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Rhetorical Analysis Of The American Promise

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President Lyndon B. Johnson presented his speech ”The American Promise” to congress in 1965, following the events of the Selma to Montgomery Marches. rhetorical modes as allusions, diction, and others to convince congress to pass the Voting Act Right. The American Promise speech was about developing a community of shared values to unite the country and make it great again. Johnson’s speech focuses on the challenges America faced in the 1960s. He sympathized with the abuse African Americans face when voting, speaking to protect their right to vote and ban discriminatory practices. Johnson utilizes an old historical allusion in his speech to exemplify traditional American patriotism using a quote from a founding father, Patrick Henry: ”Give me liberty or give me death”. Igniting a sense of patriotism inside the American public, he references a historical figure who is redeemed important helps him set an example for the American public to emulate. Probing a logical viewpoint …show more content…

Repetition is used to echo themes throughout the speech. The repetition is used to highlight the urgency needed to support his argument that African Americans needed to have their vote. It is used in the last paragraphs of the speech to create a sense of urgency and activism by appealing to the reader’s emotions. ”We cannot, we must not, we will not.. we cannot and must not wait”. Repetition is used in the last paragraph of the speech to emphasize his claims of activism in the civil rights struggle, and to urge the American people to unify in the fight against racism and injustice. “There is no cause for pride… there is no cause for self-satisfaction… but there is cause for faith and hope”. The use of the word “we” enables the audience to unite against the lack of support they have received for their cause from the government. The word “we” resonates with the audience, making them feel a sense of solidarity with

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Green uses repetition to stress the importance of the African Americans joining the union forces. Throughout his speech Green uses the repetition of “we” and “our”, by doing this he unites himself with his fellow African American audience. This shows his audience that he knows what it feels like to be them because he is the same. Green also talks of the “bravery” it will take in order to fight for their rights, and the “honor” that it grants. This helps his listeners gain the courage to tackle this task of defeating the confederate forces.

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Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 speech “The American Promise” is a powerful, emotive address to the nation that declared the United States' commitment to ending poverty and racial injustice. In this speech, Johnson paints a vivid picture of the progress and potential of America, and issues a passionate plea for the nation to embrace its collective promise to protect and advance the rights of all Americans. Johnson's speech is an example of powerful rhetoric, as he uses a range of persuasive devices to appeal to the nation's sense of morality and justice such as connotative diction and allusions. In his speech, "The American Promise," Lyndon B. Johnson used connotative diction to evoke an emotional response from his audience.

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In the 1960’s during the era of the Civil Rights movement, America had been divided by the voting rights that were not given to the African Americans. Although, a decade ago the African Americans had been freed from slavery, but they were still not considered “equal” because they weren't able to vote. The discrimination in the area even had political leaders affected, therefore many of those political leaders during that time attempted to put an end to the several agonizing events going on. Lyndon B Johnson, a white persistent president speaks out to the lawmakers using compassionate encouraging appeals about voting for Civil Rights, in order to unify the nation “to build a new community”. President Johnson utilizes many devices in his speech such as anaphora, emotional appeals, and

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He’s zealous. Green uses repetition to emphasize the idea of unity. He uses repetition, such as “let us,” to unify African Americans by getting a hold of their emotion of pride towards patriotism. The use of repetition helps engrave into their mind that this is something they should do for the greater good. The lasting effect on them is pride because they defended their country.

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Americans have lost their lives for centuries in exchange for our nation’s freedom, but is every citizen really free? President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed congress following a police beat down during a peaceful protest in Selma, Alabama. The protest led by Martin Luther King became a turning point in American history; attacks on African American’s at Selma sparked reason in the eyes of many. Johnson used his address to Congress as a call to action, his goal was to ensure freedom and equality for all citizens; they shall not face persecution for the color of their skin. “We Shall Overcome” suggests that the text focuses on the constitutionality of the police beat down in Selma, Alabama and the concern of how our nation will overcome the issues of racism.

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This brings a sense of unity to the speech as this is not a one person fight; it is quite the opposite. Other uses of "we" are prominent in the end portion of the speech, when Lewis starts naming locations of bustling cities and the deep south. This also brings a sense of unity and unwavering bravery against the racist south. This has the effect of showing how even against the most racist parts of the U.S, the March on Washington will not

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Overall, in “We Shall Overcome,” President Johnson uses rhetorical appeals to convince the congress and American citizens to fix the struggle in a society, which is the inequality between the different races. Through this speech, he tries to change the bias of color of people, and remind the citizens that the basic principle of the U.S. is equality by using concerned and formal tone. He claims that the inequality towards the African Americans is against the constitution and the oath before God by using religious and relationship diction. President Johnson’s speech took a first big step towards the equality of mankind by using Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals, tone, and compelling diction.

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He successfully uses the three rhetorical appeals, allegory, and repetition to get his point across. His speech definitely shows the South it could be capable of amazing success, if the Whites and the African American realize they need each

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Lyndon B. Johnson was the president when the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. The passing of this bill was largely influenced by the speech Johnson gave on March 15. This speech was named “The American Promise” due to the hope and assurance that President Johnson provided through his words. Through this speech, President Johnson was able to conjure support to pass his voting rights bill by using rhetorical techniques such as, allusions and connotative diction. Any kind of speech can and should connect with its audience on a personal level.

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A few days ago, Trump used the chance of his inaugural address to the Congress to reiterate some important promises. He mentioned that we wanted to defeat the problem of drugs in the country and echoed the previous verbal promises of presidents, such as Ronal Reagan and Richard Nixon. His anger remained directed at hard drugs, such as heroin and never once did he mention marijuana, to the delight of many Americans. Trump promised during his speech that he will do everything in his power to slow down the drug issue and stop it altogether as part of his “Make America

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“We, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears and true to our founding documents” (Obama par. 3). He used this in order to explain how we will always pride our ideals of the forebears. This view of patriotism from soon-to-be President Barack Obama made his audience appeal to his

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(7) This statement is powerful because it appeals to the audience's sense of pride in their country and their identity as Americans. By using the phrase "just pride,"(7) Washington suggests that this pride is not only natural but also virtuous, and that it is something that all Americans should strive to cultivate. Calling on people's patriotism in his speech was wise and drew directly to the emotional appeal. Washington’s utilization of rhetorical analysis pathos struck fear in the audience's heart. His calls for action and passing on the responsibility to the citizens in holding this nation together was an overwhelming call for many

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Martin Luther King then lead his followers to a peaceful march, a protest for equal rights, that landed them on a historical bridge. This march helped encourage the voting rights act, and to help the civil rights keep moving forward. Thesis: In his speech, Obama establishes a rhetorical situation with his of exigence, audience, purpose, and different rhetorical appeals and devices.

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Jeannette Shackelford Duane Watson Engl 1302 02Febuary 2015 Press Hard For the Power to Vote In the speech “We Shall Overcome”, the speech was written by Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, the speech was addressed to Congress on voting legislation and to the United States as a whole. The speech was given on March 15, 1965 in an era where there was much bigotry, racial violence against blacks. The speech was televised a week after the after math of the deadly violence that had erupted in Salem Alabama, which was supposed to be a peaceful protest, that was given by the Negros a protest for equal rights to vote, turned into a violent protest.

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In the 1960s the African Americans were freed, but did they really have all the rights they were promised? Racial conflicts were everywhere. Lyndon B. Johnson was current president and was trying to encourage congress to pass a bill called The Voting Rights Act. To influence the vote he gave the speech “We Shall Overcome.” In “We Shall Overcome” President Lyndon Johnson used ethos, pathos, logos, and other rhetorical devices such as allusions, repetition and appeals to authority to persuade congress to pass the act.

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