Since the inception of The United States of America, Americans, often have turned to the President, in times of concern to receive reassurance, faith and hopefulness. Because we have just commemorated the thirtieth anniversary, of the space shuttle Challenger disaster, as well as my recent admission that President Reagan is one of my hero’s. Combining them both for this assignment, it only seemed fitting to discuss President Reagan’s speech to our nation, given on January 28, 1986 (Reagan, Reagan Speech to America- Space Shuttle Disaster, 1986).
On January 28, 1986 President Reagan was scheduled to give his annual State of the Union Address. However, on that morning the “Challenger” space shuttle, unexpectedly exploded a short time after takeoff, while the nation and world watched live on television. Reagan, instead of giving his state of the union speech, he chose to change his speech, specifically stating at the onset of his speech, “Today is a day for mourning and remembering” (Reagan, Address to the Nation
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Besides, making us feel like family, he named each of the astronauts that perished, and briefly reminded us on the background of our space program. Reagan, also spoke to the interest of all Americans during this speech, including school age children. This flight was significant to school age children, as they were encouraged to watch the launch of the Challenger from their classrooms. This flight included Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire. Other average Americans were affected by this tragedy, because Christina McAuliffe was also the first American civilian chosen to fly into space. For the men and women working at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), it was particularly hard, as no astronaut lives have ever been lost during a flight in space, during their lustrous
On January 28, 1986, Ronald Reagan, the President who takes on the grievances of America and establishes hope, in his inspiring speech entitled the “Speech on the Challenger Disaster,” is able to guide the United States to prosperity. He guides the United States. by emphasizing the courage and bravery of the Challenger crew, then he drives the focus to the good that NASA allows us to accomplish, and finally tells the people that the crew dies doing what they loved. Through Reagan's use of Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals, tone, and rhetorical devices, he is able to inspire hope in the people instead of the failure of NASA.
Works Cited "American President Ronald Wilson Reagan: Impact and Legacy." Miller Center. University of Virginia, n.d. -. Web. The Web.
On January 28, 1986, a day that was supposed to be filled with excitement and exploration, suddenly turned into a day filled with tragedy and sadness. The space shuttle Challenger was supposed to carry a seven member crew into orbit with one unique member along for this particular mission. Christa McAuliffe was supposed to be the first teacher to go into space as a member of the Teacher in Space Project. Due to this occasion, the media coverage and the number of viewers of this mission was extensive, particularly in schools across the nation. The Challenger lifted off shortly after 11:30 A.M., but tragically only seventy three seconds after takeoff it exploded sending debris and the seven crew members back to earth and into the Atlantic Ocean. All seven crew members aboard were killed in the crash as America helplessly watched. A faulty O-ring in the right solid rocket booster was said to have been the cause of the crash. Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, was in office at the time of this tragic event. President Reagan was scheduled to deliver his State of the Union Address that same evening. His intentions were to mention the Challenger and the significance of that particular mission during his speech. This would not be the case following the events of that day.
Ronald Reagan was one of the most liked Presidents. When being elected for his second term, he won by a landslide—winning all the states minus Minnesota and Washington D.C. Reagan addresses the people of the United States of America. He wants the American people to reflect on his presidency, and as all presidents do in their farewell addresses, he wants to say goodbye to the nation that he's led for the past eight years. Ronald Reagan uses repetition, parallel structure, and allusion to reflect on his presidency and to say farewell to the American people.
Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States of America during the Cold War era. On January 28th, 1986, he gave a speech to discuss the tragedy of the Challenger Space Shuttle, which exploded in atmosphere. The speech was delivered in the Oval Office during his State of the Union Address. He was attempting to inform and comfort America about the disaster. The author uses multiple rhetorical devices in his speech. The importance of these devices is to convey a goal of the author to persuade the reader to a certain perspective. A speaker uses these devices to give the speech more impact. Rhetorical and persuasive devices can make a speech more effective since the devices can use emotional and logical appeal. In this speech, Reagan does not use very many complicated devices, but he does use appeal, anaphora, repetition, and allusion.
In a person’s lifetime, many things can happen including death. In 1986 seven individuals, Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnic, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, lost their lives doing what they loved most. The tragedy of the shuttle challenger brought much pain to the nation that day. Along with the pain comes grieving. The nation grieved the loss of these seven wonderful individuals and hoped to find peace and comfort for the days to come. As Ronald Reagan prepared to give the state of the union address, things changed for worse, he unexpectedly had to give a speech on a horrific event. Reagan was devastated at the loss of the seven men and women that were on that space shuttle challenger.
Ronald Reagan, first starts off with empathy and his condolences when he says” Today is a day of mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of our country. This is truly a national loss.” He is in pain for the families and knows how hard it will be to recover. As well to this he lists all seven “heroes” names in commemoration. Reagan also tries to make this tragedy more positive by explaining to the children who were watching that things sometimes happen and it’s a part of life and growth. He does not give doubt and resent towards the goal of exploring space but hope that they will continue on. Throughout the whole address, Reagan seems very sincere and dependable which makes his rhetoric more effective and persuasive. Next, President Reagan gives his respect to the NASA and also adds “We don’t hide our space program. We don’t keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public.” What he is trying to show to the people is the sense of freedom in America in regards to other countries. This alone is a way of differentiating great countries, when he says that victims had a special grace and spirt that says “Give me a challenge, and I’ll meet it with joy” is a way of comforting the families and the nation. Reagan’s way of handling and talking to the nations after this tragedy was nevertheless effective and well
Through this national address Reagan hopes to reach out to the public and encourage them to keep their faith firm in the American space progra...
Reagan began his speech slightly agitated due to the overwhelming response of the audience. He used hand gestures and repeatedly thanked the audience for their continued support. After regaining the audience's atte...
He asks a question in his speech, “Can we solve the problems confronting us?” and then shortly after he answers, “Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic, yes.” expressing the power of America by using great word choice. By using the words unequivocal and emphatic we see that Reagan is confident in America and his people. After stating the above, later on in his speech he says, “I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.” showing us Americans must work hard. Ronald Reagan clearly does not think making America great will just happen, he believes that people must work hard to achieve greatness. Reagan also says, “With the idealism and fair play… we can have a strong and prosperous America…” allowing us to see that greatness is there we just have to work for it.
Since the presidency of George Washington, the people of The United States have turned to the commander in chief in times of distress to receive assurance and hope. Kurt Ritter comments on President Reagan’s address to the nation given on January 28, 1986 saying, “Perhaps no president could have fulfilled the country’s need to mourn and, then, to begin to heal as skillfully as Ronald Reagan (Ritter, 3).” On that morning the space shuttle “Challenger” violently exploded while the nation watched live televised coverage of the shuttle’s launch. President Reagan was scheduled to give his State of the Union Address on that date, but instead he reached out the country in this time of mourning. He spoke from his oval office to heartbroken teachers, children, NASA Space Engineers, and the entire country. President Reagan’s reaction to the tragedy of the challenger guided the United States out of despair and into a new light of hope behind seven fallen heroes. In this essay I will show that Reagan gave our country a new light of hope through his emphasis on Pathos but also incorporating Ethos and Logos in this memorable presentation.
George W. Bush’s “9/11 Address to the Nation” is a speech in which he talks about the catastrophic event on September eleventh, 2001. Two airplanes crash into the Twin Towers in New York City on this day, shocking the entire world. He addresses this speech to the people of America on the night of the disastrous event, to let the people of the United States know what is going on. This speech explains how the United States is a strong country, the motives behind the event, as well as to bring the United States together and stronger.
In his “Challenger Explosion” speech, Pres. Ronald Reagan comforts the nation in the aftermath of NASA’s Challenger Space Shuttle exploded shortly after takeoff killing all seven astronauts. In this speech, he used rhetorical devices, such as alliteration, allusion, anaphora, and euphemism to relay his feelings of sadness and grief.
In many ways John F. Kennedy’s decision to have this speech as well as the contents itself, reflected how he was instrumental to success in keeping the public calm. The president could hav...
On a cold winter’s morning on the 28th day of January in the year 1986, America was profoundly shaken and sent to its knees as the space shuttle Challenger gruesomely exploded just seconds after launching. The seven members of its crew, including one civilian teacher, were all lost. This was a game changer, we had never lost a single astronaut in flight. The United States by this time had unfortunately grown accustomed to successful space missions, and this reality check was all too sudden, too brutal for a complacent and oblivious nation (“Space”). The outbreak of sympathy that poured from its citizens had not been seen since President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The disturbing scenes were shown repeatedly on news networks which undeniably made it troublesome to keep it from haunting the nation’s cognizance (“Space”). The current president had more than situation to address, he had the problematic undertaking of gracefully picking America back up by its boot straps.