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Ronald Reagan The Evil Empire Speech Analysis

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Without religion we have no morality, without morality we are beings of evil. “The Evil Empire” speech by Ronald Reagan, is verbal dissent of the Soviet Union and his supports for abolishment of abortion. Reagan’s speech was held in 1983 at the Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals, seemingly a tactical decision to have a crowd susceptible to a religious appeal. Using word choice and repetition, Reagan rallies the public’s support with arguments of morality using religion, a pathos and ethos appeal. Reagan begins his speech with a religious joke, though seemingly just an ice breaker, this is how Reagan beings his pathos and ethos appeal. The joke is based on the idea that there are few politicians that go to heaven, though not literally implied, Reagan makes the connection of himself with the politician that went to heaven. This subtle joke appeals to pathos and ethos, people think that he’s moral and belongs in heaven and also gives him the credibility of someone who has done good and belongs in heaven. This is also an endorsement of Christianity specifically, the largest and most prominent …show more content…

Reagan, based on an appeal to the general public, chooses to gain credibility and an emotional appeal with religion by using associating his ideas with words like god and morality then repeats this association with all his ideas. His repetition and word choice creates an association of his ideas and religion, in a public of very religious citizens, will create a positive connotation regardless of the actual merit of the idea. This connotation will help make the general public more receptive and accepting of Reagan’s decision making based, as well as have a generally more negative connotation when thinking of the Soviet Union. Having the public’s support can reduce scrutiny of his decision making and minimize public backlash regardless of the merit of his

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Tragedies, they will happen without a hint of awareness but they cannot be stopped or answered for. When they do occur it leads people to shock and grief. However tragedies brings forth something that gives people unity, hope, and direction. This something is called a leader and throughout history many people have embodied this quality. There are many instances where people have stood up an embodied this quality.

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Analyzing Challenger’s Address Delivered on January 28, 1986, Ronald Reagan’s speech addressing the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was a plausible proof of the possibility to communicate various ideas during a tough situation effectively and efficiently. In a speech that lasted less than five minutes, Ronald Reagan managed to express his thoughts verbally and attempt to persuade his audience through an eulogy, a speech characterized by its epideictic occassion, that had been infused with a deliberative content that did not conflict with the core of the speech. Before one can analyze the details of Ronald Reagan’s speech, understanding the purpose behind the creation of the speech might be useful for understanding the context of the speech as a whole. Based on the speech how it relates to common speech purposes

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Rhetorical Devices Open Ended Response In Ronald Reagan`s speech, ethos and logos are two rhetorical devices using either exquisite knowledge and integrity or logicality to persuade his audience of knocking the Wall of Berlin down. Throughout Reagan`s speech, ethos is a rhetorical device in which he uses to demonstrate and express his knowledge, and show integrity to those listening. Subsequently, this technique is what convinces the author of the continuous idea of knocking down the Wall of Berlin; overall, knocking down the wall would no longer separate Europe, and would spread the freedom between East and West Berlin. Ronald states, “President von Weizsacker has said, ‘The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed,’

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The speech conducted by former President Ronald Reagan titled “Evil Empire” was to address the National Association of Evangelicals. The speeches main topic is to focus on the evil that is among us. Former President Reagan conducted this speech at the time Congress was debating on a resolution for nuclear freeze. The speech’s main point is to inform and give hope to Christians to make sure America stays a free and great country.

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An example of the new views of Reagan’s about the economy is shown in how during the 1980 primaries, “Reagan and Bush promised significant tax cuts, increased defense spending, a balanced budget…” (Schaaf). Without having gone through the events of the Great Depression, Reagan likely would not of had the same views of the importance of the American Economy which could have prevented him from succeeding in his political career for years to

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In his speech, President Ronald Reagan appeals to the masses by using a variety of rhetorical devices to invoke an emotional response from the audience. He makes it known that the astronauts were great people. He compliments them and offers his condolences to their families. His speech allows him to make his audience feel distressed for the disaster. The figurative language used helps the audience to envision a picture of the disaster.

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The Rise of Ronald Reagan and Republican Conservatism Conservatism and liberalism are two of the most dominant political philosophies and ideologies during the post-Enlightenment era (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). As an ideology, conservatism served as a blueprint in the society which promoted the idea of retaining traditional social institutions, beliefs, cultures and discourage social changes. Although the United States of America during the present day promotes liberalism, there was one portion of the country’s history that conservatism was promoted due to several factors. This paper examines the very factors which gave rise to conservatism embodied in the candidacy of Ronald Reagan.

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In this address he makes a sweeping critique of liberalism, big government, and federal payments. (Encyclopedia) In this speech, known as “A Time for Choosing” Reagan used logos, pathos, and mood to invoke people’s feelings about making the right choice when choosing their leader in order for society to have a stronger and successful future. Historical background

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Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, portrays her sorrow in the death of Ronald Reagan, and emphasizes the former president’s accomplishments. Thatcher utilizes cause and effect to show how Reagan prospered under immense pressure of the public. Thatcher projects her admiration for Reagan by using glittering diction. Lastly, she adds shift change to show the changing tone in her eulogy. Margaret Thatcher appeals to not only Americans but others who are grieving the loss of Reagan through the use of informal tone and Thatcher creates a sense of relief and praise for the deceased.

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In his emotionally inspiring speech, “Shuttle Challenger Address,” Ronald Reagan expresses his deepest condolences to the people most affected by the Challenger accident. He advances his speech with a gentle yet strong willed facade in order to inspire the future generations of astronauts to not let this tragedy affect their future endeavors. Raegen then briefly puts his presidential status aside in order to further express the depth of his pain, not only at a presidential level, but as an American citizen concerned for the well being of his country. Raegen applies different types of rhetorical devices in order to emotionally appeal to the people most affected by the accident, while at the same time encourage the general public to not let this

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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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Former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, in his address to the nation about the Challenger explosion, distinguishes the terrifying news of the explosion of the space shuttle. Reagan's purpose is to remember the lives lost in this painful accident and to ensure that space program will keep our faith with its future in space. He adopts a sorrowful tone in order to acknowledge all the courage and breakers that those seven astronauts expressed to his nation. Reagan opens his tribute to the Challenger astronauts by recognizing that this accident delayed his State of the Union address and by showing the pain of him and his wife’s grief. He appeal to the emotions of the listeners by expressing that “today is a day for mourning and remembering” (Reagan, 1986), that he and his wife are “pained to the core” (Reagan, 1986), and that we all know that this accident is “truly a national loss” (Reagan, 1986).

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