Our Journey to the Moon On September 12, 1962 President John F. Kennedy gave a speech in Houston, Texas at Rice Stadium. This 18 minute long speech was made to convince the people of the United States as to why we should go to the moon. The “We choose to go to the Moon” speech was written by both John F. Kennedy and his speech writer, Ted Sorensen (Press). The purpose behind this speech was to gain America’s support and to get everyone on board with the idea of space exploration. The reason for the embarkment of space exploration was due to the ongoing space race between the U.S. and the USSR. However, it could also be speculated that a small part for this speech was a result of Kennedy’s general curiosity mixed with his fascination of space. Kennedy wanted to …show more content…
In Kennedy’s speech, he claimed that the United States would reach the moon by the end of the decade. He used multiple metaphors throughout the speech, he even compared the idea of space exploration to that of climbing Mount Everest. One of his most famous lines from this speech is, “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”. This quote from his speech is an example of the usage of Pathos, in the fact that it provokes an emotional response from his audience. Kennedy made sure to properly address his audience, he also maintained a professional attitude throughout the speech since it is a formal occasion. Kennedy also made sure to include the usage of “we” throughout the speech to make his audience feel as though he was talking with them, not at them. Kennedy really worked hard to instill the belief that as a nation, we can accomplish great things and that by working together, we can accomplish the goal of landing a man on the moon. However, the former president also made sure to