Rhetorical Analysis: We Shall Fight On The Beaches

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Rhetorical Essay Analysis World War II is a time of great struggle for humanity, especially for those within the midst of the battlegrounds. During the June of 1940 in an attempt to boost his citizen’s morale and confidence, Winston Churchill, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), gave his speech “We shall fight on the beaches” at the British House of Commons. The rhetorical purpose of this speech is to convince the people of the UK that they have a fighting chance against the Axis forces, even if the worst comes to show. In order to gain people’s support, Churchill employed the rhetorical strategies of historical evidence and emotional appeal. Churchill begins by giving context to the previous happenings of the war, in order to allow people to grasp the power of the German forces when it comes to invasion. Churchill states that “there has never been a period… of which we boast when an absolute guarantee against invasion… could’ve been given to our people”. One can’t be too overconfident about guarantees, because there is always a chance attached to them. However, Churchill reassures that the British naval and air powers can be exercised through preparation against “every kind of novel stratagem and every kind of brutal and treacherous maneuver”. These words …show more content…

Churchill effectively resonates with the audience and rallies them, through the rhetorical strategies of historical evidence, in order to ease his audience into the context of the battle and to show them the importance of the struggle, and the strategy of emotional appeal, through invoking feelings of pride, patriotism, and a sense of duty to maintain the survival of their homeland. The result was an effective delivery of the speech to the audience, which resonated and stuck with people, easily becoming one of the more important speeches in modern

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