Rhetorical Analysis Of George W. Bush's Speech

President, George W. Bush in his speech, “Address to the Nation on the Terrorists Attacks,” defines the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as a major tragedy. Bush’s main purpose is to convey the idea that, although a tragedy, should not be viewed as a such. The challenges the American population now faces are vast; yet, neither the challenges nor the attackers will keep the brightest flame in the world at bay. Bush adopts a more personal approach hitting more at home by appealing to the population as a whole, all of whom are going through similar sadness and distress.
Bush begins his speech by stating, “today… our way of freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist attacks.” The significance of his opening statement addresses the feeling in the hearts of many across the country at the time – a fear deeply embedded yet a fear that will evanesce. The statement gives a sense of authority to the world as President Bush understood that eyes would be watching him carefully, waiting for a response to be made. The response comes in the following statement, “these acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our

nation into chaos… but they have failed.” President Bush in an authoritative tone assures the nation that although harm has been done with the intend to weaken quite the opposite has been accomplished. He reassures American citizens that every precaution has been taken to prevent any new attacks from being made on American soil.
Immensely effective was President Bush’s speech partially due to its varied sentence structure throughout the text.

President Bush goes into great detail while recounting specifics about the occurrence, making the sentences long and elaborate. He goes into great detail of the attack, stating “the victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers…” With statements such as this one he adds a more personal feel to the victims who were ordinary people – death in a sense knows no boundaries and quantity. Other statements, such as the short and to the point type sentences, help to add a deeper meaning to Bush’s overall tone. The short sentences tune into the listener’s ears exactly Bush’s purpose, keeping the speech rather simple and straight to the

point.
Lastly, President George W. Bush calls upon the citizen to act and as citizens will help heal the pain brought upon the United States. President Bush mentions that September 11 is a day and moment in time that “none of us will ever forget” as well as for “America, her friends and allies.” In uniting America’s allies and citizens inspires everyone to come together as one and “fight against terrorism.” For no matter the background, everyone from the bottom and up is forever haunted by the terrific events on that faithful day and will seek retribution and vengeance.
Flash forward in time and the words in President Bush’s speech still holds true as constant other attacks from new enemies have been made against the United States. The speech was befitting for the exact moment on the 11th of September of 2001 and beyond. The true intentions of the terrorist attacks were too hurt and overcome the United States with such a frailty such as to appear like glass. Shatter-able with the slightest crack and delicate to the forces of nature, yet quite the opposite can be said. The United States not only overcame the terrorist attacks on the Eleventh Hour, but continues to rise like a phoenix.