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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Speech By President Ronald Regan

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On January 28th, 1986, the United States was devastated by the Challenger Disaster. Because of the importance of space exploration at the time, the Challenger was covered heavily in the media. The addition of the first regular civilian to ever be in space was an exciting possibility to many of the American people. The launch was televised and because of the popularity millions of people were watching all over the nation. The stunned American people were absolutely devastated by the explosion. On this same day, President Ronald Regan was preparing to give the State of the Union address. Immediately after the disaster happened President Ronald Regan appeared on television to address what just happened. In his speech to address the Challenger Disaster, Ronald …show more content…

We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.” In just these few phrases, Ronald Regan recognizes the pain people are feeling and empathizes with them. By using words and phrases like we and our country, Ronald Regan successfully appeals to the general audience’s emotions. He uses pathos even further and more specifically to the families of the deceased by acknowledging the deceased’s sacrifices and announcing their full names with a pause in between each. He also notes to the family of seven that, “we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy.” By specifically recognizing the seven deceased and their families, it helps to ease their pain by knowing that the President of the United States cares. Ronald Regan also specifically mentions the people working on the Challenger at NASA and the school children who were watching the Challenger launch on live television. Mentioning audience members specifically is a great way to show that you connect and emphasize with them. Ronald Regan knew this and used it

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His inclusion of analogies and emotional appeals, combined with his strong sense of authority, brings his arguments into focus and gives them a punch. His power in delivering this speech quite possibly kept America looking towards the stars and propelled them into the next age of space exploration. President Reagan’s speech serves as a touching conclusion to a tragic event. Despite the terrible catastrophe, Reagan’s four-minute speech provided closure on the one-minute tragedy whose impact will be felt for

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In my opinion this helps comfort the families by informing them that we all stand with them One example of this is when Reagan says “But we feel the loss” in the fourth paragraph. Also Reagan strays away from the negative aspect of the disaster. The focus of staying positive provides a sense of purpose. Regan explains how the “seven” was full of courage and that they died doing what they

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On December 8th, 1941 Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered a speech to the House of Representatives, Members of the Senate, the House Speaker, to the Vice President, and to the American people. Franklin spoke of the incident of the attack on Pearl Harbor the day after it occurred. Mr. Roosevelt was stern and concise. He spoke on the occasion of tragedy to inform the House and the American people what the Japanese have done.

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This speech was intended to inform America of the Challenge disaster. Reagan used specific pronouns to address the audience. He focused a lot on the individuals that lost someone due to this dismal occurrence. One thing that he said specifically to those close to the astronauts was, “Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace” (3). He said this to honor the astronauts and explicate how wondrous the seven astronauts were.

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They needed reassurance that their country was safe, how they could help, and why did this happen. Americans wanted to know that they would be secure, and that there would be justice for these attacks. They need George Bush, their president to assure them of this. The President had the task that day of letting the nation know what took place during the attacks. In order to do this, he needed to show the world that America is still strong, but he also needed to appeal to the emotions of his audience.

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Ronald Reagan Shuttle Crash Speech President Ronald Reagan speech to the American citizen expresses grief towards the Challenger shuttle disaster in 1986. Relating in Missouri, Despair and utter sadness with the American citizens in the victim's family and friends. This was truly a despairing time for America that needed as many prayers as possible, President Reagan deeply felt the families of the victims pain and address it as much as he could. Ronald Reagan uses allegory to express his deep sorrow and empathy. He states for the families of the seven, “We cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy.

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The fact that many lives were lost and many families were damaged, shows that this was an extremely emotional time for America. FDR, as mentioned before, begins this address to the nation in a very somber tone to show the effect these attacks have had on the morale of the country. With the seriousness FDR shows in the beginning, it makes the American people pay attention and really digest the message he is giving them. Another huge emotional appeal President Roosevelt plays on is painting Japan as the true enemy to American peace. FDR, in an attempt to explain the rift with the Japan says, “Hostilities exist.

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At just age 43, Theodore Roosevelt, better known as Teddy Roosevelt, became the president of the United States following a tragic incident in which William McKinley was assassinated, making him the youngest presidents. He brought a new spirit into the white house, one that believed that the president should work for his country to do whatever is necessary. As a president he expanded executive power, believed in a strong foreign policy as well as pushed many progressive reforms. On April 23, 1910, while in Paris, France, he delivered a speech to an audience filled with students of the prestigious school of Sorbonne University. Within his speech he touches on the idea of the advantages that these students have been given, however, in a polite

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One moment it was a normal day and the next moment will forever be ingrained within the minds of an entire nation. The first plane hit at 8:46 a.m. and the second at 9:03 a.m., leaving 2,819 people dead. September 11, 2001 will always be remembered as a day of great destruction, a day of great loss. September 11, 2001 was the day two planes flew into the World Trade Center, forever changing the way of life for all of America. After this horrible act of terrorism the president of the United States gave a speech addressing the nation.

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Although Ronald Reagan’s speech about the Challenger explosion was given during a time of great sorrow, the speech was successful for being a way to unite the country as one to deal with the loss as a whole, and to bear the weight of such a horrific tragedy together. With the Challenger disaster being the first one of the space program to have deaths in flight, the United States was completely shocked by the misfortune of the shuttle. Ronald Reagan’s speech on the disaster was a way to have the nation not blame the space program for the deaths of the astronauts, but a way to have the nation face the disaster with strength and push through the event with more courage than before and to continue exploration into space. Ronald Reagan begins his speech by addressing the nation and stating how he is exempting the State of the Union

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“We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together” (2). Listing creates a moment for the nation to mourn together. Also shows how much care and empathy Reagan has for the families who had loss their member from the

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In his emotionally inspiring speech, “Shuttle Challenger Address,” Ronald Reagan expresses his deepest condolences to the people most affected by the Challenger accident. He advances his speech with a gentle yet strong willed facade in order to inspire the future generations of astronauts to not let this tragedy affect their future endeavors. Raegen then briefly puts his presidential status aside in order to further express the depth of his pain, not only at a presidential level, but as an American citizen concerned for the well being of his country. Raegen applies different types of rhetorical devices in order to emotionally appeal to the people most affected by the accident, while at the same time encourage the general public to not let this

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Reagan sets America on a higher level than any other country when he says, “Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on earth.” He then goes on to add, “We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.” These hopeful words such as freedom and dignity set America apart from the rest of the world. Ronald Reagan is tactfully creating a sense of nationalism and unification in his audience, giving them a sense of pride. People want to preserve and remake America in this way, because believing that we have more freedom and more opportunities than others, makes us

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He again appeals to the emotions of the listeners by stating that “we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much” (Reagan, 1986), “Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit to say, “”Give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with joy”” (Reagan, 1986), and “They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us” (Reagan, 1986). He expresses his mourning to the loved ones in order to show that he truly cares and that “we’re thinking about you so very much” (Reagan, 1986). Reagan conveys a touching tone that we feel the pain and sadness you do towards your loved

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Multiple presidents throughout history have presented their Inaugural speeches, but not all have been as influential as a speech presented with complete thought and various rhetorical devices. An inaugural speech or inaugural address is the first speech made by a President at a ceremony; this ceremony is called an Inauguration. In Ronald Reagan's inaugural speech, which was held on January 20th of 1981, he presents many Rhetorical Devices in which engage both to the audience's emotions and provide information throughout his whole speech. Ronald Reagan used many rhetorical devices and got his point across to the people which made his inaugural address nothing short of excellent. The first Rhetorical Device Ronald Reagan used in his Inaugural speech was the use of Pathos.

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