Rhetorical Analysis Of Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, was indeed a day of infamy; it was a day in which America feared for their families and loved ones. A day that started out to be a calm Sunday morning was spitefully interrupted just before 8 a.m. when Japanese warplanes viciously bombed the U.S naval base. As a whole, The United States intentions were to stay neutral concerning foreign affairs, and had done so until Japan invaded Hawaiian territory. Thousands of Americans lost their lives and many were struggling to stay alive. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt called an urgent meeting with the members of the Senate and House of Representatives. In Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation, President Roosevelt used facts of Japanese treachery, syntax, and

The way he constructed his speech triggered the emotions of the American people, using words such as, “Decieve, deliberately, onslaught, treachery, and endanger,” those words compelled his audience to feel rage and anger towards the Japanese. In the midst of Franklin Roosevelt’s speech, he repetitively used two words, “Japanese” and “attacked” to highlight the deliberate behavior of Japan armed forces. Repetition and parallel structure gave the declamation a stronger effect by making sure the audience was fully aware that the “Japanese attacked.” If repetition was not a factor in Roosevelt’s speech, it would not have magnified one of his main points. Another example where President Roosevelt used a parallel structuring device is in the closing sentences of his speech. “There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interest are in grave danger.,” This was a way for Roosevelt to make the speech personal to the nation and hope for support of the war. A decision that would change the course of American history had to be made right then. Now that the nation knew the facts, The United States had been a victim of treason and Japan had Americans’ blood on it’s hands, America had never been more humiliated. The circumstances the leaders of our country were in called for an immediate crucial response to action. Roosevelt’s speech was urgent and was exactly what Americans needed and wanted to hear after an unprecedented attack. Roosevelt, whether he knew it or not, appealed to people’s kairos at this opportune