Following the death of former United States president Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, a close friend of Reagan’s and the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, delivered a speech in his honor. In her eulogy to the American people, Thatcher uses selection of detail, syntax, anecdotal evidence, and appeals to patriotism to express President Reagan’s good character throughout his term and the way his actions have positively affected America. Thatcher strategically places important details of President Reagan’s term and character in certain sections of her eulogy to him. Beginning her speech with a mention of Reagan being “a great president, a great American, and a great man” first introduces her personal thoughts towards Reagan, while also promoting his good character to the audience through repetition and emphasis on the word “great”. Additionally, Thatcher immediately mentions the amazing and influential work done by Reagan during his presidency, referring to his job as “daunting”. She follows with details of Reagan mending America’s “wounded spirit” and a brief explanation of his role in the Cold War as he “won converts…from the very heart of the [Soviet Union]”. After showing the more serious and patriotic side of Reagan, Thatcher …show more content…
By including such refutations, Thatcher proves the influence of Reagan while emphasizing the amount of work Reagan has done for the country. Later in the eulogy, Thatcher similarly applies this technique to describe the natural way that Reagan aided his country with mention of the war, stating that “when his allies came under Soviet or domestic pressure, they could look confidently to Washington”. The continues use of the technique of contrast through anaphora helps Thatcher compare Reagan to other people around the world and helps Americans know that Reagan is dependable and
In her eulogy in honor of Ronald Reagan on June 11, 2004, Margaret Thatcher effectively supports her claim in her opening sentence that, “We have lost a great president, a great American, and a great man, and I have lost a dear friend.” She contrasts many items in her speech, but a few of the most important instances are in lines 9 through 12, line 22, and lines 73 through 81. In paragraph 2, the paragraph after the opening sentence, Thatcher tells us about the goals Reagan set for himself, contrasting some of his international, more daunting ones with one that was simply part of his personality: “what Arnold Bennett called ‘the great act of cheering us all up.’ ” (line 12)
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.
Margaret defends Reagan's dignity by calling the American goverment "Evil Empire". The author blames the system of being defective rather than Ronald Reagan's way of managing the Presidency. Notwithstanding the amount of hatred towards Reagan due to political movements for the well-being for the Americans. Reagan's "great heart...remained sane and jacular..." after the difficulties of the nation. Consequently no matter how times may change Reagan will always be that old friend in this case towards Margaret in which expresses his value of the friendship.
He inspired America and its allies…” and “Others hoped, at best, for an easy cohabitation... He won the Cold War…” The juxtaposition that Thatcher organizes effectively dissolves the negative thinking posed by Reagan’s political adversaries by showing the audience that Reagan’s accomplishments were far more impactful. She employs repetition in these lines to emphasize that while others had doubts, Reagan
Q1 Timed Writing 1 Former British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, in her 2004 eulogy to Ronald Reagan encourages American optimism. Thatcher’s purpose is to inspire American citizens to be optimistic in the face of economic decline and foreign conflict. She assumes a nostalgic and light-hearted tone in order to encourage American citizens to adopt the traits that made Ronald Reagan a successful American. Thatcher writes his eulogy because of their relationship which she describes throughout her speech, “...I have lost a dear friend,” (Thatcher).
He brings us together in this sorrowful time in order to remember those who died because “We mourn seven heroes” (Reagan, 1986) and “We mourn their loss as a nation together” (Reagan, 1986). The President’s loss of emotions creates an assuring tone that
Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, portrays her sorrow in the death of Ronald Reagan, and emphasizes the former president’s accomplishments. Thatcher utilizes cause and effect to show how Reagan prospered under immense pressure of the public. Thatcher projects her admiration for Reagan by using glittering diction. Lastly, she adds shift change to show the changing tone in her eulogy. Margaret Thatcher appeals to not only Americans but others who are grieving the loss of Reagan through the use of informal tone and Thatcher creates a sense of relief and praise for the deceased.
His inclusion of analogies and emotional appeals, combined with his strong sense of authority, brings his arguments into focus and gives them a punch. His power in delivering this speech quite possibly kept America looking towards the stars and propelled them into the next age of space exploration. President Reagan’s speech serves as a touching conclusion to a tragic event. Despite the terrible catastrophe, Reagan’s four-minute speech provided closure on the one-minute tragedy whose impact will be felt for
In an eulogy to former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, addresses a speech in honor of Reagan. Throughout the eulogy, Thatcher informs Americans all of the amazing work Reagan did during his presidency and how he is a great person. Using examples of the work Reagan did, Thatcher states acknowledges those ideas in order to keep his legacy alive. Thatcher opens and closes her eulogy by directly addresses it to the American citizens in a warm and proud tone.
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.
Reagan sets America on a higher level than any other country when he says, “Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on earth.” He then goes on to add, “We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.” These hopeful words such as freedom and dignity set America apart from the rest of the world. Ronald Reagan is tactfully creating a sense of nationalism and unification in his audience, giving them a sense of pride. People want to preserve and remake America in this way, because believing that we have more freedom and more opportunities than others, makes us
In Reagan’s eulogy Thatcher uses pathos to unite herself with the audience, through the mutual feelings of grief and sorrow over losing a friend. In the opening lines of the eulogy Thatcher creates pathos by using diction. In lines one and two Thatcher said that a “Great President… Great American… Great man….” has died. Her choice of using the word great instead of good or any other adjective, effects the audience by showing what kind of man Reagan was. Since death is a universally known topic, it is safe to say that everybody has experienced the pain of losing a great person to death.
The author repeated the word ‘to’ and a verb to show the vastness of his reach. Reagan wanted “to mend” America’s spirit, “to restore” strength in the world and “to free” (6-7) those in communist countries. These hard tasks to accomplish were met by Reagan with what Thatcher called “a lightness of spirit” (10). By repeating
Analyzing Challenger’s Address Delivered on January 28, 1986, Ronald Reagan’s speech addressing the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was a plausible proof of the possibility to communicate various ideas during a tough situation effectively and efficiently. In a speech that lasted less than five minutes, Ronald Reagan managed to express his thoughts verbally and attempt to persuade his audience through an eulogy, a speech characterized by its epideictic occassion, that had been infused with a deliberative content that did not conflict with the core of the speech. Before one can analyze the details of Ronald Reagan’s speech, understanding the purpose behind the creation of the speech might be useful for understanding the context of the speech as a whole. Based on the speech how it relates to common speech purposes
Rhetorical Devices Open Ended Response In Ronald Reagan`s speech, ethos and logos are two rhetorical devices using either exquisite knowledge and integrity or logicality to persuade his audience of knocking the Wall of Berlin down. Throughout Reagan`s speech, ethos is a rhetorical device in which he uses to demonstrate and express his knowledge, and show integrity to those listening. Subsequently, this technique is what convinces the author of the continuous idea of knocking down the Wall of Berlin; overall, knocking down the wall would no longer separate Europe, and would spread the freedom between East and West Berlin. Ronald states, “President von Weizsacker has said, ‘The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed,’