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Rhetorical Analysis Of Ronald Reagan's Speech

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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. For instance G.W. Busch during 9-11 and Abraham Lincoln with the Gettysburg Address. These two occasions might be different in many ways but they share a person rising to an opportunity to provide inspirational words for the people. Specifically, we can look at Ronald Reagan and how he rises to an occasion and unifies people while providing direction in a speech about the tragic “Challenger” event. My paper will use the Neo-Aristotelian criticism method, which explores the rhetorical situation and cannons of rhetoric. The rhetorical situation consists of four aspects of the speech. The first aspect is to …show more content…

Being personal is a good way to unify people. In this speech President Regan uses a rhetorical canon; which is style, effectively. President Reagan personalizes his speech by talking directly to the families of the fallen heroes. Personalizing the speech was a good choice because it is a more effective way of talking about the situation rather than just talking about the incident an informing what happened. Also his choice of using the words “us” and “we” triggers unity among the nation. In my opinion this helps comfort the families by informing them that we all stand with them One example of this is when Reagan says “But we feel the loss” in the fourth paragraph. Also Reagan strays away from the negative aspect of the disaster. The focus of staying positive provides a sense of purpose. Regan explains how the “seven” was full of courage and that they died doing what they

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