Rhetorical Analysis Of Man Takes First Steps On The Moon

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.
A newspaper article called Man Takes First Steps on the Moon, released by the Times of London, uses descriptive diction and a cumulative paragraph structure to effectively fulfill the purpose of reporting information and details about events during the Apollo 11 landing. Instances of descriptive diction are included in the astronaut’s descent, writing that there were “nine rungs on the ladder” and showing the

astronauts’ commentary on how the “colour [of the rocks] depends on what angle you’re looking” (Times of London). This type of diction fulfills the purpose of being informative by giving details that the audience missed, allowing them to gain new knowledge about the landing. For example, people are not able to observe color with the low-quality graphics provided by a television. Therefore, the newspaper’s specific description of these colors lets the audience learn about and imagine what it might look like on the moon. Indirectly, the use of descriptive diction establishes credibility--ethos--with the audience by demonstrating the author can provide the reader with proper and reliable details. Since the audience most likely read this article to learn more about the landing, this ethos encourages the audience to continue reading because they can rely on the TImes to give them new content. This ultimately lets the audience get information from the newspaper company, which is their purpose. Another device the TImes of London uses to support their text is a cumulative paragraph structure. For example, the headline “Armstrong says: one giant leap for mankind” is followed by details in small paragraph (Times of London). Much like a cumulative sentence states a main idea first and later supports it with details, the Times uses the same method on a larger scale. A piece of text cannot be informative if the reader is confused about what they are reading. The use of this cumulative structure allows there to be substantial amounts of detail without confusing the reader. By establishing the main focus, the newspaper can provide as much detail as they can while preventing the article from being long and wordy. As a result, it provides the readers with as much information as possible without being confusing.
The speech In Event of Moon Disaster was written by William Safire in the scenario that the astronauts would be unable to return home. Safire’s purpose was to give respect to the two astronauts and encourage people to understand the importance of their actions. This is effectively accomplished through the use of anaphora and reverent diction to create pathos. An example of anaphora can be seen with the repetition of “they will be mourned” in “They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by the people of the world...” (Safire). There is also a similar idea with “In their exploration, they stirred the people of the nation to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of men” by repeating “in their...” (Safire). The use of this repetition makes the audience realize how important these astronauts were to mankind and the scale of which they will be mourned. If these quotes were instead put as a list, it would be easier for listeners and readers to skip over their accomplishments. Emphasizing these two traits creates pathos with the audience by showing this sacrifice impacted others even on a philosophical scale because humanity started to view each other as a single entity. This gives a universal reason for people to grieve for their deaths by making people realize how important they were. Repeating these words additionally creates a sense of unity within the sentence. In other formats, such as a list, these individual contributions can make the sentence feel disembodied. The repetitive use of just a small collection of words creates a unified feel--in this case the idea of them being mourned and revered for their accomplishments. In other words, it emphasizes and convinces the audience of just how important the actions of these men were. Another rhetorical device used in this speech that effectively creates its purpose is reverent diction. The quote “In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes of are epic men of flesh and blood” uses words that appraise Armstrong and Aldrin such as “epic” and “heroes” in (Safire). The use diction with positive connotation creates pathos by showing the tragedy of the fact that these men were meant for greater purposes in life--being heroes in other events-- which they will never fulfill. By creating pathos, it causes the audience to mourn their deaths by highlighting the injustices they experienced. However, this diction also shows that these men died an honorable death worth looking up to in the future. Their accomplishments recognized them as the heroes they are today and allowed them to be a model for others. The use of these small pieces of anaphora and syntax to create purpose exemplifies how the simple actions of these men impacted the people around them. They were so impactful that different nations were unified not only in their deaths but in their actions.
The July 16, 1969.

Launch: A Symbol of Man’s Greatness, an article published by Ayn Rand, aims to convince the audience that the takeoff of the Apollo 11 is a representation of man’s highest level of capability. By using diction that describes primal feelings and long sentences, Rand fully achieves this purpose. Diction describing primal human feelings--such as “anxiety” and “involuntary” is used before Rand finishes describing the takeoff of the rocket, but is not seen through the rest of the text (Rand). What is normally seen as uncontrollable human tendencies disappear once the rocket leaves, showing how powerful the structure, made possible by man’s ability, is. When those watching the takeoff no longer experience anxiety or fear as a result of the rocket’s successful takeoff, they control nature because this extension of humankind can channel natural tendencies. Being able to control something thought as uncontrollable and unpredictable exemplifies how man can overcome adversity and possess the capability to achieve great actions. Another device that Rand uses to achieve her purpose is long sentences. In several areas of the text, Rand writes using sentences that can span almost six lines in length. For example, the text describes the importance of the launch by stating “The meaning of the sight lay in the fact that when those dark red wings of fire flared open, one knew that one was not looking at a normal occurrence, but a cataclysm which, if unleashed by nature,

would have wiped man out of existence--and one knew that this cataclysm was planned, unleashed, and controlled by man, that this unimaginable power was ruled by his power, and obediently serving his purpose, was making way for a slender, rising craft” (Rand). Although long sentences are normally considered to obscure the main idea, Rand still conveys her opinion of why this launch was important. Using this allows Rand to channel the natural opinion of long sentences into a new view to convince the audience that man can alter what is thought uncontrollable. By doing this, it establishes credibility or ethos that she understands, and is the product, of man’s power to control and change what is usually thought as impossible to control.
A political cartoon called Transported created by Herblock aims to inform and convince the audience that Apollo 11’s landing only allows humans to lazily transfer their problems to another planet.

He does this by using derogatory diction along with black and white shading to set a disapproving tone towards humankind. In the drawing, Herblock includes three words, which are “war”, “poverty”, and “prejudice” in a smog-like cloud around the earth. The connection between the cloud and the words show that much like how the human’s method of living resulted in pollution of Earth, they were also responsible for creating these ideas. The fact that a man is on the moon with his back turned to the smog shows that humans did not fix their problems they caused and instead moved on. Since this was released in a time period close to the successful Apollo 11 mission, the author implies that this is the kind of path humans may take as a result of finding an alternative place to live. Another way Herblock conveys his purpose is through the use of a black and white shading to set a disappointed tone for humans. The use of the black and white scale allows there to be contrast to highlight the moon where the man is by making it bright white, while the earth is dark and seemingly desolate. Once humans realized it was possible to successfully go to the moon, they later on found a way to go to it. They abandoned the planet they used to live in, now shadowed by their own pollution, going to a

brighter and seemingly better planet instead. In this process, they turned their backs to Earth, as depicted in the graphic.
Through using numerous rhetorical strategies and devices, these authors successfully accomplished their individual purposes, exemplifying these authors’ abilities and showing how diverse opinions on a single event can be. Moreover, although this launch was accomplished by one nation, it brought the world together to rethink mankind’s capabilities.