Reagan’s melancholic yet optimistic tone uplifts the nation. Reagan’s uses diction in his speech to create his optimistic tone. “We’re still pioneers. They the member of the Challenger crew, were pioneers” (4). Reagan explains that everyone will do something that is new, which makes everyone a Pioneer.
Speeches for the Fallen: Pericles vs. Reagan Countless events throughout history have led to the much appreciated sacrifices of fellow humans, and one way for the community to honor this is to speak about it. Speeches such as Pericles’ Funeral Oration and Ronald Reagan’s Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger have been influenced by the same ideas and structures that created a lasting effect on their audiences. Both men talk about very grave subjects: honoring men and women lost performing their duties. Pericles addressed the loss of Athenian soldiers to battles against Sparta in ancient Greek times, while Ronald Reagan gave an on-the-spot speech over the relatively recent loss of astronauts during NASA’s Challenger mission.
The first rhetorical skill that Reagan uses is ethos. In the very first sentence he implies his status and authority by stating, “I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans.” By showing us his power as President of the United States (the
Tragedies, they will happen without a hint of awareness but they cannot be stopped or answered for. When they do occur it leads people to shock and grief. However tragedies brings forth something that gives people unity, hope, and direction. This something is called a leader and throughout history many people have embodied this quality. There are many instances where people have stood up an embodied this quality.
Reagan used pronouns to include the audience throughout his speech. One example of Reagan’s speech being inclusive of the entire nation was when he said, “ We’ve grown used to the wonders in this century” (4). He is saying that as a whole country we are used to finding new wonders everyday. Reagan was very confident in NASA and wanted to continue to receive support, so he said, “We’ll continue our quest into space” (6). He believed that America could keep the space program going strong despite the recent tragic events.
The speech conducted by former President Ronald Reagan titled “Evil Empire” was to address the National Association of Evangelicals. The speeches main topic is to focus on the evil that is among us. Former President Reagan conducted this speech at the time Congress was debating on a resolution for nuclear freeze. The speech’s main point is to inform and give hope to Christians to make sure America stays a free and great country.
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
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s State of the Union Address in the year 1942 opened with a powerful start. He remained good in posture, strong verbal skills, gestures and strong eye contact with his audience which goes to show confidence and being in control of your speech (Stephen D. Boyd, 2017). He addressed the Americans, the citizens of the United States before he mentioned anything. He went to show that the President, himself found faith in their spirits and how he was merely proud of his citizens. He presented a powerful statement to his audience by acknowledging them and according to Matt Eventoff, “a statement or phrase can catch the audience’s attention by keeping them guessing as to what you’re about to say next.
Dr. John Henrik Clarke was an author, historian, educator, poet, civil activist and -autodidact leader. Born John Henry Clark on January 1, 1915, in Unions Springs, Alabama to John Clark, a sharecropper, and Willie Ella Mays Clark, a laundress. Although he was born in Alabama, he grew up in Georgia. “Clarke decided to add an “e” to his family name Clark and changed his middle name to “Henrik” after the Scandinavian rebel playwright Henrik Ibsen” (Markoe, 120). He grew up during an era where Jim Crow was pervasive in which “equal but separate” became the custom and repressive law for African Americans.
Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, portrays her sorrow in the death of Ronald Reagan, and emphasizes the former president’s accomplishments. Thatcher utilizes cause and effect to show how Reagan prospered under immense pressure of the public. Thatcher projects her admiration for Reagan by using glittering diction. Lastly, she adds shift change to show the changing tone in her eulogy. Margaret Thatcher appeals to not only Americans but others who are grieving the loss of Reagan through the use of informal tone and Thatcher creates a sense of relief and praise for the deceased.
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
On January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan gave his “First Inaugural Address” with the United States listening; some people were able to experience firsthand Ronald Reagan’s passion and views for our country, in Front of the Capitol Building, while others tuned in to listen on the momentous occasion. Ronald Reagan sets the stage for his presidency using logos through logical sentences that are meant to bring the audience a better perspective on his point of view. Diction was a key factor in showing Ronald Reagan’s strong sense of nationalism; he chose powerful, hopeful words and phrases that were intended to unify the people. He shows syntax through anaphora, repetition, and parallelism. By using these rhetorical devices, he states key phrases more than once to create an urgency and therefore grab listener’s attention.
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).
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.
The rhetorical elements, logos and pathos, included in Ronald Reagan’s speech, “ Tear Down This Wall” assist Reagan and his words to convince Gorbachev, along with the people of Berlin, that the wall between eastern and western Berlin must be dismantled. Logos is an appeal to logic, or a way of persuading an audience by reason. Reagan provides details of how other countries have reached a state of freedom, at the same time have maintained a strong financial background. In “Tear Down This Wall” logos is used to show that countries who are not separated by a wall are thriving economically. For example, Reagan explained, “in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history.”
