Why The We Shall Fight On The Beaches Speech

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On the 4th of June 1940, the recently elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill, delivered the “We shall fight on the beaches” speech to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The “We shall fight on the beaches” speech was announced soon after the Battle of Dunkirk which occurred during the time of the Battle of France, in which Nazi Germany attempted the first phase to conquer the Western Front. The “We shall fight on the beaches” speech was the second of three motivational speeches delivered by Winston Churchill during the period of the Battle of France. The “Blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech was delivered on the 13th of May and the “This was their finest hour” speech was delivered on the 18th of June. Due to the eventual …show more content…

Quote “…if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made…” uses the rule of three effectively, as it allows the audience to consume the information a lot more fluently.
Figurative language transforms simple literal writing into more impactful statements. Churchill uses alliteration to capture the listener’s attention. At this stage of the war, France was at the brink of collapse and was soon to fall “…into the grip of the Gestapo…”. Churchill did this to show the reality of the superiority and power of the Germans, and that Great Britain may have to fight them alone.
Depending on the text, statistics provide more meaning to the topic. Quote “…our losses in men have exceeded 30,000 killed, wounded and missing.” (The International Churchill Society, 2017) displays loss in a more emotional and sympathetic way.
Repetition is used to highlight an idea or an important statement, “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight on the beaches…”, was a statement used to persuade Great Britain to take action against the

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