George Bush 9/11 Speech Rhetorical Devices

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In 2001 on September 11, 2 planes flew into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City. The attack killed 3,000 people and scared everyone all around the world. Because of this tragedy, George W. Bush had to communicate with the people of America to notify them that we had to be united at the moment. The audience of the speech would be the people of the United States of America. The purpose of George W. Bush's speech was to inform everyone that these actions will not be taken likely and that we are all strong no matter what happens. Some rhetorical strategies used are antithesis, credibility, and emotion.

First of all, George W. Bush uses antithesis in order to portray to the audience that we as a nation will not be weak in any way. For example, he says " Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America." He also says, "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." These examples evoked an emotion of courage, which everyone needed at the moment in order to help one another. This benefits Bush in achieving his purpose by …show more content…

For instance, he voices "The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts. I've directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice." He also states "Our military is powerful, and it's prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington, DC, to help with local rescue efforts. This portrays Mr. Bush achieving his purpose because it will give America hope that they will work really hard to find out who did this crime and have them do the time. It also gives them some sort of reassurance and support during these hard