Margaret Atwood’s, ‘Spotty –Handed Villainesses’ and Anwar Sadat’s ‘Speech to the Israeli Knesset’ are two speeches that respectively challenge societal concerns through personal or shared experience and additionally provoke thought for direction and vision through relevant rhetorical devices that allow them to connect with their given context. …show more content…
On November 20th 1977 with Anwar presented his compelling and inspiring speech which perfectly represented his diplomatic coup de theatre. Through the acknowledgement of past wrongdoings, Sadat challenged his hesitant and reluctant audience devices to envision a permanent peace throughout Arab and Jewish states through identifying the nations’ shared experience of conflict, pain and suffering brought upon by war. Additionally, his speech gave him universal recognition for bravery and sacrifice. Due to the estranged relationship between Egypt and Israel it was imperative for Sadat to establish his objective of peace between the nations immediately. Sadat appeals to a higher being within the first sentence of his speech to establish a common ground as religion is of upmost importance for both Arab and Israeli states. Although one of the key causes for the estranged relationship in the Middle East was religion, Sadat aimed to use religious belief to overcome those differences. It allowed him to emphasise the minimal margin of separation between Egypt and Israel which gained him credibility or ‘ethos’. Similar to Atwood, Sadat’s tone was demanding and urgent to reflect the context and purpose of his speech. “We must rise against forms of fanaticism, self-deception and obsolete theories of superiority”. Sadat’s evident employment of emotive language highlights his deep desire to achieve his vision of peace throughout the land as well as allowing him to address and acknowledge the shared experiences of “feud, spite and hatred”. Alas, this enables him to establish a stronger connection with his audience through pathos. Furthermore, his concise speech structure enables the audience to remain focused and fixated with Sadat’s’ message,