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Rhetorical Analysis Pearl Harbor Speech

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Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation-Franklin Delano Roosevelt Speech Analysis On December 7th, 1941, the United States of America was attacked by Japan without forewarning. One day later President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed Congress and the nation. President Roosevelt used his speech as a mean to convince Congress to declare war on Japan and to bolster American patriotism for the impending war. Roosevelt accomplishes this by utilizing emotional, polarizing diction, repetition, and pathos.
President Roosevelt employs vivid and heated diction throughout his speech to portray the Japanese as dishonorable and duplicitous. The most memorable phrase of President Roosevelt’s address is from the very first line. He declares December 7th, 1941 “…a date which will live in infamy.” Roosevelt’s carefully thought out word choice of “infamy” foreshadows the tone of his entire speech. Through one simple word President Roosevelt associates the Japanese as wicked to his audience. This …show more content…

President Roosevelt repeats “…the Japanese attacked…” to emphasize his point that Japan attacked not only the United States but many other Pacific nations too deliberately and without warning. This portrays Japan as the enemy and compels the nation to defend their homeland and make Japan pay for their cruel actions. Roosevelt also recites “Japanese” and “attacked” multiple times throughout his address. By using slight variations of word forms such as “Empire of Japan”, “Japanese Government”, “Japanese forces”, “the Japanese” and “Japan”, Roosevelt renders it evident that the many components of Japan cannot be separated. The attack was not made simply by the Japanese military, but by Japan itself. The variety of related terms emphasize that Japan as whole is to blame. Furthermore, Roosevelt’s use of repetition strategically highlights key phrases that carry the weight of his

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