Kathleen Blanco Persuasive Speech

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To keep business simple, every speaker strives to be heard and they will do anything in order for their audience to listen. There are various ways in which the speaker would gain the right to be heard. Former Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, uses assorted forms to obtain the attention of her audience as she addresses the Louisiana Legislator on Hurricane Katrina, where she not only discusses the effects of the hurricane but also acknowledges the people who have helped out so far.
Blanco does an exceptional job gaining the attention of her audience through pathos, or emotions. She obtains people’s emotional side by expressing heartbreak, loss, devastation, and above all; hope. Copious amounts of people, if not all, have experienced …show more content…

Her credibility is established through her background. Being the Governor, she has knowledge about what to do after a tragedy, how to deal with the politics, and making everything back in order; she is capable of handling anything thrown at her. Credibility is first defined when Blanco addresses the audience that “...your loss is our loss. As your Governor, I pledge that I will not rest until every Louisiana family and community is reunited” (2:26). Blanco is addressing to her audience that she is on their side and she will do anything she can to help them; she remains loyal to her people. Another concept she also understands is that there have been failures at every level of government, which she will make sure that whatever went wrong does not happen again; which she then addresses that “The buck stops here and, as your Governor, I take full responsibility” (Blanco 3:45). She stands her ground as she will do anything in her power to aid Louisianians who are seeking guidance. With the aid of her words, she makes herself not only reliable but credible when she takes responsibility for her actions as well as others. When something goes awry, people turn towards the ones who stick to their words and take action as well as …show more content…

One of the devices she uses is anaphora, which is repeating the same words at the start of successive sentences. This device is accomplished when she lets the world know that “We are brave. We are resilient. And we will prevail” (Blanco 6:10). Another time Blanco has also accomplished this is when she speaks more of hope by saying “Americans rebuilt Washington after the British… we rebuilt Chicago after the great fire. We rebuilt San Francisco after the earthquake. And we are rebuilding New York City after 9/11. We will rebuild New Orleans…” (9:02). By repeating words followed by a glimpse of hope, it gives people the ability to connect and listen. Blanco also uses epistrophe which is repeating the same words at the end of successive sentences. She uses this when she speaks of the people who came to help by “...just plain folks who drove to Louisiana in trucks laden with food, laden with water, and especially laden with love” (Blanco 6:35). This helps the population of Louisiana understand just how much others care about them and strive to help in any way that they can. A third device in which Blanco uses is polysyndeton; this is the repeated use of conjunctions. This device gets used when Blanco lists off people who have helped out; “...guardsmen and active-duty soldiers, rescue workers and police officers, doctors and nurses, Red Cross volunteers,

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