Margaret Thatcher's Eulogy In Honor Of Ronald Reagan

On June 11, 2004, Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of Great Britain, delivered a eulogy in honor of Ronald Reagan, the former United States President. Thatcher had worked closely with Reagan during his service as president, and appropriately presented this memorial speech to the American people so that they can remember him and all he has done for the success of the nation. Throughout the eulogy, Thatcher uses elevated diction, anaphora, and a serious tone to convey her message about what a strong president Reagan was. Thatcher's elevated diction emphasizes the success of Reagan during his presidency. In the second line in the eulogy, she describes Reagan as having an "invigorating presence." Instead of using the word "invigorating," she could have easily said something along the lines of "full of energy," or "feeling strong." However, using the elevated vocabulary causes the audience to think about what she is saying and remember it. Other words would have been weaker and would not have that same effect on the audience. In the same line, Thatcher uses the word "daunting" to describe the tasks

One example of her use of anaphora is in the middle of the eulogy where she says, "Others prophesied...Others saw...Others hoped..." (Thatcher). The use of anaphora in this case not only emphasizes Reagan's effect on the nation, but also forces the audience to process his success resulting from what he has done and be thankful for it. It also causes the audience to remember what he has done; the repetition of the word "others" at the beginning of each line makes people more attentive to what is being said and recall it in the future. If Thatcher had just listed what he had done in one sentence, her points would not have gotten across as powerfully, and the audience would not have remembered it as