Rhetorical Analysis: The Challenger Address

My definition of rhetoric before the readings was simply: successful written or oral communication with a clear purpose & audience in mind. After completing the readings, I have decided that is not specific enough and does not encompass what rhetoric really is. The readings by Crusus, Channell, and Drucker helped establish a clear relationship between argument, “mature reasoning”, and communication as a mode used to communicate. Both of the readings provided a clearer understanding of argument and communication, key components to rhetoric, but did not change my definition until I read “The Rhetorical Situation” by Bitzer. The idea of a rhetorical situation, provided a clear application of the question: “What is rhetoric?” in a historical, realistic

“A Modest Proposal” written by Jonathan Swift in 1729 begins by deploring indigent Irish families who struggle tirelessly to make an honest living for their large families. This speech pivots on an satirical structure with its use of rhetoric that utilizes the form of ethos, an appeal to the reader's sense of ethics and moral values held throughout Irish society. Pathos, an appeal to invoke countless emotional responses from the readers, and logos, the appeal of logic-statistics that the above subject carries to persuade an audience by reason. By using doublespeak, Swift alludes to different types of rhetoric used throughout this speech such as ironic positive slanting, charged language and even satire to exaggerate and expose the stupidity people exemplify when offering solutions regarding the political issues Ireland was dealing

We have reached the end of the semester unconsciously. During this semester, we’ve practiced and improved our writing by outlining, composing, editing, and revising. Throughout the process, I discovered my strengths and weaknesses, meanwhile, I tried hard to refine my writing skills.

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.

“Ding!” somebody’s iPhone goes off everywhere people turn because everyone has an iPhone especially teenagers. Every year Apple comes out with a new and improved iPhone for consumers. The advertising of the new iPhone gets the audiences attention based on how well the commercial is, and it influences buyers to buy their new product. An Apple commercial during Christmas time of 2013 came out it was called “Misunderstood”. To market Apple’s targeted audience the company used persuasive marketing tools such as a strong use of emotions and identifying with viewers to make an effective commercial.

In this excerpt of a lecture given by Maria W. Stewart in the year 1832, she has a strong point: Although the African Americans in the northern colonies were free, they were not treated equal as the white people were. Stewart uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to bring her point in the situation, such as argument, compare and contrast, and appeal to ethos. Along with the persistent and serious tone, it is clear that she sees the unfair treatment of African Americans a major problem.

A modern woman emerging and developing ahead of her time, dealing with the challenges of gaining independence in a time period where woman weren’t human. This is Edna Pontellier’s conflict told in the novel the Awakening by Kate Chopin. Late in her already establish life Edna a wife and mother of two discovers herself to realize she goes against society’s ideals as a woman. Never truly attempting to fit into the “woman” role Edna finds herself stepping out of her cage through self-discovery. Author Kate Chopin creates and utilizes symbols and motifs to develop the multiple cognizances Edna undergoes. Edna deals with the repercussions of a society that isn’t as accustoms to a woman being

Persuasion makes it’s way into almost every communication event I can think of. Either I’m trying to persuade someone or they are trying to persuade me. My dad was a connoisseur in the art of rhetoric. I observed him manipulate the english language to his benefit on many occasions. He would talk people into buying vehicles, electronics, and just about anything he could make a profit on, he would talk people into giving him discounts in stores and restaurants, it was amazing to watch him, however seeing him persuade so many others made me very cautious to being persuaded. Nonetheless, recently I found myself in a situation where I was the persuadee and the persuader, a local dog breeder, created such emotion within his argument that I found

When arguing for racial equality, James Farmer Jr. quotes St.Augustine, “An unjust law is no law at all.” He claims that just laws are meant to protect all citizens; whereas, unjust laws that discriminate Negroes are not laws to be followed, thus raising awareness of racial discrimination by using emotional and logical appeals. In The Great Debaters, Henry Lowe appeals to the audience’s emotions during a debate about Negro integration into state universities. To challenge his opponent’s claim that the South isn 't ready to integrate Negroes into universities, he affirms that if change wasn’t forcefully brought upon the South, Negroes would “still be in chains,” which is an allusion to slavery. With this point, he is able to raise awareness of

The line between rational and irrational thought is often blurred for some more than others. Usually when we cross this line into irrational thought our brain will let us know that what we are doing isn’t within reason. While many believe that Christopher McCandless was crazy and his ideas were ludicrous; I believe that he saw the line between rational and irrational thought very clearly, and that all though some of his ideas may have seemed crazy to some, he carried them out in sane body and mind. Chris was an extremist, a radical youth with different ways of thinking, and often we as a society tend to identify someone as crazy when we cannot comprehend the reasoning behind why a person would do something. Chris was not crazy, but he was

Abraham Lincoln in the speech, The Gettysburg Address, constructs a point of achieving a "just and lasting peace" between the North and South without retribution. Lincoln supports his assertion by justifying his beliefs of unity between the states. Lincoln's purpose is to influence the people to not allow what has been done to go to waste. He wants his audience to realize that this division will only persist if no one settles the current issues in society. Lincoln speaks in a sympathizing, determined tone to address the Americans who are mourning the loss of their loved ones and to the rest of Americans who he wants to see a change from.

Although Ronald Reagan’s speech about the Challenger explosion was given during a time of great sorrow, the speech was successful for being a way to unite the country as one to deal with the loss as a whole, and to bear the weight of such a horrific tragedy together. With the Challenger disaster being the first one of the space program to have deaths in flight, the United States was completely shocked by the misfortune of the shuttle. Ronald Reagan’s speech on the disaster was a way to have the nation not blame the space program for the deaths of the astronauts, but a way to have the nation face the disaster with strength and push through the event with more courage than before and to continue exploration into space.

Political ads are a way to persuade you to vote for one political party or the other. Every 4 years, there is an election between democrats and republicans that will help decide the next president of the United States. These campaigns between the democrats and the republicans are the strategies candidates use to win your vote. During the election season, there is many speeches made by both the people who are running for president. Debates between the two sides can sway your vote to one side or the other depending on what the candidates say.

He shows empathy in many aspects of his demeanor. The first and most noticeable sign of empathy in his speech was when he said, "Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger." He addresses not only himself, but his wife also, in an attempt to bring the speech on a more personal basis. This personal connection shows the deeper impact of this tragedy. When Reagan addresses the magnitude of the issue, and how many people were affected, he also shows that there is a path to recovery. As he continues to address the loss faced by the nation, he also discusses how America will “continue to follow [the Challenger astronauts] into the future,” showing the American people that they will move forward from this

Regan’s use of ethos, logos, pathos was to make an emotional connection to the families of the Challenger Seven, and to the citizens of the United States. President Regan establishes his credibility and trustworthiness by his credibility as the President of the United States and saying that the Seven were seen as heroes. Regan says, “but they, The Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs” (Regan 2). Regan wanted the people of the US to know how brave these The Challenger Seven really were. Regan than follows with this quote, “we mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe” (Regan 2). Saying the names of The Challenger Seven gives each individual person more credit and shows of more importance.