Pushing aside all controversy about Ronald Reagan, his speech at the Brandenburg Gate was one of the most bold moves by a president. He was told by many of his advisors not to deliver his speech, much less travel to Berlin. Although his speech was controversial, one must take into consideration the level of audacity it took to deliver this speech in Berlin. It was a given that his speech would be put under many critics’ microscopes. The idea of integrating their own language into his speech was extremely decisive and prodigious. “Es gibt nur ein Berlin.”
(AmericanRhetoric.com). The importance of mixing in Germany’s language shows to the people that he actually cares about the issue. Not only does Ronald Reagan make it evident that he cares, but also, the American people.
…show more content…
For years, the wall has terrorized the lives of many; the young, middle-aged, and elderly. The wall promotes seclusion, which goes against the very basis of all government. It is quite difficult for a single speech to take down such an intimidating wall, but the problem is that the President and the US citizens can only do so much due to the delicate situation(s) of the Cold War. The constant threat of nuclear warfare lingering is more damning than a wall to many, but where there was despair, Reagan saw hope. He claimed that the problems in Berlin resemble the problems that are evident across the world. “I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict the continent...” (AmericanRhetoric.com). He is using Berlin as his argument to help the issues across the world, but not in a negative manner. He is using Berlin as the keystone in his argument because he believes that if peace arises in Berlin, the rest of the continent will follow
When giving Reagan 's speech he uses personification to draw people in and help them connect to his words. For example when he says “But my friends, there were a few things the Soviets didn 't count on--Berliner Herz, Berliner Humor, ja, und Berliner Schnauze. [Berliner heart, Berliner humor, yes, and a Berliner Schnauze.]”(Reagan, online). He gives Germany a heart and it’s own sense of humor while personifying Berlin. With this Berliner 's are able to relate to this speech because of the use of personification.
On March 8, 1983, in Orlando, Florida, Ronald Reagan gave the renowned “Evil Empire” speech to the National Association of Evangelicals. Within this speech Ronald Reagan gives his view of the Soviet Union. He explains the importance of Christianity and how a lack of faith leads to the Soviet Union's totalitarian leadership. He quotes William Penn in saying, "If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants. " The speech became prominent because of Reagan’s comparison of the Soviet Union to an evil empire, hence the name of the speech.
Furthermore, Ronald Reagan started his argument with uses of word choices and appeals of emotions which creates strong feelings that effectively helps him to persuade the Soviet Union as well as the president Gorbachev. As he mentioned in paragraph two “standing before the Brandenburg gate, every man is a German, separated from his fellow man, every man is a Berliner forced to look upon a scar” here Reagan expressed the feeling of not being able to be connected to the other part of German. Those emotional appeal makes the Soviet Union to think about how the people were not connected to the other side of the berlin wall, which creates an eagerness inside them to bring down the
On Tuesday, January 20, 1981, the special occasion of Ronald Reagan's inauguration, he gave his First Inaugural Address speech. Claiming that the government can not complete the job that they have been given to accomplish, he announces his plan for his term, and enforces it patriotically with powerful rhetoric. As the newly elected president, Ronald Reagan’s first speech to America, was full of patriotism as he told America his plan to lessen the government's power during his time in office. He effectively used rhetorical devices such as a synecdoche to optimistically show we are a whole made up of strong individuals. He also uses anaphora to repeat the main message to convey the seriousness of his message to establish a trust between him and his audience.
Reagan used pronouns to include the audience throughout his speech. One example of Reagan’s speech being inclusive of the entire nation was when he said, “ We’ve grown used to the wonders in this century” (4). He is saying that as a whole country we are used to finding new wonders everyday. Reagan was very confident in NASA and wanted to continue to receive support, so he said, “We’ll continue our quest into space” (6). He believed that America could keep the space program going strong despite the recent tragic events.
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).
The first rhetorical skill that Reagan uses is ethos. In the very first sentence he implies his status and authority by stating, “I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans.” By showing us his power as President of the United States (the
Knowing President Reagan’s past is something that is not spoken and written of enough. In the Writing the Life of Ronald Reagan: An Impossible Mission? it helps to bring light to his past and why he was able to use these forms of rhetoric to speak to the harsh realities of the Berlin Wall and its impact on many people around the world. It is important to note that President Reagan “published two (ghostwritten) autobiographies. The first one was published in 1965, just before he entered politics in California; it is entitled Where’s the Rest of Me?”
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.
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.
Multiple presidents throughout history have presented their Inaugural speeches, but not all have been as influential as a speech presented with complete thought and various rhetorical devices. An inaugural speech or inaugural address is the first speech made by a President at a ceremony; this ceremony is called an Inauguration. In Ronald Reagan's inaugural speech, which was held on January 20th of 1981, he presents many Rhetorical Devices in which engage both to the audience's emotions and provide information throughout his whole speech. Ronald Reagan used many rhetorical devices and got his point across to the people which made his inaugural address nothing short of excellent. The first Rhetorical Device Ronald Reagan used in his Inaugural speech was the use of Pathos.
Overall, Reagan used the rhetorical device ethos to express his knowledge, and integrity in order to persuade the audience of knocking the Wall of Berlin down. Besides the rhetorical device ethos, Reagan also used logos to influence the readers of no longer having the Wall of Berlin. Reagan states, “And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom.” (2) The quote explains how the Soviets have started to progress their comprehension of the significance of freedom. Reagan proposed knocking down the Wall of Berlin, and how this would spread freedom; therefore, since the Soviets started to realize the significance of freedom, then it would only be logical to knock down the wall in order for the Soviets and others to fully comprehend the importance of freedom, rather than understand it in a limited way.
The rhetorical elements, logos and pathos, included in Ronald Reagan’s speech, “ Tear Down This Wall” assist Reagan and his words to convince Gorbachev, along with the people of Berlin, that the wall between eastern and western Berlin must be dismantled. Logos is an appeal to logic, or a way of persuading an audience by reason. Reagan provides details of how other countries have reached a state of freedom, at the same time have maintained a strong financial background. In “Tear Down This Wall” logos is used to show that countries who are not separated by a wall are thriving economically. For example, Reagan explained, “in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history.”
On the 27th of October in 1964, Ronald Reagan gave a speech called “A Time for Choosing” on behalf of Barry Goldwater. His speech was so popular that it is also known as “The Speech”. Afterwards, Ronald Reagan ,also known as The Great Communicator, was thought of by many people as a great political speaker. This speech was given to endorse the Goldwater campaign, even though Goldwater lost the election. The Speech launched Reagan’s political career into action and he later went on to be the Californian governor and President of the United States.
On 19th June 2013 Barack Obama, who is the current president of America, held a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. It brought thousands of people there and millions around the world in front of the televisions. Its purpose is to inform the world about the beginning of negotiations with Russia aimed at ending the two nations` Cold War military posture and a reduction of nuclear arms by up to one third. The American president starts the speech by simply saying "Hello Berlin!