Margaret Thatcher's Rhetorical Analysis

On June 11, 2004, Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of Great Britain, delivered a eulogy to the American people in honor of former United States president Ronald Reagan, with whom she had worked closely. In the eulogy Thatcher states “I have lost a dear friend”, and “We talked regularly, both before and after his presidency”, by saying those things gives the audience a sense of careness because not only has she lost a great friend, but everyone else lost a man who made a difference not only in himself but on the outlook of life of other people. She gets off to an excellent start by saying “We”, connecting with everyone and making them feel apart of this. In her eulogy Thatcher uses many rhetorical strategies to convey her message.

She uses figurative language to ease the sadness and point out all of the difficult tasks that Reagan faced, but without decreasing their value. In the first line of the first paragraph, Thatcher starts off by saying the word “great” and repeatedly using it throughout the eulogy. By doing this she is pointing out how truly great he actually was. She also uses words like invigorating and daunting to show how Reagan was so cheerful despite the tasks he put himself through. Thatcher juxtaposes little phrases like “midst of hysteria” to “sane and jocular.” The way Thatcher created this sentence was very powerful. She was able to craft it in such a way that she explained that even through tough times, Reagan remained strong and calm. Thatcher used short phrases like “candid and tough”, and “firm and unyielding” to describe how things were at the time. By using these phrases we can get a feeling of how amazing and powerful Reagan was. She also uses good diction when she says how Reagan “invented enemies out of their fortress and turned them into friends.” This was very effect because it didn’t matter how much Reagan and his enemies disagreed, he was still capable of trying to engage and resolve conflict with each