Rhetorical Analysis Of Americans With Disabilities Play By Christopher Reeves

Christopher Reeves, an actor best known for his superman role, was thrown from a horse in 1995, which caused him to be paralyzed. One year after the accident, in 1996, he gave a speech to the Democratic National Convention with the purpose of convincing and persuading them the importance of the Americans with Disabilities act. Reeve uses the diction and details to support his claim.

First, he starts his speech talking about family. Just using the word ‘family’ in a literal sense, to relate to the audience and to tell about how common disabilities are, and metaphorically, as a way to show that America is overlooking people whom have disabilities. Family gives off a tone that he is welcoming and knowing. He repeats in many times in the passage to convey this idea. The way he starts with the phrase ‘family values’ also gives a literal, but interesting, idea. Is that all of America is family, and that we all have (or respectively need) our own idea, hopes, and dreams. We all have values. While using the word ‘family’ repeatedly, after persuading this idea of family and values, he says this ‘if America really is a family, then we have to recognize that many of our family is

This gives off that he, in fact, knows what he is talking about, though he doesn’t give examples. He relates to everyone by not just saying it could heal disabilities, but also protect the people who don’t. The claim ‘Our scientists can do more. But we’ve got to give them the chance.’ invests the audience and the readers to believe in the research that could happen, if only America would put money in the right places. By furthermore persuading the audience, he say this claim ‘The money we invest today is going to determine the quality of life to out members of our family tomorrow’, not only saying furthermore that money has to go in the right places and urgently, but also using the word described earlier in the speech;