Rhetorical Analysis Of Winston Churchill's Speech

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On May 13th, 1940 Winston Churchill spoke for the first time as Prime Minister of Britain in the House of Commons, delivering one of his famous speeches “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat”. Churchill did not receive a very excited welcoming, due to the uncertainty in the crowd as they were facing a serious war with German Nazis at the same time as this change of government was taking place. Churchill used his speech to motivate the people in face of the impending devastation that Britain would have to face going to war. Churchill’s main purpose of the speech is to assure the audience that he is taking his new position in government very serious. Churchill opens his speech by speaking about what he has accomplished at that point, in rebuilding the …show more content…

The theme of the speech turns from trust building into a call-to-arms. Patriotism can be found throughout the end of his speech, rallying the people starting with their hearts. To do this, Churchill states that the policy is to, “…wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime.” The acts of Hitler caused many people to be shocked that a human being could do such terrible things, and in this speech Churchill backs up those feelings of being appalled, by calling out the very demon himself. Churchill goes on to say that the aim is, “…victory; victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.” This is also clearly an emotional appeal, considering that in times of war the main thoughts are both victory and survival. Churchill states plainly that without victory, there will be no survival of the world as it was back then. That things would change for the worse if they were to fail their mission of victory. Churchill continues on speaking about survival, his tone one set for victory, for the continuation of the British Empire. Churchill once again builds character with his audience at the end of the speech, saying, “I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men.” This ties all of the points together, the first part showing that he has dedication to his new title as Prime Minister, and the latter part giving hope to the people that their victory will