A Rhetorical Analysis Of Aaron Swartz Speech

At the 2012 Freedom to Connect Conference in Washington D.C., Aaron Swartz gave an effective speech titled “How We Stopped SOPA.” In his speech, Swartz recounts how he was able to stop the “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeit Act,” later called the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” from passing through Congress. This seemed like an impossible task, but Swartz goes into depth regarding how he and his peers made the impossible become reality. Swartz’s purpose is to create a sense of patriotism throughout his speech and prompt his audience to protect and defend the most valued right given to American citizens: freedom. Swartz employs a relatable and honest tone using anecdotes, gains the trust of the audience by appealing to ethos, and emphasizes his ideas with the aid of repetition. Swartz

hopes to inform society about what happens in Congress to make sure American’s right to freedom is never compromised.
Swartz projects a genuine tone to the audience because he makes himself relatable.

Through the use of anecdotes such as when he recalls his conversations with various ordinary people,
“I remember I was chatting with this cute girl on the subway, and she wasn’t into technology at all, but when she heard that I was, she turned to me very seriously and said, ‘You know we have to stop ‘SOAP.’”
Although the girl clearly was not educated in what was happening with the SOPA bill, this anecdote’s objective is to demonstrate how Swartz is a regular guy who takes the subway and talks to cute girls. Another example of him demonstrating that he is an ordinary guy is when he has a casual conversation with his friend Peter over the phone. In incorporating this, Swartz generates a sense of sincerity about him and proves to the audience that he is nothing special, just a common man fighting for what he believes in.
In addition to using anecdotes to establish a sense of sincerity, Swartz appeals to ethos to lock in the trust of the audience. He often uses the words “we” and “us”, which solidifies the fact that everyone is in this together, and the entire nation must fight together. He

says,
“…if we let them persuade us we didn’t actually make a difference, if we start seeing it as someone else’s responsibility to do this work… well then they might just win. Let’s not let that happen.”
This is a prime example of how Swartz uses ethos to support his purpose. The continuous usage of “we” and “us” gives a sense of loyalty and patriotism, and this results in the audience feeling that Swartz is with them. Swartz increases the audience’s confidence in him so they will be more likely to listen and respond to what he has to say.
Throughout his speech, Swartz stresses the fact that the SOPA bill is restricting the First Amendment right of American citizens. To do so, he uses repetition for certain words and phrases that emphasize that the constitutional rights are not something to be contested. Swartz uses the words “freedom” and “First Amendment” numerous times over the course of the speech. The repetition of these particular words support Swartz’s purpose because it puts immense emphasis of the fact that this bill would limit the freedom of what could be said on the Internet.
Aaron Swartz’s speech, “How We Stopped SOPA,” informs the audience on the process he and his supporters went through in order to stop the bill from passing through Congress. He generates a sense of nationalism throughout his speech and stresses the importance of protecting the First Amendment right, freedom of speech. Swartz constructs a casual and authentic tone in the use anecdotes, solidifies the trust that the audience has in him by utilizing rhetorical appeal, and highlights his thoughts with the assistance of repetition. Swartz hopes to make more people aware of what could happen when no one fights for what is right.