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Rhetorical Analysis Of Ronald Reagan's Shuttle Challenger Address

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In his emotionally inspiring speech, “Shuttle Challenger Address,” Ronald Reagan expresses his deepest condolences to the people most affected by the Challenger accident. He advances his speech with a gentle yet strong willed facade in order to inspire the future generations of astronauts to not let this tragedy affect their future endeavors. Raegen then briefly puts his presidential status aside in order to further express the depth of his pain, not only at a presidential level, but as an American citizen concerned for the well being of his country. Raegen applies different types of rhetorical devices in order to emotionally appeal to the people most affected by the accident, while at the same time encourage the general public to not let this …show more content…

Raegan states that “the future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.(7)” By using this type of syntax, it gives the audience a ray of hope and encouragement to tell them that if we want our space endeavors to reach up to its fullest potential, we need to take risks and not let this tragedy affect our plans. If these crew members were brave enough to “lead us into the future,” then it is our job to finish what they started and not let their dedication be in vain. Another way in which Reagan effectively applies parataxis is when he says that “nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.(8)” By saying this, Ragen establishes a bit of a general truth that essentially encourages his audience that they should not take this tragedy as a loss, but instead take it as a lesson learned. Since the Challenger crew were able to pursue their mission with courage, it is now the future generation’s turn to undertake where they have left off, and finish where they started. Overall, Ronald Reagan took advantage of his enormous platform to give a national eulogy in order to alleviate the pain caused by the loss of the Challenger seven. Raegen pursues his delivery with the use of rhetorical devices such as Pathos and Parataxis in order to appeal to his audience’s emotions while at the

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Finely the president tied the incident that day to events that took place 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake who died in see. Bringing this he is comparing the Challenger seven to Sir Francis Drake, he is also telling the public in order for them to explore there should be sacrifices, and public should never turn its back to the program. Though, President Reagan’s speech about Challenger shuttle was short, it carried a lot emotions expressed by his tone of voice and his ability to deliver the speech, moreover, he did an effective job of persuading his audience, whether he was mourning them or informing them the message was clear. However the president didn’t have the right strategy about the part he was apologizing to the children that was watching, he should never had to mention another teacher going to space in his speech.

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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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In my opinion this helps comfort the families by informing them that we all stand with them One example of this is when Reagan says “But we feel the loss” in the fourth paragraph. Also Reagan strays away from the negative aspect of the disaster. The focus of staying positive provides a sense of purpose. Regan explains how the “seven” was full of courage and that they died doing what they

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This speech was intended to inform America of the Challenge disaster. Reagan used specific pronouns to address the audience. He focused a lot on the individuals that lost someone due to this dismal occurrence. One thing that he said specifically to those close to the astronauts was, “Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace” (3). He said this to honor the astronauts and explicate how wondrous the seven astronauts were.

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(Dennis 714) By giving the members of the space shuttle crew a recognition as “pioneers”, the speech was poised for a smooth transition from its nature as sincere eulogy into a rhetorical work with a deliberative occasion. As soon as audience received a message implying that Challenger was a beginning instead of an end and how discovery has its risk, Ronald Reagan was in a good position to elaborate his objectives on the space program. Surely, the transition between the bad news and the new hope is one of the greatest features of the speech.

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Overall, Reagan used the rhetorical device ethos to express his knowledge, and integrity in order to persuade the audience of knocking the Wall of Berlin down. Besides the rhetorical device ethos, Reagan also used logos to influence the readers of no longer having the Wall of Berlin. Reagan states, “And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom.” (2) The quote explains how the Soviets have started to progress their comprehension of the significance of freedom. Reagan proposed knocking down the Wall of Berlin, and how this would spread freedom; therefore, since the Soviets started to realize the significance of freedom, then it would only be logical to knock down the wall in order for the Soviets and others to fully comprehend the importance of freedom, rather than understand it in a limited way.

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And they had that special Grace, that special spirit…” (Reagan pg 1). Referring the victim of the shuttle crash and raising them up for what they did for their country. I also use allusion to create a sense of similarity and a

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Reagan even goes to compare the Challenger Seven to the explorer Sir Francis Drake. Reagan states that on the day three hundred ninety years ago, Sir Francis Drake died aboard a ship doing what he was best at. Reagan also even goes to say how a historian once said, “He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it” and that the Challenger Seven were just like Sir Francis Drake and how their dedication to what they were best at was complete now. All of this is an attempt by Reagan to once again rationalize the deaths of the seven so that they are not mourned as much as they are honored for their sacrifice. He also is saying all of this so that it is seen that the Challenger Seven died doing that they were best at, not with something they were not willing to do even with the risk of death present.

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As President Kennedy enters office he gives an speech on the celebration of freedom; symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning of a new nation. Kennedy rises for the opportunity for persuasion after his inauguration has been addressed and he scarcely beats nixon. President Kennedy uses his authority for persuasion to bring the american people together under his power. The president uses the experience of war,poverty,and the desire for peace to develop an emotional appeal between the U.S and the world population. In this speech Kennedy uses ethos,pathos,logos,as well as other rhetorical devices to convince the audience.

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His diction is very inclusive; he commences his speech with several uses of the words ‘we’ and ‘our’, which makes way for inclusivity. JFK is blurring the distinction between citizen and superior governor by including the people in his proclamation. While describing the hardships and challenges that the country is facing, Kennedy mentions how imperative the occasion is on a global level; in the midst of the Cold War, he reminds his audience of the importance of uniting. Through the use of the lexical field of danger — words such as: ‘defiance’, ‘serious’, ‘risk’, and ‘sacrifice’ — he creates a feeling of tension and urgency, and engages his audience to the concern. To conclude his speech, the President mentions self-guilt on the part of the country on how they had not displayed the “sense of business responsibility” that they should have, a rhetorical strategy that approximates the audience to the government.

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Reagan applies oratorical devices and figurative language to explain to the nation the passion and bravery the seven astronauts have. He uses parallel structure and listing to imply the passion and bravery the Challenger crew have. “But, we never lost an astronaut in flight, we’ve never had a tragedy like this” (2). The parallel structure creates a cause and effect to the tragedy. Its shocking devastation, however, it shows the nation how the future is creating new things.

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Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, portrays her sorrow in the death of Ronald Reagan, and emphasizes the former president’s accomplishments. Thatcher utilizes cause and effect to show how Reagan prospered under immense pressure of the public. Thatcher projects her admiration for Reagan by using glittering diction. Lastly, she adds shift change to show the changing tone in her eulogy. Margaret Thatcher appeals to not only Americans but others who are grieving the loss of Reagan through the use of informal tone and Thatcher creates a sense of relief and praise for the deceased.

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To present his main points he will put into action during his presidency, Reagan uses logos on several occasions in his speech. Logically structured sentences that show his stance on the old government and a renewed one helps the audience to better understand why he believes what he does. For example, Reagan states, “Those who do work are denied a fair

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Former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, in his address to the nation about the Challenger explosion, distinguishes the terrifying news of the explosion of the space shuttle. Reagan's purpose is to remember the lives lost in this painful accident and to ensure that space program will keep our faith with its future in space. He adopts a sorrowful tone in order to acknowledge all the courage and breakers that those seven astronauts expressed to his nation. Reagan opens his tribute to the Challenger astronauts by recognizing that this accident delayed his State of the Union address and by showing the pain of him and his wife’s grief. He appeal to the emotions of the listeners by expressing that “today is a day for mourning and remembering” (Reagan, 1986), that he and his wife are “pained to the core” (Reagan, 1986), and that we all know that this accident is “truly a national loss” (Reagan, 1986).

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Multiple presidents throughout history have presented their Inaugural speeches, but not all have been as influential as a speech presented with complete thought and various rhetorical devices. An inaugural speech or inaugural address is the first speech made by a President at a ceremony; this ceremony is called an Inauguration. In Ronald Reagan's inaugural speech, which was held on January 20th of 1981, he presents many Rhetorical Devices in which engage both to the audience's emotions and provide information throughout his whole speech. Ronald Reagan used many rhetorical devices and got his point across to the people which made his inaugural address nothing short of excellent. The first Rhetorical Device Ronald Reagan used in his Inaugural speech was the use of Pathos.

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