The YouTube video “U.S. Armed Forces – We Must Fight – President Reagan” by Matthew Worth was made with the intention to motivate the viewers to support the U.S. Armed Forces. The purpose of this Rhetorical Analysis is to determine whether or not the video has been successful in doing just that, motivating and drawing support for the United States Armed Forces. The video was uploaded to YouTube on February 19, 2012 and has nearly 4 million views. Matthew uses the famous speech “A Time for Choosing” by the United States former President, Ronald Wilson Reagan, who has a reputation for his patriotism, to complement the video. This video has been effective in motivating the viewers because of its strong use of the rhetorical concepts logos, ethos, and pathos.
Authors, to effectively persuade
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their audience one way or another, use the rhetorical concepts. These concepts provide a pathway for an effective argument. There are just three simple concepts: Logos, ethos, and pathos. The logos concept is often referred to as the reasoning or logic. It is used to appeal to the readers’ common sense. The ethos concept is often referred to as credibility. Meaning the credibility of the person making a claim. The last concept is pathos, which is commonly known as emotion. It is often the most effective at persuading the reader because it attacks their emotions. This analysis will analyze each one of these concepts to determine their effectiveness in achieving the videos’ overarching goal to persuade the viewers. Matthew Worth who has his own channel on YouTube known as “Canadianmatt3” made this video. He has made more than 30 videos that are themed around either the United States Armed Forces or the Canadian Army. This particular video was uploaded on February 19, 2012. To help the reader, here is some important context related to the time period that the video was posted in. Ever since the World Trade Center was attacked in September of 2001 the war on terror has been raging. However, the United States involvement regarding many issues in the Middle East, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, has been controversial. According to a poll done by a famous polling website, Gallup, only 6% of Americans thought that sending troops to Afghanistan was a mistake in 2001. When the video was posted in 2012, nearly 50% of Americans thought that the United States involvement in Afghanistan was a mistake. Therefore, support for the military had decreased and there were a growing number of citizens who like to publicly degrade and demean the United States military. One could assume that this lack of patriotism brought forth many of these patriotic and motivating military videos to dispute the lack of patriotism. The viewer could also assume that the audience Matthew wanted was everyone. Clearly, his goal is to persuade anyone who watches the video to feel more patriotic and support the United States military. His use of the rhetorical concepts maximized the videos effectiveness, which has brought the video nearly 4 million views. The Ethos (or credibility) of this video comes from a few things.
The main thing is that he uses Ronald Reagan’s famous “A Time for Choosing” speech as the background sound. That speech is one of the most widely known speeches in the history of the United States. It was given as a campaign address for the Goldwater Presidential Campaign. That speech articulated the conservative view of a post-new deal America. It aimed at the health of the economy, the welfare state, and the cold war. Many would argue that the speech Ronald Reagan gave, which is now commonly referred to as “The Speech,” was the most patriotic speech ever presented. Therefore, a large part of the credibility in this video stems from the audio of “The Speech” being the background sound. The rest of the credibility comes directly from the number of views and likes that the video has accumulated over time. It was posted in February of 2012 and has almost 4 million views and over 36,000 likes. That amounts to almost 2,800 views every day. On top of that, Matthew has gained nearly 10,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. Those numbers by themselves prove that the video was a successful endeavor for Matthew
Worth. The video starts out by immediately attacking the logic of the viewer. It starts with Ronald Reagan saying, “There’s no argument over the choice between peace and war.” We know that most everyone want peace over war. Neither party, democratic nor republican, wants innocent men, women, and children dying. He then goes on to say, “but there's only one guaranteed way you can have peace, and you can have it in the next second, surrender.” We also know that nobody wants to surrender. By mentioning these things, Matthew forces the viewer to think logically and consider the ultimatum between peace and war. Peace is never feasible: There will always be someone in the world trying to cause death and destruction. While the viewer is hearing that, they are seeing clips of tanks, soldiers, and guns. Forcing the viewer to see how common war is. By simultaneously seeing those things and hearing Ronald Reagan say that there is only one way to have piece and that is to surrender, it attacks the reasoning of the viewer. Most people would agree that surrendering is not an option. It almost backs the viewer into a corner and forces them to come to the conclusion that there is no other way; that we must fight. Matthew attacks the emotions of the viewer throughout the entire video. The beginning of the video shows a scene of army soldiers standing in line saluting and at that very moment Ronald Reagan mentions appeasement. The viewer can easily make the connection that the soldiers represent the nation standing strong. This brings a sense of patriotism to the video. That sense of patriotism is carried by a crescendo of patriotic music (the theme song to the popular movie Transformers) throughout the video. As the music gets louder, the scenes get more action based. This is bringing a sense of action to the viewer. It makes the viewer feel like the military is a force for good and that the United States needs to be fighting. The video then shows scenes of wounded soldiers and Arlington National Cemetery. This brings an overwhelming sense of appreciation to the viewer. It also brings a feeling of sadness, which helps the viewer understand that there is a price of freedom. Towards the end of the video Ronald Reagan says, “We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.” With this being said, it makes the viewer feel like we have an obligation to fight for the future of our children. Mentioning the viewers’ posterity brings strong emotion and evokes the feeling of obligation. This is a very effective way to persuade the viewer to believe that we must fight. The tempo of the video then changes drastically. The music becomes very soft and the video begins showing clips of soldiers returning home. It shows nearly every heartbreaking scenario the viewer could think of. Which included a soldier holding his newborn baby that he likely missed the birth of, a soldier returning home to his crying wife, and a soldier returning to his wife and several kids. All of these scenarios, one after another, bring an even greater sense of appreciation and sacrifice. This attack on the viewers’ emotions throughout the entire video has made the pathos of the video the strongest of all the rhetorical concepts. It is easy for the reader to see now, that Matthew’s intentional use of the rhetorical concepts is what has made his video so liked. Whether it is the credibility presented by the sheer number of views and likes that the video received, the logical reasoning used in the video, or the attack on the viewers emotions; nonetheless, the film gives many reasons to walk away feeling a little more motivated and patriotic to the viewer. However, the pathos of the video provides the strongest form of persuasion. Without the use of these rhetorical concepts it would have been impossible for Matthew to make such an influential video and would be impossible for anyone to create an effective argument. These concepts will continue to be used to shape every argument as the art of persuasion progresses with time.
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