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Rhetorical Analysis Of Tear Down This Wall

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Throughout history, many famous and important people have given empowering and compelling speeches. One of the most famous speeches in history is “Tear Down this Wall” given by President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin, in 1987. In the speech, the President urges the Soviet Union leaders to free East Berlin from communism and tear down the Berlin wall. He tries to convince the audience that the only way Berlin can move forward is by embracing freedom and individualism. In an attempt to make his speech more convincing and memorable, the President used rhetorical devices such as figurative language and appealed to the SOAPSTone strategy. However, he was not successful in delivering a very persuasive speech as his speech was disorganized and he expressed next to no emotion in his tone. …show more content…

Reagan started the speech by talking about Berlin’s past, the Berliner’s unfortunate experiences, the aftermath of WWII, the Marshall Plan, economic prosperity in the West, individual rights, freedom, and the downsides of communism. He does not even introduce his motive till halfway through the speech by which the majority of the audience is disengaged. Right after he tells the Soviet leader, Gorbachev, to “tear down this wall” and to free Berlin, he immediately changes his talking point from the liberalization of Berlin to the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union (Reagan 13). Afterwards, Reagan does the same exact thing and goes from talking about the arms race to how “Sport represents a source of enjoyment and ennoblement” (Reagan 26). The disordered subjects cause the audience to feel confused and lose focus on the message he’s trying to convey. The various subjects make the speech feel overwhelming and have less of an effect on the

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Speeches are used to commemorate points of history, and inform the general public of the product of their history but what makes a speech so impacting on it’s audience? Rhetorical devices give speeches and works of literature a way that can convey feelings or ideas to a viewer. When addressing during times of war or chaos, people such as Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill used these terms to better connect with their audience. Without these tools of the english language, dialogue and literature would be all the more dull and unappealing. However, with these useful instruments, writers and speakers can better communicate through some of the many rhetorical devices.

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On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech in Berlin, Germany. While he was the President of the United States, he would have a big impact on people around the world. He was there to convince the people of Berlin to tear down the Berlin wall, he didn't want division in Germany, he just wanted a democracy. “ I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent, and I pledge to you my country's efforts to help overcome these burdens.” (AmericanRhetoric.com) He is stating that he will do whatever it takes to help Berlin become a better country with freedom, liberty, and peace.

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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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He used it as a tool of persuasion to make him seem more down to earth and relatable, knowing that the members of his audience would be more likely to support him if the members could relate to him. Once this was accomplished he spoke in parts addressing three evils of our world, with his main evil, the threat of communism and the Soviet Union, coming last. Reagan also addresses our nation's past struggles of racism and anti-semitism, our present struggles of abortion, infanticide, and communism, and the future struggles we will face if we do not embrace freedom of religion. He states, "The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a rest of moral will and faith."

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Ronald Reagan gives the “Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate” speech at the Brandenburg gate in Berlin, as many previous along with future presidents have/will speak there. ”We come to Berlin, we American presidents, because it is our duty to speak in this place of freedom.” (1,Reagan) The main point that Ronald Reagan is trying make with the speech may be “Es gibt nur ein Berlin” which translates to: There is only one Berlin. Berlin at the time had the Berlin wall which separated East and West Berlin and in the beginning of the speech, it is stated that he is speaking in the west, but they are being broadcasted to eastern Berlin, along with North America, and all throughout Western Europe.

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In “The Destructors,” Graham Greene uses T’s leadership and ideas to show a more intelligent, righteous, and organized way to commit crimes in post-war Britain. When T takes over as the leader a big change happens as all crimes the gang commits are now less violent than they would have been. While Old Misery is locked in the toilet, one boy tells him “We want you to be comfortable tonight.” This quote is juxtaposed with the noises of his house being torn down, but while they are destroying his own masterpiece that he built from the ground up, they have care about him being comfortable. This puts even more emphasis on an earlier quote from T, “There’d be no fun if I hated him.”

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President Ronald Reagan's speech at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin is perhaps one of his greatest moments as President. The Brandenburg Gate was the center of the Berlin Wall and prior to its closing in 1961, served as the link between East and West Berlin. The speech was given on June 12th, 1987, and the Berlin Wall fell about two years later, on November 9th, 1989.1 Reagan's speech highlighted reasons why Germany should be unified and why the USSR and communism would eventually fail. Analyzing the speech as a primary source provides a first-hand account of the Western, capitalist point-of-view on issues during the Cold War. President Reagan begins his speech by mentioning other President's visits to Berlin, and in particular, President John F. Kennedy's 1963 visit in which he

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Speeches have been a main staple of political rhetoric that goes has been America’s history. There have been memorable speeches from passionate citizens such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Sojourner Truth, and many speeches from our past presidents that have influenced America today. One such speech was given by President Bill Clinton when he addressed the American public on September 11 in 1998 to answer for a moral scandal that took place in the nation’s capital that involved himself and Monica Lewinsky, an intern working at the White House. When called to speak about the internal affair at the White house Clinton gave a memorable speech in which he used clever and strategic language to illicit certain feelings and actions from his unhappy crowd. His mastery of language and his understanding of the people he was speaking to comes through in one intentional speech.

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He wanted to, in his own words, demonstrate to the people that he cared for them and so did Goldwater. It was important for Reagan to bring up the important issues the U.S were going through and giving two solutions, however, one was the solution of Goldwater and the other of Lyndon B. Johnson. Before giving his most famous speech, Reagan correctly outlined two possible paths for the U.S. (A Time for Choosing- Really) One of the paths was for government to have more control, meanwhile the other path was for the states to have more

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On January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan gave his “First Inaugural Address” with the United States listening; some people were able to experience firsthand Ronald Reagan’s passion and views for our country, in Front of the Capitol Building, while others tuned in to listen on the momentous occasion. Ronald Reagan sets the stage for his presidency using logos through logical sentences that are meant to bring the audience a better perspective on his point of view. Diction was a key factor in showing Ronald Reagan’s strong sense of nationalism; he chose powerful, hopeful words and phrases that were intended to unify the people. He shows syntax through anaphora, repetition, and parallelism. By using these rhetorical devices, he states key phrases more than once to create an urgency and therefore grab listener’s attention.

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His mentioning of the sign stating “The Marshall Plan is helping here to strengthen the free world” causes the Berliners to reach back in their memory to the time when they started rebuilding. Reagan inspires a sense of pride and freedom inside the Berliners as they review what they have done – rebuilt their broken city into one which “ranks as one of the greatest on earth.” Then Reagan turns that pride and freedom into pity and a desire for justice by painting a new picture within their minds – this time of East Berlin’s oppression and poverty. Now, as Reagan continues his masterful speech, the Berliners view themselves as a voice against the wall – a voice for freedom.

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The rhetorical elements, logos and pathos, included in Ronald Reagan’s speech, “ Tear Down This Wall” assist Reagan and his words to convince Gorbachev, along with the people of Berlin, that the wall between eastern and western Berlin must be dismantled. Logos is an appeal to logic, or a way of persuading an audience by reason. Reagan provides details of how other countries have reached a state of freedom, at the same time have maintained a strong financial background. In “Tear Down This Wall” logos is used to show that countries who are not separated by a wall are thriving economically. For example, Reagan explained, “in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history.”

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On 19th June 2013 Barack Obama, who is the current president of America, held a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. It brought thousands of people there and millions around the world in front of the televisions. Its purpose is to inform the world about the beginning of negotiations with Russia aimed at ending the two nations` Cold War military posture and a reduction of nuclear arms by up to one third. The American president starts the speech by simply saying "Hello Berlin!

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There’s only an up or down: man’s old --old aged dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism.” This shows his ethics and the passion he has when he presents his speech. Reagan stated,”Today, 37 cents out of every dollar earned in the country is the tax collector’s share,” He also included,”We’ve raised our debt limit three times in the last twelve months, and now our national debt is one and a half times bigger than all the combined debts of all the nations of the world.” Reagan shows us that he knows about the numbers and logistics of our nation which is logos. Since he knows specific numbers, more people will listen to what he is trying to

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While kairos and logos are helpful in supporting the argument by using proper timing of the speech and grounding the speech with reasonable motives respectively, and ethos gives him a small bonus of credibility because he is president, the rhetorical device that has the most impact in the speech and is the main method of expression is pathos. This is because of the way that the music is presented during the speech with the music continuously being built up from a slow instrumental of trumpets and violins in the beginning, to a grand orchestra of multiple instruments playing together at the end, giving the final part of the already powerful speech a greater conclusion and solidifying its message of

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