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Rhetorical Analysis Of Jfk Moon Speech

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On September 12, 1962, at Rice University in Houston Texas, John F. Kennedy gave a powerful speech to garner support for the funding of the space race for the USA. He stated the importance of putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade in its efforts against the Soviet Union and the expectation was met in 1969 by the astronaut Neil Armstrong. His speech forged a new path that the US was heading and inherently started the revolution of the exploration of outer space. Kennedy’s “Moon Speech” makes use of ethos and Kairos to persuade the people of America to become interested in and invest in the ongoing space race. A very important factor in JFK’s speech was his effective use of rhetoric, notably ethos, which he used to make himself become more believable and authoritative. Rhetorical analyst Omair Khan states that Kennedy “had an enormous level of credibility as well as the authority and experience that comes with being the president of the United States” which is true because as the president, he had a huge amount of good will and was to be believed to turn the circumstances around …show more content…

The use of ethos shows how credible and reliable Kennedy is as he utilizes his position and knowledge as president to reassure the nation that space exploration is possible. Kairos was also an effective strategy for Kennedy, since he knew of the accomplishments of the Soviet Union years prior, and in turn took advantage of the current state of America in the space race. JFK’s moon speech was very important because it was given at time where the American people were uncertain in their position as a national powerhouse, and Kennedy brought forth and set the expectations that needed to be met, especially when it came to the space race, in order to fulfill America’s legacy of being

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Reagan’s melancholic yet optimistic tone uplifts the nation. Reagan’s uses diction in his speech to create his optimistic tone. “We’re still pioneers. They the member of the Challenger crew, were pioneers” (4). Reagan explains that everyone will do something that is new, which makes everyone a Pioneer.

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The Race to Space served as an ample distraction for the United States during this time, which led citizens to gather to the cause. Along with being the youngest elected president, Kennedy was president during a time of tremendously high tension from Cuba, Communist pressure, nuclear coercions, and Vietnam. Kennedy alludes to the atrocities of the world, and tempts the audience to further space exploration as he states, “Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war” (Kennedy). He casually references about the tensions the United States had with other countries;

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September 12, 1962, John F. Kennedy delivered a speech at Rice University talking about how and why the United States will put the first man on the moon. JFK was determined to not allow the Soviets to go down in history as the pioneers of space exploration. JFK uses pathos and logos to help pursuade the American people the descision to go to the moon. Kennedy's word choices was to strengthen his pathos by appealing to the audience self identity as American people. He use words like "we" and "our" throughout his speech.

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Within this address President Reagan uses his unspoken credibility to show his empathy for those involved in the Challenger Disaster. Throughout the address he uses pathos to connect with those grieving the loss of such brave pioneers. President Reagan uses this opportunity to give hope to the nation that the expansion of space exploration has not come to a halt.

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The 35th president of the United States, John F Kennedy, gave his “Race to Space” speech at Rice University In Houston, Texas under great pressure to “catch up” to the Soviets and their space program. He delivered this speech to challenge America to take a leading position in the Space Race and to encourage them in their studies to make it possible. To start, President Kennedy’s “Race to Space” speech calls upon the country to preempt the exploration of space using pathos, irony, and metaphor. Kennedy uses pathos throughout his speech but most notably when he states, “than those of the Soviet Union”. At the time this speech was given, the United States and the Soviet Union had extreme tension coming out of the cold war and entering the space

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Later that night President Ronald Reagan came on air to give the State of the Union address and talk on the tragedy that had just unfolded. Through this speech President Reagan consoles the families of those who lost their lives, the American schoolchildren, and the American public as a whole. He also gives this speech to reassure America of the viability of the NASA program and the light in the future. By the use of rhetorical skill, including analogy, strong emotional appeals, and his position of power, President Reagan manages to convince America that despite the tragedy the benefits of keeping a space exploration program greatly outweigh the losses.

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J.F Kennedy, the president of United States wanted to put the first Americans to the moon-America exploring the moon, so he directed his speech to the people of taxes and Rice University to promote his space exploration program that will help America to be the first country to explore the moon. He believes that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. Throughout J.F Kennedy's speech, the speaker makes effective use of evidence, reasoning, rhetorical elements, and rhetorical devices that together form his argument to gain people support for his space exploration program. J.F Kennedy was trying to prove his point of view by giving examples and using a lot of Rhetorical devices and appeals that would grab the reader's attention

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On January 28th, 1986, Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States at the time, in his speech, entitled “Challenger Disaster,” addressed the Challenger Disaster. He supported this claim by first mourning over the tragedy, then he promoted NASA, also he tried to make sense of this calamity, and finally he informed the audience that the seven astronauts will never be forgotten and as a country we will be forever thankful for their service. Through Reagan’s use of tone, rhetorical analysis, and rhetorical tools he effectively persuaded America to mourn and appreciate the lives of the seven astronauts loss and to convince American people to continue their support for NASA and move forward as a country. Reagan unified America with his supportive

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In his speech Kennedy uses different rhetorical devices to unify the citizens of both the United States and the world. Kennedy was giving this speech after winning by a very small margin of votes so he was trying to unite the people of the United States and show he was the correct choice for the president. This speech was given during the Cold War so he was trying to connect the people around the whole world and establish peace. Kennedy was able to unify the people and try to establish peace while at the same time making himself seem like a very competent leader. In his speech Kennedy tries to build his credibility as a personable leader by creating ethos.

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In fact, Kennedy accomplished his goal and is still remembered today, as the best speech ever written and delivered. Kennedy presents his speech with strong Aristotelian appeals of ethos, pathos and the stylistic devices of alliteration and antithesis. Kennedy accomplished what every speaker strives for and surpassed it by capturing the hearts of the audience and inspiring the people’s trust. Ethos is a very important rhetorical device in speeches because it establishes a sense of credibility and trustworthiness with the audience. Ethos permits the audience to feel a sense of trust that is missing in some people’s speeches.

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It was the “official” start of the era of new technology. Ethos is showed when JFK is looked at by the audience as one of the best liked U.S. presidents. He could handle many situations in the past, like the Cuban Missile Crisis. John F. Kennedy was trying to introduce new technologies to the United States and that speech delivered just what he wanted. President John F Kennedy was addressing the public from Rice University to get funding for NASA and the space program.

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