Vanessa Chang Ms. Briggs AP Lang Period 7 September 28, 2023 Reagan’s Shuttle Speech Q2 Practice Amid the Cold War and Space Race, the Challenger shuttle took off on the morning of January 28th, only to crash just 73 seconds after take off. With the whole disaster being broadcast on national television, the tragedy struck fear and confusion into the hearts of many Americans, ranging from schoolchildren to grown adults. This failure not only shocked the whole nation, but also exposed the weaknesses of America’s Space Program, a major concern due to the Cold War and the rampant fear of nuclear warfare that came with it. President Ronald Reagan’s true purpose in delivering this speech was to convince Americans to stay invested in the Space Program by initially showing grief, …show more content…
Using these words, Reagan, like with the glorification, is referencing the space program this time more explicitly. The challengers are the pioneers, meaning that, while they may have failed, they are setting the future generations up for success by testing the waters first. After their devastating attempt, Regan wants to convince the audience that not all is lost and to continue to give the Space Program their moral and financial support. Finally, at the end of the speech, Reagan includes historical allusions to make his point that the Challengers sacrificed themselves and they should not make that sacrifice in vain by discarding the Space Program. He first references Sir Francis Drake who had circumnavigated and explored the ocean and, subsequently, also died on the ocean. Afterward, he also uses quotes from a poem by John Gillespie Magee, a pilot who had died fighting in World War II, paying homage to his fellow military
Soon after launch on January 28th, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart and shattered the nation. The tragedy was on the hearts and minds of the nation and President Ronald Reagan. President Reagan addressed the county, commemorating the men and woman whose lives were lost and offering hope to Americans and future exploration. Reagan begins his speech by getting on the same level as the audience by showing empathy and attempting to remind us that this was the job of the crew. He proceeds with using his credibility to promise future space travel. Ultimately, his attempt to appeal to the audience’s emotions made his argument much stronger. Reagan effectively addresses the public about the tragedy while comforting, acknowledging, honoring and motivating his audience all in an effort to move the mood from grief to hope for future exploration.
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.
On a cold winter’s morning on the 28th day of January in the year 1986, America was profoundly shaken and sent to its knees as the space shuttle Challenger gruesomely exploded just seconds after launching. The seven members of its crew, including one civilian teacher, were all lost. This was a game changer, we had never lost a single astronaut in flight. The United States by this time had unfortunately grown accustomed to successful space missions, and this reality check was all too sudden, too brutal for a complacent and oblivious nation (“Space”). The outbreak of sympathy that poured from its citizens had not been seen since President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The disturbing scenes were shown repeatedly on news networks which undeniably made it troublesome to keep it from haunting the nation’s cognizance (“Space”). The current president had more than situation to address, he had the problematic undertaking of gracefully picking America back up by its boot straps.
On January 28, 1986, Ronald Reagan, the President who takes on the grievances of America and establishes hope, in his inspiring speech entitled the “Speech on the Challenger Disaster,” is able to guide the United States to prosperity. He guides the United States. by emphasizing the courage and bravery of the Challenger crew, then he drives the focus to the good that NASA allows us to accomplish, and finally tells the people that the crew dies doing what they loved. Through Reagan's use of Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals, tone, and rhetorical devices, he is able to inspire hope in the people instead of the failure of NASA.
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
One day, in the early 60s the US Government discovered that the Soviet Union had a nuclear missile on the island of Cuba. So, the US government asked the Soviets to get rid of them. It was a bold thing to do because anything could have happened. Things between the US and the Soviets were already tense because of the cold war. For fourteen days, tension grew between the nations. Not knowing if this missile aimed and ready to fire at the US. Kennedy decided to give this speech the “Cuban Missile Crisis Address”. The address was used was to announce there will be a naval blockade on Cuba until the crisis is solved. This address was very effective because Kennedy did not say he was going to start
On January 28, 1986, a day that was supposed to be filled with excitement and exploration, suddenly turned into a day filled with tragedy and sadness. The space shuttle Challenger was supposed to carry a seven member crew into orbit with one unique member along for this particular mission. Christa McAuliffe was supposed to be the first teacher to go into space as a member of the Teacher in Space Project. Due to this occasion, the media coverage and the number of viewers of this mission was extensive, particularly in schools across the nation. The Challenger lifted off shortly after 11:30 A.M., but tragically only seventy three seconds after takeoff it exploded sending debris and the seven crew members back to earth and into the Atlantic Ocean. All seven crew members aboard were killed in the crash as America helplessly watched. A faulty O-ring in the right solid rocket booster was said to have been the cause of the crash. Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, was in office at the time of this tragic event. President Reagan was scheduled to deliver his State of the Union Address that same evening. His intentions were to mention the Challenger and the significance of that particular mission during his speech. This would not be the case following the events of that day.
...rrible explosion of The Challenger. Reagan's goal to reassure the nation of a better, safer tomorrow was met in his delivery of this speech. He effectively addresses the families of the seven, the school children and the nation in a respectable way.
...ess for our country than to land on the moon first, before the Soviet Union (We Choose to go to the Moon).
president Ronald Reagan used allusion in his speech to the families of the victims. Pres. Reagan used allusion when he alluded to a quote by an early historian about the death of Sir Francis Drake. Reagan alluded to the death of Drake who had “lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it” (Reagan 1). Reagan alludes to this quote because he believes that in the same way Drake was connected to the ocean in life and death, so were the astronauts of the NASA space shuttle. In addition to an early historian, Pres. Reagan also alludes to the poetry of British-American poet, John Gillespie Magee Jr. To Reagan, the astronauts “slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God” (Reagan 1). This is an allusion because Reagan references the deaths of the astronauts to the poem, High Flight by John G. Magee Jr. He believes that the astronauts have left the natural world and have connected with God in the
In a person’s lifetime, many things can happen including death. In 1986 seven individuals, Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnic, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, lost their lives doing what they loved most. The tragedy of the shuttle challenger brought much pain to the nation that day. Along with the pain comes grieving. The nation grieved the loss of these seven wonderful individuals and hoped to find peace and comfort for the days to come. As Ronald Reagan prepared to give the state of the union address, things changed for worse, he unexpectedly had to give a speech on a horrific event. Reagan was devastated at the loss of the seven men and women that were on that space shuttle challenger.
Through this national address Reagan hopes to reach out to the public and encourage them to keep their faith firm in the American space progra...
Since the presidency of George Washington, the people of The United States have turned to the commander in chief in times of distress to receive assurance and hope. Kurt Ritter comments on President Reagan’s address to the nation given on January 28, 1986 saying, “Perhaps no president could have fulfilled the country’s need to mourn and, then, to begin to heal as skillfully as Ronald Reagan (Ritter, 3).” On that morning the space shuttle “Challenger” violently exploded while the nation watched live televised coverage of the shuttle’s launch. President Reagan was scheduled to give his State of the Union Address on that date, but instead he reached out the country in this time of mourning. He spoke from his oval office to heartbroken teachers, children, NASA Space Engineers, and the entire country. President Reagan’s reaction to the tragedy of the challenger guided the United States out of despair and into a new light of hope behind seven fallen heroes. In this essay I will show that Reagan gave our country a new light of hope through his emphasis on Pathos but also incorporating Ethos and Logos in this memorable presentation.
When the Challenger shuttle was set to launch NASA was feeling political pressure to gain congressional support for the space program, to help gain this support the shuttle crew had a high school teacher on board, Christa McAuliffe, and millions of people were excited and tuned into watch. NASA officials were hoping that this new endeavor would help generate funding since the U.S. budget deficit was soaring and they were afraid that their budget could be cut. Technical failure was the reason the shuttle exploding after take-off but this was not the only reason. With pressure mounting, decisions made by NASA and Morton Thiokol Corporation, the contractor who manufactured the piece with the technical failure, put political agendas in front of the technical decisions, which resulted in the tragedy (Bolman & Deal, 2008).
On October 22nd, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered the famous "Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation" speech in response to Nikita Khrushchev’s act of placing nuclear and flying missiles on the island directly south of the United States: Cuba. The purpose of the speech was to alert the nation of the situation and inform them on how it would be handled. This speech successfully won the attention and respect of the American and Russian people through the use of multiple rhetorical devices.