In March of 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave his first inaugural address to a nation that was in the midst of the Great Depression and declared a war on poverty. Although he specifically greeted former President Hoover and Chief Justice, Charles Evan Hughes, he mainly addressed the general public with a determination to overcome the economic issues that the Great Depression brought to the people. FDR hoped to revive “the American spirit” that was sought by his predecessors so that every American citizen would be able to have a brighter future. He reinforced the importance of “the American spirit” through personification, diction, and repetition.
Throughout his whole speech, Roosevelt wanted to unify his audience in order to help it see …show more content…
At the end of his address, FDR acknowledges that there are “arduous days” ahead, yet held strong to his belief that the revival of “the American spirit” will help the country prevail. He stated that the nation needs to hold strong to it’s “old precious moral values” have “warm courage” and “clean satisfaction” for success. In remembering the generations previous, and the courage and faith that was displayed, FDR hopes to motivate the current generation to do the same in the next few years. His use of sentimental words such as “precious” “warm” and “satisfaction” evoke the motivation need to fulfill FDR’s plan. Later in his speech, FDR also used pronouns to establish a deeper connection with the past generations of Americans. Specifically, when Roosevelt addressed the “common problems” and how the actions that he is proposing is supported by the government. FDR mentioned that this government, in which such action are allowed, was “inherited from our ancestors.” The use of pronouns is commonly used in speeches to unify the audience and the speaker on common grounds, FDR uses them in a similar manner, by referring to the Founding Fathers as “our ancestors” giving the listeners a sense of pride to be included in creating, through ancestry, to a great nation. Instead of saying the current government was created by the Founding Fathers specially, which would have excluded the vast majority of the general public, Roosevelt chooses to instead use “our ancestors” as a unifying aspect to create an America that has worked together once and will work together now to bring itself out of
Throughout his whole speech, Roosevelt wanted to unify his audience in order to help it see …show more content…
At the end of his address, FDR acknowledges that there are “arduous days” ahead, yet held strong to his belief that the revival of “the American spirit” will help the country prevail. He stated that the nation needs to hold strong to it’s “old precious moral values” have “warm courage” and “clean satisfaction” for success. In remembering the generations previous, and the courage and faith that was displayed, FDR hopes to motivate the current generation to do the same in the next few years. His use of sentimental words such as “precious” “warm” and “satisfaction” evoke the motivation need to fulfill FDR’s plan. Later in his speech, FDR also used pronouns to establish a deeper connection with the past generations of Americans. Specifically, when Roosevelt addressed the “common problems” and how the actions that he is proposing is supported by the government. FDR mentioned that this government, in which such action are allowed, was “inherited from our ancestors.” The use of pronouns is commonly used in speeches to unify the audience and the speaker on common grounds, FDR uses them in a similar manner, by referring to the Founding Fathers as “our ancestors” giving the listeners a sense of pride to be included in creating, through ancestry, to a great nation. Instead of saying the current government was created by the Founding Fathers specially, which would have excluded the vast majority of the general public, Roosevelt chooses to instead use “our ancestors” as a unifying aspect to create an America that has worked together once and will work together now to bring itself out of