Apollo 11 Moon Landing Rhetorical Analysis

The Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 marked an entire generation of manmade success. The following texts focus on the Apollo 11 moon landing and contain different perspectives on the matter. The Times article is very analytical, the speech by Safire focuses mostly on the emotional half of the moon landing, Rand’s article portrays the launch as very positive and figurative, Hemlocks cartoon criticizes the negative attention the space launch gets. Each of the passages uses important rhetorical techniques in order to effectively get their purpose across. The first article by Times of London stresses the significance of the moon landing as an International event, important to all mankind. The next article by William Safire speaks of the tragedy …show more content…
Rand says “it was impossible to watch passively, one had to express, by some physical action, a feeling that was not triumph, but more: the feeling that while objects unobstructed streak of motion was the only thing that mattered in the universe”, when rand says “the only thing that mattered in the universe” he is trying to get across how beautiful and amazing the launch was, He becomes dumbfounded by the beautiful launch and shows you the greatness of Apollo 11. Rand then adds “the fundamental significance of Apollo 11s triumph is not political; it is philosophical; specifically, moral epistemological”, Rand is referring to the moral knowledge and emotional significance of Apollo 11 when he states “specifically, moral epistemological”. Seeing the launch with his own eyes Rand is portraying the symbolism of the launch, how important you should feel as an individual for living in a new era of manmade success and reflects on how the launch itself shows how mankind has achieved greatness. His optimistic tone brings out what he wants us to feel about his philosophy of Apollo