points. Through the use of amplification, asyndeton, and climax, Elizabeth I reassures and inspires her troops with her compelling speech.

On April 11, 1962, President John F. Kennedy held a news conference to discuss the 3.5% increase on steel prices across the country. With the country at war, and struggling to emerge from a recession, increasing the price of steel would have a negative impact. After his administration had taken steps to aid the steel companies to reach a non-inflationary steel workers union contract, the decision to increase steel prices was deemed to be a betrayal of the President and the American people. The speech was directed towards the “common man” in opposition to big steel companies. He speaks for the purpose of not only persuading the companies to lower their prices, but also to convince the public that he is looking out for their best interest. Kennedy employs a disapproving tone and strong diction in an effort to clearly achieve his goal in influencing the steel

Military families live all across the United States and more than likely you know at least one or you, yourself, are actually a military family. In the excerpt from “Military Children and Families” by Nansook Park, Park argues that greater attention needs to be established by psychologists towards military families in order to implement more effective programs to help support military families. To support her argument, Nansook Park uses an effective amount of pathos and logos, citing credible psychological studies and along with pathos and logos, she uses ethos as well.

“December 7th 1941- A date that will live in infamy.” This opening statement is the first powerful line said by President Roosevelt to the American people after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This greatness of this opening line will be forever be ingrained in the minds of every American citizen, especially the people who lived during the most significant war of the 20th century. The bombing of Pearl Harbor is an event that can never be forgotten, and President Roosevelt’s speech in response to this appalling attack is just as significant. The objective of this speech was to urge Congress to declare war on Japan. Roosevelt’s speech after Pearl Harbor is one of the more recognizable and important speeches in all of American history. His speech incorporates bountiful instances of rhetorical devices, such as logos, pathos, and ethos. By analyzing these rhetorical devices, one is able to see Roosevelt’s vigorous use of emotion, his strength in addressing his character and reputation rather than focusing too heavily upon appeals to logic and reason, ultimately to get the result he wants from his audience. The profound power of this speech resonates with all who read and hear it.

Former Commander in Chief and President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his speech, “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation,” discloses the details of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt’s purpose is to notify the nation about Japan’s aggressive naval actions and to petition Congress to declare war on Japan. He adopts a somber yet patriotic and confident tone in order to rally the citizens and members of Congress behind his proposal for war.

To start off John F. Kennedy was giving his speech during the inauguration, talking to the citizens of America. He was giving a very powerful speech that included metaphors, rhetoric devices, and SOAPS. I say that because he used that to capture the audience's attention. He starts off by talking about the war and those who fought for us, to be brave like them. That they were not looking for power like most of them were, that’s when he used a metaphor saying those who “sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside”. Saying that they were foolish to even think they can gain that power they don’t deserve, how they talk about doing good, instead of actually doing it. Kennedy was making a type of statement, on how we the americans should show more compassion to those who don’t have anything.

During World War II, children, women and families worked tirelessly and contributed to aiding the soldiers during their perilous fights. In 1939 through 1945, American families came together and as a community to work the hardest they ever have. Families helped one another to hold up their country with the absence of their men. “Wear it out, use it up, make it do, or do without.” (qtd. In FDR and The American Crisis), were words stressed to the women and children for support. The sacrifices the families made on the homefront, became just as paramount as the battlefronts. If the choices that were made didn’t prevail, the success of the war wouldn’t have ensued.

In the essay, “What You Can Do For Your Country,” James Herbert Bushman speaks of instituting a mandatory military service requirement of three years, starting before the age of twenty-four. Bushman states his belief that as a requisite of citizenship, you must serve in a branch of the military. He claims that a necessary service will benefit more than only the military, but will benefit individual people as well by increasing the feeling of unity, the knowledge and skillset of the individual, and will grant equal pay and benefits for all in service. Bushman suggests that everyone who is unwilling to serve their country is no better than a freeloader or a beggar on a street corner, mooching off others’ efforts and earnings. Similarly, he repeats the old phrase ‘freedom is not free,’ and insinuates that everyone must work equally for their share of freedom.