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Rhetorical Analysis Of William Safire's In Event Of Moon Disaster

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In a worse case scenario, such as the death of two astronauts during the first manned mission to the moon, William Safire’s “In Event of Moon Disaster” makes the loss a bit more palatable through employing pathos and ethos, but not logos due to his approach to the speech.
Safire appeals to pathos and emotions through euphemisms and bittersweet positivity. At the opening of the prepared speech, Safire immediately utilizes a circumlocution, writing that “[Armstrong and Aldrin] will stay on the moon to rest in peace,” as opposed to graphically describing the death the astronauts would endure without oxygen and food. Moreover, humans are normally optimistic and take comfort in Safire’s euphemism because it sounds like the two astronauts did not suffer. Another way in …show more content…

In the fifth paragraph of the speech, Safire says: “In ancient days, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes…, in modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.” By emphasizing the use of we and our within the sentence, Safire relates himself to the humans of the world by showing he is one of them. In addition, Safire exhibits the fact that he is going through the same challenges as others and demonstrates that they are on shared ground by adding that his heroes in the stars are “men of flesh and blood,” Armstrong and Aldrin. Another way in which this address contains ethos is through the fact that the reader is President Nixon, leader of the United States. By being an international chief, and even the head of the country where both astronauts originated, Nixon proves himself an authority on the subject and contains shared values with the citizens of the United States and the world. Even more than that, though, Nixon is also a citizen of the world and is having to cope with the loss of his own men–everyone’s

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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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