Rhetorical Analysis Of The Moon Speech

“The Moon Speech” Rhetorical Analysis Essay.

In the height of the Cold War, “The Moon Speech” introduced the mission to the moon, Which, amidst the chaos and urgency of the time, inspired and gave hope to millions of Americans that they might make it to the moon first. In his speech to 30,000 Houston Texans, important congressmen, and political figures, U.S president, John. F Kennedy, in 1962 and at Rice University, addresses the mission to the moon, how it benefits America, and why it is too important not to go. He gets his point across by wielding rhetorical strategies such as positive generalization, to create a connection between himself and the audience which makes him seem more credible, as well as providing data and statistics to make

F Kennedy provides facts and data that are necessary to persuade the audience to support the space program. John states, “Within these last 19 months at least 45 satellites have circled the earth. Some 40 of them were ‘made in the United States of America’ and they were far more sophisticated and supplied far more knowledge to the people of the world than those of the Soviet Union.” This data gives background on how important the space program already is to the people in America, which helps the audience wonder how much more useful it could be when it has more funding. This data is tailored to the audience’s pride as it has a comparison to the Soviet Union, and it states that “40 of them were made in the United States Of America.” This coerces the audience to want to support the space efforts if it means that America will have even more high quality satellites, and if it means beating the Soviet Union at something. This data also shows objectivity, which provides the audience with the truth, and provides the space program with a credible background which underscores the importance of it. Later in the speech John uses more data to prove his point: “To be sure, all this costs us all a good deal of money. This year's space budget is three times what it was in January 1961, and it is greater than the space budget of the previous 8 years combined. That budget now stands at $5,400 million a year-a staggering sum, though somewhat less than we

F Kennedy uses various rhetorical strategies, such as positive generalization, to create a connection between himself and the audience which makes him seem more credible. as well as providing data and statistics to make the audience see the objective facts, and finally, metaphors and juxtaposition, which urge the audience to feel fear and an obligation to act. John uses these strategies to build trust with the audience and to make them feel that this program’s positive consequences outweigh the negative consequences, which convinces the audience to support the space program and the mission to the moon. When the audience is persuaded, the space program would not get pushback from the city of Houston and the United States would eventually reach the moon