On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced the United States’ involvement in the race to the moon. He was met with much controversy, as it was a high cost and high risk decision. However, JFK recognized the leaps and bounds that American scientists were making, and believed that they could be the first to put a man on the moon. He forged through the discouragement, and continued coaxing the American people to support the Apollo Project. And it paid off. Seven years later, on July 20, 1969, the United States’ Apollo 11 landed on the moon. This great feat all began with JFK’s “We Choose to Go to the Moon” speech, convincing the American people to support this triumph, as it was in their nature. John F. Kennedy used many literary …show more content…
elements in his speech, such as allusions and metaphors, to inspire his country, and ultimately set the United States’ high reputation for years to come. JFK uses allusions in order to remind the American citizens of their past as trailblazers and prompt them to broaden their horizons.
When referencing the uncertainty of the people, the President reminds them of prior world accomplishments. He states, “But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?” (n.pag.) Alluding to these major achievements inspired the crowd’s nationalism, resulting in them supporting the project and getting more involved than they’d been before. Not only did he achieve this, but he also hit close to home when vocalizing their issue with beating Texas. As this speech took place there, saying this gave him the love of the crowd, while also implying that this will be a rewarding effort. JFK gets more specific with this allusion later in his speech as well, stating, “Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, ‘Because it is there.’” (n.pag.). He goes on to say that space is there, and there’s no reason denying the inevitable, which is space travel. The United States can not waste any time, as they are known as a world leader. He applies this logic to his speech, which builds his argument even further among the people. John F. Kennedy’s allusions make a strong connection to the audience through patriotism, while also explaining the nation’s rationale of going to the
moon. JFK utilizes metaphors throughout his speech in order to reiterate the importance of space exploration in the modern age. He compares the world to the ocean within his speech, and references the nation in multiple ways. Firstly, he talks of the past; Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. (n.pag.) By saying this, he implies that if the nation does not start this journey immediately, they will disappoint the people who have made this country as impressive as it is now. He relates to the people, saying that this generation is powerful and will not lose out on an opportunity as great as this one. He continues this theme of the sea later in his speech as well, and says, “We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.” This quote relates to people’s morals, as one may wonder what would happen if a different country had control over the Moon, and therefore over space. He plays on the fear and worry of the people with the Soviet Union, as this issue holds a factor as well. The American people feel as though they will miss out if they don’t maintain their leadership reputation. Once again, JFK uses his words to rile up the crowd with feelings of patriotism and supremacy. John F. Kennedy’s allusions and metaphors motivated his country to live up to their expectations, no matter what area it was in. He alluded to multiple momentous accomplishments in world history, reminding them that they can do great things. His use of metaphors throughout his speech reiterated the fact that although there is much unknown in the universe, the USA must take advantage of all opportunities to answer these mysteries. Overall, JFK’s “We Choose to Go to the Moon” speech helped Americans realize their capabilities and continue to push through discoveries, resulting in countless significant achievements in the decades to come.
In the 1960s the Cold War was at its peak, with both the USSR and America trying to spread their ideologies onto the rest of the world. The world was still uneasy due to the Korean War. In the public’s eyes, nuclear Armageddon was only a press of a button away. The Space Race was a welcome peaceful distraction for the world. The USSR and the United States were constantly trying to best each other in celestial exploration. In 1962, American President, John F Kennedy announced to America that by the end of the decade America would land a man on the moon. Kennedy carefully chose the audience and language of his speech to convince the public to support the Apollo Moon Program.
As a result of the successful mission that landed the first men on the moon, called the Apollo 11 mission, many people were inspired to provide commentary on this landing. Although these texts describe unique individual purposes about this landing, they all effectively support their purposes through the use of several rhetorical devices.
In September 1961, president John. F. Kennedy delivers one of his best inspirational speeches titled “We choose to go to the Moon”. This notorious speech was addressed at Rice University in Houston Texas to a very fortunate crowd of students. The significance of his timing is both vital and genius for at the time being the cold war between the United States of America and Russia had been in mid-hype, Russia leading in the space race. This brought doubt to the Americas power and authority thus giving his speech more influential drive. Kennedys fear of the Soviet Union landing on the moon first is because he did not want to see the accomplishment “governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of
On September 12, 1962, John F Kennedy delivered a speech at Rice University relating to the Space Race with Russia. This speech took place prior to the moon landing video release. I picked this artifact to be the backbone of this rhetorical analysis because it is credible, relates to my groups subject throughout the CIS course, and provides a visual and written representation of a different perspective on the moon landing other than my groups’ opinion.
While Nixon did allow Kennedy’s dream of a moon landing to become reality in 1969, he soon after put limits on the space program, which had more symbolic value than anything else. The space program was a new-liberal hallmark of the “we can do it all” philosophy of the reaching of new heights in a promising future that promised a “new frontier” (Lecture 25, November 19). Cutting back on this program was a supreme indication that no, we couldn’t “do it all”.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The following four texts apart of the Culminating Activity were all related to the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, which had first put a man on the moon. The first article was from the Times of London, and served to describe the events of the moon landing from the astronaut's point of view. The article used anecdotal evidence to describe Aldrin and Armstrong's experience in order to inform the audience of what had occurred, as well as the reactions in several different countries.. The speaker is a from a reputable news source, The Times, and is informing the European audience - as this event was apart of America’s space program, NASA - of the landing as a great success. Although
Kennedy had realized that the only way to overtake the Soviets after falling so far behind, would be by putting the first man on the moon. The US morale had taken a serious blow following Sputnik and the first cosmonaut in space, Yuri Gagarin. On September 12th, 1962, Kennedy delivered his famous speech, saying “We choose to go to the moon.” Kennedy knew that it was essential to gather support behind a manned mission to the moon from the American public. Although many argued that it would be easier, and more efficient to send an unmanned mission to the moon, it was more about the morale boost and the message a man on the moon would send to the
President Eisenhower wrote a speech in response to the events that were taking place in Little Rock, Arkansas. The intended audience for this speech is the citizens of the United States, the people in Little Rock, Arkansas but most important the powers of the world, waiting to see how the United States would handle the situation. The events in Arkansas would have a very huge impact on future Supreme Court Decisions and the Executive powers of the President.
America went to the moon in the 1960’s, during a time of war, a time that was so far behind in technology compared to now, but yet human beings went to the moon . Human beings are capable of many wonderful things and their potential has no limits, except for the limits that are placed by government and society. Neil deGrasse Tyson attempted to liberate NASA from the limits of low funding by giving a speech to the U.S Senate. Tyson used emotion and logical thinking to make the complexity of NASA as relatable to the audience as possible, and by doing so he wanted to convey to them how important NASA is in our society today and the future of the human kind.
In 1961, the United States of America was embroiled in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This confrontation was taking place not only on land, sea and air, but in space as well. On May 25th, 1961 recently elected US President John F. Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress, during which he outlined his now famous Man on the Moon challenge. It was through this ambitious dream that the creation of the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) came about, which President Kennedy challenged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Although he didn't live to see the achievement of his dreams, the United States successfully landed Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon on July 20, 1969 and brought them home safely1. It was President Kennedy's passionate beliefs that come through not only in his style of writing but in his delivery of the speech that drive home his point and get Congress, Industry and the American people to take up his call to arms.
On September 12, 1962 John Franklin Kennedy charged the nation to achieve what no other civilization had done before; he charged the United States to place a man on the moon. Kennedy delivered his man on the moon speech in a time of great peril for the United States. It appeared that the Soviet Union was rising faster than the United States was posed to take our place as the world’s super power. His moving speech in Rice Stadium inspired the nation and other nations, to take the challenge and travel to the moon. Kennnedy use of allusions, repetition, and rhetorical questions motivate and embolden his audience, and make a difference that would last forever.
[REVISE] The success of Apollo 11 which included the historic presence of the first humans on the moon signified the greatest extent of human intellectual advancement. Various circumstances were undertaken throughout the effort in success that established the United States’ superiority in terms of scientific and military progress.
As was previously stated, Kennedy was a popular president and by him alluding to how hardworking Americans were, he solidified his credibility by relating and understanding his audience. If Kennedy was a scientist and not the popular president, the space exploration would not have received the necessary motivation that was needed for the moon landing of 1969. Subsequently, the use of the Space Race as a distraction also served as a boost to morale. Tension was high during this time, and by the promise of beating the Soviets, which were becoming increasingly detrimental to the country, to space, Kennedy ignited the competitive and hardworking nature of American Citizens and allowed them to have an increase in their national pride. As seen in World War I, nationalism is an important factor in important events, and can cause for wars to start, or can cause for the discovery of an important factor that could change the world. To quote Neil Armstrong, the events that lead to man landing on the moon was one step for man, but a giant leap for
Neil Armstrong looked at it not only as a great triumph for America, but also for the human race when he said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" on his first step on the moon (Dunbar). On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech about what he called "urgent national needs" at a stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas (“NASA Moon Landing”). In that speech, he challenged America to "commit itself to landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the decade"(Schlager and Lauer). This became known as Kennedy's challenge and the idea was to outperform the Soviets. While the Soviets were off to a better start with the launch of Sputnik I, we soon rose to the challenge and accomplished our goal only eight years later on June 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely landed on the moon. With the great accomplishments of Apollo 11, America had bettered the Soviets and established superiority in space.
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It was July 20 1969, the day that reshaped our nation and gave us unparalleled dreams for the future. The impact of the day goes far beyond our pride and nationalism; that day would change space exploration and technology forever. Just like a shooting star, that day would give us a glimpse of hope. A chance to see an event so breathtaking and defying, it would be man’s greatest accomplishment in the 20th century. As millions of people watched from their TV sets, a rush of euphoria came over the nation as Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the surface of the moon. It was the first time in the history of mankind that we would step on the surface of another celestial body. John F. Kennedy dared us to dream, he inspired the nation to reach for the moon, to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world. The Space Race was symbolic of many things. Our future as the technically dominate nation was secured in place; just as secure as Old Glory would be, when she was driven down into the soil of the moon. We not only reached the moon, we conquered it as a nation; united.