Harold Ickes Speech Rhetorical Devices

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The gruesome deaths and losses of World War I became the initiative for Americans to choose isolationism in World War II. However, the idea of isolation was soon scrapped as the atrocities of World War II rose and eventually reached American soil. Numerous appeals were made to Congress to declare war, along with appeals to the public to support the war effort. In his speech, Harold Ickes uses commanding diction and a parallel structure to persuade his audience to support American intervention in World War II. Ickes continually pushes for his audience to physically show their American support through his inclusive, commanding diction. Ickes quickly establishes that he is not only commanding those in front of him, but also himself and other Americans by repeating "We must." …show more content…

The repeated use of "must," one of the most authoritative words in the English language, outlines Icke's intentions to order the listeners to act upon his words. The audience is urged to "must [help] to fight [the] oppressors and conquerors." The commanding usage of authorative diction quickly clouds over the audience and makes them comply with Ickes's commands. Since every audience member, and American in general, was the target of these commands, each one will feel obligated to fulfill their duty, afraid of being labeled as a traitor if they do not act upon Ickes's words and defend American democracy.The defensive position on democracy is also practiced through the use of parallelism. Ickes speaks many clauses within parallel structure, nearly cataloging. He begins with the anaphoric clauses of "they are..." while discussing the British allies. Going on to list how the British are "fighting our war" or "the first soldiers in the trenches." Soon, the parallel structure transfers to the American people with the repetition of "We (know, realize, must,