Rhetorical Analysis Of George Bush 9/11 Address

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Pr. George W. Bush delivered his address to the nation after the 9/11 attacks. A nation that just experienced for the first time in its history an attack on its own soil. The scale of the attack was immense to the extent that the American people were in disarray and shock. As a result, Ps.Bush’s address aimed to bring about pride among Americans to unite them and bring justice upon the terrorist. Pr. Bush utilized several rhetorical conventions under pathos, using language of inclusion, symbols, and analogy. Pr. Bush sought to unify the nation from the start of his address through words of adoration and praise. For example, “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” The analogy of the American people being stronger than …show more content…

Bush constant appeal to the emotion in the beginning of his address to unite was then followed by the reality and extent of the attack. The outline of Pr.Bush’s address is a typical outline of a formal appeal. First bringing a sense of unity and then identifying a problem. For example, in Pr. Bush’s address he identified a problem, which was the magnitude of the attack on the nation. “Today, our nation saw evil -- the very worst of human nature -- and we responded with the best of America.” Pr. Bush clearly stating that even though this was the worst attack ever witnessed, the American people being so great “responded with their best.” Furthermore, the placement of “the worst” and “the best” in the same phrase serves as a juxtaposition to bring hope, that even though the worst has come the best will follow. In addition Pr. Bush’s use of language of inclusion through words like “we” and “our” reaffirms that America is one unit that acts as one. Unifying the people of America and then identifying a problem were two integral steps in ensuring the nation saw through the same lens as Pr.