...The effectiveness of a speech depends on how the orator uses persuasive techniques. In The Speech in the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry uses persuasive techniques of emotion and logic to urge colonists to fight for their independence from Britain. Emotion or pathos is a powerful technique that can enrage or calm the audience. Patrick Henry uses this idea effectively by trying to invoke the audience’s sense of fear and desire when he says “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!” The fear of being enslaved by the British makes the audience wary of all the cruel actions that have been done to the colonists by the British. The sense of desire for a life without chains...
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...Session of Congress, in the wake of the terror attacks upon America on 11 September, 2001. At this time in history, the United States needed direction and support for how it was going to deal with the most costly and bloodiest terrorist attacks in the Nation’s history: the American people demanded the President address the Nation after the attacks, and nine days later, the President delivered his speech. Across the country, emotions ran high in America and many were in constant fear for their lives and their country. “Is another attack coming?” “What will be the next target?” “Could this be the end of the world?” many pondered. Throughout the country the airlines halted service, the New York Stock Exchange temporarily suspended its operations and nearly every television station around the country relayed the latest news covering the latest developments in those uncertain times. The American people prodded answers from their leaders, “Who’s responsible?” “Why did they do this?” “What’s next?” So when President addressed the nation not only did he have to answer those questions, but he also had to quash fears and reinstill a sense of pride and stability in the American people. Hailed by many, “The speech that made the Bush Presidency,” the President utilized several techniques, explicit and implicit, that had effectively neutralized public fears and persuaded the people toward collective action. To understand why the speech was as effective as it was, one has to look at two major components...
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...the Freedom’s Future Abraham Lincoln once said “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” The United States of America is known to be the land of the free and this is an outcome of many struggles along the way. The integration of a wide array of visionary people is what makes America known as the land of liberty. Where men of color have a fair chance at attaining the same job as white men do, where women break the glass ceiling, and prejudice towards children of lower income are treated with dignity, then the voices of freedom ring louder on American soil. These are the people that Franklin D. Roosevelt and Barack Obama have been working to liberate for ages. Speech is known to be the most influential way...
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...One of the final scenes in the 1997 film Amistad is President John Quincy Adams’s appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States in his effort to argue for the release and freedom of the Africans. His argument to the Court is composed of various rhetorical strategies that make it persuasive and effective. Throughout his appeal, Adams implements the notable Aristotelian rhetorical elements of ethos, logos, and pathos, each contributing significantly to strengthening the logic and persuasiveness of his assertions. In his opening remarks to the Court, Adams states: “This is the most important case ever to come before this court. Because what it, in fact, concerns is the very nature of man.” In this instance, Adams appeals to logic (logos),...
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...achieve social change, the renowned ‘March on Washington.’ On Wednesday August 28, 1962, more than 250,000 Americans, Black and White, convened in Washington D.C for the celebrated and famed political rally known as the ‘March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.’ The purpose of the non violent protest was to expose the continuation of political and social challenges African Americans faced across America, over a century after the Emancipation Proclamation, urging for reforms to be made in civil and economic rights. To try...
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...Part 1: Answer the questions below about Reagan's speech. Submit this part to your teacher for approval before proceeding to Part 2. 1. What is Reagan trying to persuade his audience to believe? Use the text to justify your answer. Reagan is talking to Russian students and stressing on the fact that freedom is the key to everything. I'm assuming he wants students in Moscow, and all over Russia to understand that once you have freedom, you can acheive anything. He said, "We are seeing the power of economic freedom spreading around the world. Places such as the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan have vaulted into the technological era, barely pausing in the industrial age along the way." I believe he stresses on this because Russia has a different government policy then America. Russia was under the...
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...Memorial more than forty years ago, Martin Luther King captivated America with his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. This speech insisted racial integrity towards the wronged black community of America. The topic of the speech was that all individuals were created equal and from that day there needed to be a transformation in modern America. King's words demonstrated to touch the heaps of individuals and gave the country a language to express what was happening in the black community of American. Martin Luther King's speaking was cautiously created so it would have the most suitable delivery to suggest his facts and ideas. During that remarkable speech there are unseen, but apparent drops of propaganda....
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...One of President Reagan's purposes of his speech given at Moscow State University in 1988, was to lecture the Soviet people about freedom and its relationship to economic progress. He also said "It is a message of peace and good will and hope for a growing friendship and closeness between our two peoples." I believe he used techniques such as logic; pathos, appeals based on emotions; and ethos, appeals based on the speaker's credibility. "Pathos is an effective way of arousing passions is in appeal to values. Ethos uses trust, and focuses first on the speaker, showing the speaker as a person of integrity and good character" (changingminds.org, n.d.). President Reagan's reputation is quite known across the world. He has a lot of creditability being President of the United States, he witnessed first hand of these new technologies as well as the different countries coming together. I do believe that President Reagan was connected to his audience. At the beginning of his speech he had said "zhelayu vam uspekha" which means "I wish you success" in Russian. For me, it feels like he said that in their native language, because it was his way of showing respect for them and their country. He also included his wife's regards to the people of Moscow State University and also a message from our country stating "It is a message of peace and good will and hope for a growing friendship and closeness between our two peoples." This speech took place in May of 1988 and then the technology they...
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...By looking at the Virginia Convention and Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God one can see rhetorical devices which is important because you need to compare and contrast the two stories by using rhetorical analysis. Both stories are very emotional and persuasive, and have two completely different but very strong arguments. The Virginia Convention, written by Patrick Henry who at the time lived in a british ruled america. Henry wanted to break free from the british, and felt strongly about his point, but there were other people who felt strongly that the thirteen colonies should stay with the british. Henry needed a very emotional and persuasive speech if he was going to get anybody to see his way of thinking. Henry states “ give me liberty or give me death” this part of the speech is very emotional, because it is basically saying that they better give him freedom or just let him die. “ should i keep back my...
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...9/11 Speech Rhetorical Analysis Essay The setting of this speech was September 11, 2001 and our former president during the time, George Bush, was addressing the nation about an infamous terrorist attack on the twin towers in lower Manhattan, New York, The Pentagon in Washington D.C, and flight 93 that landed in a field in Pennsylvania. The towers took up over 16 acres of land and both stood at 1,362 feet with 104 floors. The terrorist attack on the twin towers had the most fatalities with 2,606 that perished. Flight 93 obtained 44 fatalities including the 4 hijackers. The pentagon was attacked on the west side of the building, which was thankfully under construction that day which led to no casualties besides the terrorists. The president had to address the nation about what was happening and help people understand the importance of keeping our nation safe. The president got the attention of the nation with his opening sentence. Bush said, “Today our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and...
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...“What is an American?” This speech, given by Harold Ickes in May of 1941, banded its audience together in a fight for World War II. The speech can be classified as many different things; some might say that it is persuasive, others motivational. Whatever title one might choose to brand it with, one thing is irrefutable; the speech itself does its duty by capturing the attention of its audience through language and technique. Ickes’ speech to the American people was very successful in rallying his points because of the way in which he chose to deliver it. Rather than deliver a formal speech, he addressed the American public very personally. This can be seen as he repeatedly used the terms “I”, “our”, “we”, and so forth. The “our” and “we” are especially important because he was talking to America as a whole. Through these terms he showed that his concerns were the same as those of the American public. Not only did he bring the people together as a united front through his inclusive terms such as “we” and “our”, he showed that he meant all of America, not just the working white man. “What constitutes an American? Not colour nor race nor religion…An American is one who loves justice and believes in the dignity of man…” Through this statement it can be felt that Ickes was speaking to every American out there. He was rallying to bring them together and it worked because he was sure not to leave any man out. Another way in which Ickes unified and connected with his audience...
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...Jamarcus Hillard Mr. Linder Oral Communication 14 January 2016 What is an American? Harold Ickes was successful in presenting his speech by using great rhetorical devices appealing to his audience logically, emotionally, and ethics. As I read Harold Ickes’s speech the words summed up the emotion of the time so perfectly. The time was when Hitler and the Nazi army was headed for world domination. His intents were to influence American citizen to unite as a country. Ethos is one factor in creating the appeals of Harold Ickes’ speech. "We should be clear on this point. What is convulsing the world today is not merely another old-fashioned war. It is a counter revolution against our ideas and ideals, against our sense of justice and our human values." Saying this, Ickes makes it not just a dispute between nations, but a fight between human morals, right and wrong. Ickes uses pathos in his speech to create feelings in the crowd that will make them a want to protect their nation. Ickes started the speech with intense language and ideas that are corrosive nearly insulting to the listeners. “Why have some of us been behaving like scared chickens?” he questions. “Scared chickens” causes the audience to hesitate. “For years it has been dinned into us that we are a weak nation; that we are an inefficient people; that we are simple-minded. For years we have been told that we are beaten, decayed, and that no part of the world belongs to us any longer.” These statements use pathos to cause...
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...“Give me liberty or give me death”. Patrick Henry was one of the founding fathers during the American Revolutionary time period in 1765. Henry was a lawyer, politician, and a public speaker. Henry’s huge roll in during the time period was trying to persuade the American colonies to revolt against england. America wanted to gain back their freedom and justice. The war than took place from 1775-1783 between Great Britain and the original 13 colonies. Patrick Henry uses pathos in his speech to convince the American colonies to fight back against the british. One of the most impactful persuasive technique that Henry used in his speech was using a rhetorical question. He uses this rhetorical question to have the audience feel guilty if they do...
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...Mitt Romney’s Presidential Campaign Speech. Mitt Romney launched his Presidential Campaign Announcement Speech in New Hampshire on June 2nd 2011. On January 10th he wins the primary election in New Hampshire by 39,4% the effect of his opening speech must’ve made quite the impression on the residents in New Hampshire. Traditionally New Hampshire is “ruled” by the Republican Party and is seen as the most Conservative part of the northeastern parts of the US. The reason this can be seen as such a victory should be seen in the light of Barack Obama getting the majority of the voters in 2008. The state has only been won by the Democrats four times before Obama. Since the mid-term election in 2006 the Democrats seem to gain ground. Therefore, Mitt Romney must have felt quite pleased with the result. So when analyzing the speech is this a ground breaking speech with clear purpose and rhetoric? The purpose of the speech is of course to define himself as a worthwhile candidate who is able to win the election for the Republican Party and lead the USA to better times. By natural selection this of course make President Obama and the Democratic Party their enemy. Mitt Romney has to present himself as a leader and born Alpha Male. In order to do that he must elevate himself, his family and put down and ridicule President Obama and his work. Mitt Romney’s speech is composed in such a way that he welcomes and thanks his hosts. From lines 11 – 30 establishes a link between himself as...
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...perceptions of their audience. Politicians throughout history have used the power of rhetoric to get their views across, whether it was for a political election campaign or a speech for freedom and equality. Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s (MLK) Washington speech was one of the most important in the history of racial equality and sparked the world wide battle for racial equality. During the 2008 election campaign for presidency Barack Obama delivered his ’Yes we can’ speech, addressing all Americans to tell them that change was possible. Both men were black and wanted change and achieved it by delivering effective...
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