Si Sir Francis Drake's Speech Analysis

On January 28, 1986, Challenger, an American space shuttle exploded momentarily after lift off shocking the nation; including the children viewing from their classrooms. The crew of Challenger included seven members, but most notably was a school teacher Christa McAuliffe who was invited with the intent to teach school children from the shuttle. This incident received massive amounts of media coverage, and on the same day as the incident, President Ronald Reagan conducted his speech. Ronald Reagan used his power and status to encourage the nation to move forward, but remember and honor the crew members using allusion, alliteration, and apostrophe with an empathic tone, a short, simple sentence structure, and specifically addressing certain parties affected. …show more content…
Ronald Reagan uses the allusion, “He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it,” to compare the members of the crew to the great explorer. Sir Francis Drake and the members both shared a passion for what they did so strong that it became their life and the end of it. They both had to sacrifice long amounts of time away from home and their loved ones, but their selflessness and contributions to their work is significant which is why they should be remembered and looked up to. In the sixth paragraph of Ronald Reagan’s speech he addresses specifically the school children who were watching which are all possible future contributors to space exploration, which makes them feel significance, and the same effect of evoking a feeling of significance is done with the members of the crew when they are compared to a remarkable