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Speech on the Challenger Disaster, Ronald Reagan, January 28, 1986
Challenger disaster impact
Reagan's speech about Challenger disaster
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Finely the president tied the incident that day to events that took place 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake who died in see. Bringing this he is comparing the Challenger seven to Sir Francis Drake, he is also telling the public in order for them to explore there should be sacrifices, and public should never turn its back to the program. Though, President Reagan’s speech about Challenger shuttle was short, it carried a lot emotions expressed by his tone of voice and his ability to deliver the speech, moreover, he did an effective job of persuading his audience, whether he was mourning them or informing them the message was clear. However the president didn’t have the right strategy about the part he was apologizing to the children that was watching, he should never had to mention another teacher going to space in his speech.
Later that night President Ronald Reagan came on air to give the State of the Union address and talk on the tragedy that had just unfolded. Through this speech President Reagan consoles the families of those who lost their lives, the American schoolchildren, and the American public as a whole. He also gives this speech to reassure America of the viability of the NASA program and the light in the future. By the use of rhetorical skill, including analogy, strong emotional appeals, and his position of power, President Reagan manages to convince America that despite the tragedy the benefits of keeping a space exploration program greatly outweigh the losses.
According to the texts “Space Shuttle Challenger”, “A Night To Remember”, and “The Vanishing Island”, risk-taking has its pros and cons to it such as affecting your future, impacting the world, and the knowledge that you gain from these experiences. To begin
Have you ever taken a risk? Well, The Challenger Crew from “Address to the Nation”, Frederick Douglass from “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, and Kahumbu from “A Kenyan Teen’s Discovery” all took risks to learn, some for the good and some for the bad. The risks that The Challenger Crew, Frederick Douglass, and Kahumbu took are all different risks that can teach people important life lessons. In “Address to the Nation” the 7 astronauts took a risk so they could learn more about space and, “expanding man's horizons” (paragraph 4).
Now that the Space Race is over, what is the point? Are we wasting our money? Should we cut their budget? When the cold war ended with the soviets in 1991, it sparked up a debate as to whether or not the funding for the National Aeronautics and space administration should be continued. Although it may seem like a simple fix, it has proved to be one of NASA’s greatest and most difficult challenges yet.
On January 28th, 1986, Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States at the time, in his speech, entitled “Challenger Disaster,” addressed the Challenger Disaster. He supported this claim by first mourning over the tragedy, then he promoted NASA, also he tried to make sense of this calamity, and finally he informed the audience that the seven astronauts will never be forgotten and as a country we will be forever thankful for their service. Through Reagan’s use of tone, rhetorical analysis, and rhetorical tools he effectively persuaded America to mourn and appreciate the lives of the seven astronauts loss and to convince American people to continue their support for NASA and move forward as a country. Reagan unified America with his supportive
(Dennis 714) By giving the members of the space shuttle crew a recognition as “pioneers”, the speech was poised for a smooth transition from its nature as sincere eulogy into a rhetorical work with a deliberative occasion. As soon as audience received a message implying that Challenger was a beginning instead of an end and how discovery has its risk, Ronald Reagan was in a good position to elaborate his objectives on the space program. Surely, the transition between the bad news and the new hope is one of the greatest features of the speech.
In The Space Shuttle Challenger each person that was on that shuttle took a risk to learn a lesson and to conquer a fear the minute they stepped foot on it. They were learning a lesson because had they actually made it to space they would’ve gotten to learn what space was actually like and
While describing the reasoning behind the crew's physical risk, Ronald Reagan mentions, “we were aware of the dangers”(2). He portrays this to exhibit the Challenger Seven actions, how they know they have a chance of dying, yet they still do it with no fear of what might happen to them. During his speech with the families of the Challenger Seven, he proclaims, “Your loved ones are daring”(3). Reagan mentions this to indicate that even though the Challenger seven died, they risked themselves to achieve something they desired, yet they did it knowing it could affect them possibly or negatively. Overall, the consequence of the physical risk that the pioneers take is an example of daringness.
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
The constant running of the space program in the news helped to provide the funding NASA needed. However, it was the America’s perception of its heroes that
Multi-Paragraph Essay On February 1, 2008, the Columbia Space Shuttle disintegrated while re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in the fatalities of all seven crew members. The families of these members, as well as all of America, were struck with anguish and heartbreak. With these feelings, the nation looked for a leader to guide them with understanding and authority.
Reagan applies oratorical devices and figurative language to explain to the nation the passion and bravery the seven astronauts have. He uses parallel structure and listing to imply the passion and bravery the Challenger crew have. “But, we never lost an astronaut in flight, we’ve never had a tragedy like this” (2). The parallel structure creates a cause and effect to the tragedy. Its shocking devastation, however, it shows the nation how the future is creating new things.
Raegan states that “the future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.(7)” By using this type of syntax, it gives the audience a ray of hope and encouragement to tell them that if we want our space endeavors to reach up to its fullest potential, we need to take risks and not let this tragedy affect our plans. If these crew members were brave enough to “lead us into the future,” then it is our job to finish what they started and not let their dedication be in vain. Another way in which Reagan effectively applies parataxis is when he says that “nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.(8)” By saying this, Ragen establishes a bit of a general truth that essentially encourages his audience that they should not take this tragedy as a loss, but instead take it as a lesson learned.
Former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, in his address to the nation about the Challenger explosion, distinguishes the terrifying news of the explosion of the space shuttle. Reagan's purpose is to remember the lives lost in this painful accident and to ensure that space program will keep our faith with its future in space. He adopts a sorrowful tone in order to acknowledge all the courage and breakers that those seven astronauts expressed to his nation. Reagan opens his tribute to the Challenger astronauts by recognizing that this accident delayed his State of the Union address and by showing the pain of him and his wife’s grief. He appeal to the emotions of the listeners by expressing that “today is a day for mourning and remembering” (Reagan, 1986), that he and his wife are “pained to the core” (Reagan, 1986), and that we all know that this accident is “truly a national loss” (Reagan, 1986).