A Rhetorical Analysis Of Ronald Reagan Speech 9/11

the lost astronauts, and to instill hope in the American people. He expresses his feelings through the way he delivers his speech. His tone throughout the whole piece is sincere and mournful, to reflect on the losses of the astronauts. He also has a very quiet delivery to pay reverence to the lives of the Challenger victims. The way Reagan delivers his speech is very similar to George Bush’s address to nation on the issue of 9/11. It is important to note that Reagan is addressing a national tragedy, allowing him to be emotional and raw with his speech, as opposed to Bush, who is addressing a national attack, requiring him to appear stronger, and more fired up. The styles of these two speeches are based upon the situations they deal with.

Whoever wrote this speech is rather genius, because much of what Reagan says is so emotionally charged that it deeply affects the listener. At the end of the speech he says “we will never forget them… as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye, and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’” The speech is full of impactful quotes and powerful words. This fully expresses the emotion of the speech.
Throughout his address Regan uses a strong appeal to pathos. He is dealing with an emotional situation. The best way for Reagan to achieve his goals was to instill in America unity and a feeling of release. He uses many emotional appeals, mainly through his strong diction and drawing on all groups of people in his address to make his point