Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have Sinned

On September 11, 1998, former president Bill Clinton delivered the infamously self-proclaimed speech entitled “I Have Sinned.” In an attempt to convert the public suspicion and hatred back to trust and loyalty, Clinton finally confessed to the inappropriate relations with Monica Lewinsky. By deeply expressing his sorrow through his foreboding and apologetic tone, Clinton constructs various examples of ethos, uses stiff body language and blank facial expressions, direct eye contact, and crafts the majority of his speech on short and choppy sentences. The overall purpose of this speech was for Clinton to ultimately express his remorse for the regretful acts he committed, and also to ensure the American people that he will remain trustworthy throughout

the remainder of his time in office. This speech remains relevant today because it provides historical context as to how a person of such high security and honesty was able to convert the public opinion from mass hatred back to respect.
In an in-depth observation, the orator conveys a remorseful and optimistic tone. Clinton speaks of most sincere repentance for his devastatingly inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky through meaningful diction such as “regret,” “unlawful,” and “not appropriate” which help Clinton express his most profound apologies in order for the American people to clearly understand his true feelings. However, towards the end of the speech, the tone drastically transitions to optimistic. After his delivering his sincere apologies, Clinton aspired to elevate the nations hope through including sanguine words such as “inspired,” “Motivated,” and “repair.” This may have created a sense of inspiration and forgiveness amongst the audience while also revealing the significance of how Clinton may have successfully turned the public opinions from hatred to forgiveness.
Similarly, Clinton continued to express his sorrow through several varying stylistic techniques such as his still body language and blank facial expression.

Although the former president was sure to be embarrassed and nervous about his infelicitous acts, he remained dedicated to truthfully inform and apologize to the American people. Throughout the speech, Clinton uses absolutely no gestures. This represents a sign of confidence and seriousness but can also be misunderstood as nervousness, as it was by many viewers. Also, the use of his straight and focused facial expression is used to portray the importance of the issue and his earnestness about his selfish mistakes. He maintains the same calm and resolutely blank facial expression throughout majority of the speech, conveying his seriousness and focus he has for this apology. Lastly, during the entirety of the speech, Clinton gazes directly into the camera to simulate eye contact with all viewers. This technique was used to establish a sense of security, trust, and honesty while also creating bonds between the viewers by making it feel as if he was talking to each individual specifically. Clintons overall purpose of his lack of movement and blank facial expression was ultimately used to reveal his focus on the issue and express his most sincere apologies for wronging the American people. Not only did his physical expressions help contribute to the main ideas of the speech back then, but today it still remains significant because it may have reestablished the trust between the former president and the

public.
Furthermore, Clinton’s speech was brilliantly crafted on various examples of ethos primarily to establish his credibility. As president of the United States, it is easy to assume that their life doesn’t just belong to themselves, but also to all of their fellow Americans serving under them. However, Clinton believed that “Even presidents have private lives” (IN TEXT CITATION), and he understood that although he mislead the American people, he still deserves privacy. By establishing his credibility, Clinton aimed this appeal to attack his opponents viewpoints by making them feel guilty for perhaps blowing this issue out of proportion and interfering with his private life in which he believes we all deserve. The use of ethos in this speech revealed the significance behind the call for forgiveness by creating a sense of guilt and invasion between the public, and it remains relevant today because it may have inspired new privacy measures and expectations for all.
In another analysis, Bill Clinton closely constructed his speech on a foundation built upon several various sentence techniques. Due to the ephemeral attention spans in which audiences pertain, Clinton used clusters of choppy sentences with ill-defined details to ensure the viewers stay engaged in the topic while simultaneously allowing him to have a quick transition into a new subject. The series of simple sentences transitioning between ideas influenced the topic shift from his inappropriate relations to inspiring the American people by stating how strong America is. For example, Clinton apprised the audience that “now the investigation itself is under investigation. This has gone on too long, cost too much and hurt too many people”(Clinton). This poses as evidence of how Clinton was able to clearly inform the audience of a certain subject then was quickly able to suddenly transition into a new topic.The creation of new claims not only benefited Clinton in means of rapid shifts in subject matter, but it also may have been used to prevent the viewers from formulating their own opinions because they were actively engaged in a new topic. Clintons use of his choppy simple sentences interestingly reveals how he may have successfully deterred the audience from deriving their own opinions while also providing himself a quick and easy getaway from the inappropriate confessions. The use of this rhetoric device has remained significant today because it serves as a model for other speakers trying to state their claims quickly and clearly.
In final analysis, Bill Clinton expresses his utmost sincere apologies about his inapt relations with Monica Lewinsky to the audience, and he attempts to convince the American citizens to shift their perspectives of distrust and anger into a feeling of forgiveness and inspiration for the viable future of America. Through his remorseful yet optimistic tone, stationary body language, established credibility, and his organization of sentence structure, Clinton was finally able to truthfully reveal his apologies to the citizens of America. In a time of skepticism, Clinton influenced society to focus on what is most important: the future of America.