Rhetorical Analysis Pearl Harbor Speech

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Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the United States and he was also the only president to have ever been elected 4 times. Roosevelt delivered the speech Pearl Harbor Address on December 8, 1941, a day after Japan attacked the island Oahu in Hawaii. The audience of the speech was the Vice President, Members of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and subsequently the whole nation. One of the things that made the speech so powerful was the words and phrases that he used to manipulate the audiences’ emotions. Another thing that Roosevelt used in this speech were rhetorical features such as logos and anaphora.
The speech begins in the first paragraph where Roosevelt delicately explains the situation the country is in, as the nation is in the middle of a crisis and Roosevelt wants to protect any future attacks. Roosevelt described the incident in a sensitive manner, which helps the audience understand what a serious matter the attack on the harbor was, but it also showed that he cares about the audience. Although, as the speech continues, in the sixth and seventh paragraphs Roosevelt begins to use phrases and words such as “surprise offensive” and “onslaught”. By using words with negative connotations,
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This repetition makes the audience want to act. Roosevelt also uses logos, a rhetorical device to convince people to appeal to more logical solutions or ideas. Roosevelt says in the sixth paragraph “… the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation”. Roosevelt implied that the only respectable thing to do is to accept that no nation will ever be allowed to get away with the attack on the values that define the United States. Roosevelt used logos in a way that rallied the Americans together to fight for

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