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Rhetorical Analysis Of Lyndon B Johnson's Speech

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Speaker: The speaker of the document is Lyndon B. Johnson. He was the thirty-sixth President of the United States and a teacher. He was a democrat, so his ideals would push towards equality and unification among races. Johnson’s democratic background and his history of teaching, he would likely exhibit ideas of diverse races having rights in America.
Occasion: Lyndon B. Johnson presumably wrote this document to provide an apology and changes after the Selma brutality. This speech was seemingly published to reach a broader demographic or for historical research.
Audience: The audience of this document was the citizens of the United States; specifically minorities and southerners. This audience would be a diverse group of ethnicities, political parties, genders, and social class; majority would be above the age of fifteen. Johnson used vocabulary that alleviated tensions and unified the United States. Similarly, he evokes God, history, liberty, and nationalism to influence the country. Johnson primarily alluded to the Civil War and the other battles America has faced. …show more content…

Johnson conveyed this through evoking God to justify his causes, history to demonstrate how America has survived numerous transgressions, and nationalism to consolidate everyone under a similar cause. Johnson seemed optimistic towards all Americans to strive for equality for minorities. He had a sense of sincerity with calmed the oppressions felt in the South. This illustrated the feelings of nationalism throughout the United States. I felt that America could conquer any dilemmas it faces through the power of the citizens. However, there was an underlying tone of sorrow and mourning after the events of Selma. This united fellow Americans and gave people a purpose to strive for: rights for

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Kennedy was well aware of his audience frame of mind, Kennedy brilliantly prepared his speech in a way that would give him support. Kennedy was likewise well aware that the audience were largely made up of a Christian nation. Therefore, the plentiful references made to God have a large appeal to the congregation. By correlating his ambitions to that of God’s, Kennedy earning the support of millions of American citizens.

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He used Logos and Pathos by telling facts about racist voting restrictions and then phrased it in a way to make the crowd give sympathy. An example of him using logos and pathos is when he said: “Yet the harsh fact is that in many places of this country men and women are kept from voting simply because they are Negroes.” He said this right after he said “Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote.” these two lines shock the audience. These two joined together, is the perfect strategy because when Lyndon Johnson stated what should be and what everyone believed, and then said what the harsh reality was in a negative way, it literally changed the perspective of many Members of congress and many other viewers.

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One way Johnson does this is by building up his trust with congress as well as his people through promising appeals. Johnson often uses “we” in most of his speech to prove to the citizens that it is not just them in the fight, but that he is providing assistance to reach their intentions. He continues to build that trust throughout his speech by putting himself as a human as well, not just as the leader of the country. Since Johnson is a white man who is trying to fight for African American rights during that era, it is quite hard to do so considering whites once hated blacks. This being said, it's Johnson's duty to enforce that trust to make the African Americans believe he is attempting to better their lives.

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“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. Several great documents are filled with methods of persuasion in order to effectively persuade the audience, one being the Letter From Birmingham Jail as well as The Truly Awe-Inspiring Accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. In the Letter From Birmingham Jail, King supports his view that the civil rights movement is necessary by using strategic organization to overthrow opposing arguments. He also engages the audience by captivating them emotionally, allowing him to have a better chance of getting them on his side.

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Strong usage of diction was beneficial in the presentation of Johnson, large amount of pausing within the speech was the most common usage of diction. Known as a man of few words, Johnson had much to say when provoked. Carrying himself with dignity, using periodic pausing through the presentation of the speech “We Shall Overcome” to create depth and captivate the audience throughout his presentation. Pausing when he changes tone holds significant throughout the speech; his tone varies duringing the speech. Serious and desperate tones are implicated to call his audience to action.

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His speech was pointed precisely at his direct audience. He first started out by greeting everyone present, the governor, the president of the university, congressmen, and the students, which he called his “fellow Americans" For the most part Johnson did an excellent job on delivering his promises, but international affairs threatened the Great Society and although Johnson won the presidency in

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Johnson says that the Americans have fought and died for two centuries in honor for our freedom and they will have lost their lives for nothing if our nation is unable to overcome the issues of racism. The deaths of many centuries of American hold close to the hearts of those who have lost family and friends in the fight for freedom. He states that the soldiers that have lost their lives in the fight for freedom were lost for nothing until every citizen is truly free. During his speech he described his first teaching job, he talked about the kids he taught and how they could not comprehend why people disliked them. Johnson was a teacher at a Mexican-American school, his heartbreaking experiences allow for a deeper understanding of what kind of person he is as well as the confirmation of significant issues that were occurring in the nation.

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