A Rhetorical Analysis Pearl Harbor Speech

In December 9, 1941 Roosevelt delivered a speech via radio in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In this speech, Roosevelt compares Japan to Hitler's and Mussolini in Europe's and Africa's invasions of other countries to show how dangerous Japan could become if it was not stopped. Roosevelt goes on to say that "it has become far more than a parallel. It is actual collaboration so well calculated that all the continents of the world, and all the oceans, are now considered by the Axis strategists as one gigantic battlefield.". Roosevelt clearly conveys the idea Japan has become powerful and dangerous just like the other members of the Axis power. Roosevelt speech was effective as it provided facts and repetition, which is easy to understand and to correlate the information with the statement. His speech lets the audience know that Japan is dangerous and it needs to be defeated. …show more content…
This is a great strategy to convince readers of what is stated. Since Roosevelt says: "without warning" after every mention of the invasions the listener gets a sense that the Japan just like Hitler is a threat to the European nation and the world. With the repetition and the same format to explain different events, it allows for Roosevelt to correlate the events and show that they occurred because they arose from the same origin. Not only is the use of repetition of "without warning" effective in conveying Roosevelt's message, but the date also serves as a correlation. The dates in each invasion are within a year or two apart. This allows for the readers to further correlate the attacks and assume that Roosevelt's statement that Japan is just as dangerous seem more alive and