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Rhetorical Analysis Of Ronald Reagan's Shuttle Challenger Address

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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 …show more content…

Raegan states that “the future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.(7)” By using this type of syntax, it gives the audience a ray of hope and encouragement to tell them that if we want our space endeavors to reach up to its fullest potential, we need to take risks and not let this tragedy affect our plans. If these crew members were brave enough to “lead us into the future,” then it is our job to finish what they started and not let their dedication be in vain. Another way in which Reagan effectively applies parataxis is when he says that “nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.(8)” By saying this, Ragen establishes a bit of a general truth that essentially encourages his audience that they should not take this tragedy as a loss, but instead take it as a lesson learned. Since the Challenger crew were able to pursue their mission with courage, it is now the future generation’s turn to undertake where they have left off, and finish where they started. Overall, Ronald Reagan took advantage of his enormous platform to give a national eulogy in order to alleviate the pain caused by the loss of the Challenger seven. Raegen pursues his delivery with the use of rhetorical devices such as Pathos and Parataxis in order to appeal to his audience’s emotions while at the

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