A president has to have character, right? I mean, if the leader of the free world has no substance, nothing special about him, then how do we as citizens know that he is capable as far as foreign policies go. How do we know that we can trust him to make wise decisions? How do we know that he will tell us the truth? This concept is exactly what fictional president Andrew Shepherd successfully conveys in his “Address to the Press on Bob Rumson and the Crime Bill.” In the movie, The American President, Andrew Shepherd becomes romantically involved with crime bill lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade. Many characters, including Bob Rumson, believe that the relationship between Shepherd and Wade is hindering the advancement of the country. They believe that this relationship shows lack of character, and it is made apparent to Shepherd through the side comments and actions of those opposing him. In the closing scenes of the movie, Shepherd is found defending himself and his character through the form of a rhetorical speech. He convincingly uses pathos to appeal to his audience’s sense of nationality and pride.
As a typical politician should, Shepherd uses emotional appeal or pathos in his defense. When defending character, when defending emotion, the most logical approach is pathos. If one uses emotion to defend himself from emotional attacks, one is capable of producing a very strong persuasive argument. Give the opposition a taste of their own medicine. Shepherd does exactly that when address’s the American people. He talks about the constitution, the foundation on which this great country is built.
“For the record, yes, I am a card carrying member of the ACLU, but the more important question is ‘Why aren’t you, Bob?’ Now this is ...
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...hat they know they can stand up for him and be proud. It is effective.
There are many different ways to be persuasive. Depending on what one is trying to get across one will use each of these strategies in different degrees. When defending ones character, pathos is the most effective. It works because, in this case, the American people had some emotional doubt in their president. It would be foolish to try to build up confidence with facts. If the people have no faith in their leader, they won’t believe the facts anyways. It is equally foolish to use the route of ethos or credibility. At this point in time Shepherd had lost his credibility. His credibility was exactly what he was trying to restore. The only logical path lead to any form of retribution is that of pathos. Build those that have lost faith with emotion. Give them a reason to believe you.
In the “George Bush’ Columbia” speech, George W. Bush used a variety of ways in order to make his mark and effectively assemble his dialog. One of the most prominent strategies Mr. Bush used was his sentence structure. He did a great job shaping his speech by initially addressing the problem at hand. He first stated what happened, who it happened to, and gave his condolences to the ones who didn’t make it, along with their families. Mr. Bush also seemed sincere throughout his speech as he made sure to mention each hero apart of the crew. Another technique George W. Bush displayed was the diction and tone he used while delivering the speech. From listening to the audio last week, I remember the passion behind Bush’s words and the sincerity
Many would argue that President Obama is one of the most effective speakers in the decade. With his amazing speeches, he captivates his audience with his emotion and official tone.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered a powerful speech before Congress on December 8th 1941, the day after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. His purpose in addressing the country in this way is his attempt to calm the American People and avoid chaos across the country. Roosevelt is aware of the impact that the event has had on the Citizens. As their leader, he forcefully reassures the population that they will be safe. The President emphasizes that the United States would not allow the attacks to affect the country though his use of rhetorical devices, including pathos.
Rhetorical analysis assignment: President’s Address to the Nation. Since the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration has been calling on all citizens and all nations to support his Middle East policy. Nonetheless, the U.S. has been involved in the Middle East struggle for more than half of the century, wars were waged and citizens were killed.
43rd President of the United States, George Bush, in his speech, “9/11 Address to the Nation” addresses the nation about the day of September 11, 2001. Bush’s purpose is to convey the events of September 11, 2001 and what was and will be done about them. He adopts a serious yet somber tone in order to appeal to the strong and emotional side of the public and to his listeners around the world.
Evident throughout his entire address, Kennedy employs a cogent pathos appeal to keep his audience intrigued. This can be demonstrated when Kennedy initially proclaims: “Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans…” who he urges to be “unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of…human rights to which this nation has always been committed…” (Kennedy). Kennedy’s usage of “we” rather than “I” gives the audience a sense that they exist as part of something big, perhaps a family, while portraying Kennedy as a people’s president who desires to be a “person in the crowd.” Throughout his address, Kennedy establishes pathos mainly by appealing to American patriotism, a significant concept during the Cold War period in which Americans needed a jingoistic spirit to succeed. By reminding his audience of their forefathers and instigating parallels between “the first revolution” and the present generation, “born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage,” the president grasps the attention of the audience. He even stresses the value of liberty and this generation’s dedication to the survival of that value to rou...
Throughout George W. Bush's political career he has implored the use of Aristotle's tripod, which we like to call it. This tripod is a rhetoric which implies that persuasion relies on three things, which are ethos, pathos, and logos. Logos is devoted solely to logic and reason. While on the other hand, pathos deals with attitudes and beliefs. Perhaps the most important one which pertains to George W. Bush is something called ethos, that is to say the branch of the tripod which deals with the personal strengths of the speaker and most importantly his character. Throughout his political journey he has showed the use of pathos, logos, and ethos time and time again, but the one of which he is commonly known for is ethos. The instances in which he has demonstrated them are countless, but I will recall but three. The first event took place on the day of September 14, 2001 at 'Ground Zero', three days after the attack of the World Trade Centers. The third instance was on September 20, 2001 during his Address to a Joint Session of Congress. Lastly, was the State of the Union Address in Washington D.C. Which was held on January 29, 2002.
In conclusion, this speech was structured beautifully. Its use of figurative and expressive language makes it an unforgettable speech. Kennedy does a great job of using pathos, ethos, and logos to reiterate his commitment to the American public as well as discuss expected changes. Given the state of the world at the time of his inauguration, the decision to rely so heavily on pathos and ethos was a wise one which got the job done. His use of the rhetoric triangle effectively conveys Kennedy’s plan for America to not only her citizens, but to the world.
The American President is a romantic comedy that takes place in the White House during primary season. The president is hoping to be reelected and to pass two bills, one on gun control and one on fuel restrictions. During this movie, the president meets Sydney, a lobbyist, and goes out with her, and because of this he takes a hit on his ratings. The American President shows many different themes covered in politics and government 101, these themes are the rolls of the media, polls, primaries and elections, and the process of introducing a bill to congress. This movie also shows the relationship between the executive branch and the legislative branch while detailing the relationship the president has with interest groups, and his White House staff. While covering all this the movie The American President shines a positive light on politicians, this movie showed politicians having a genuine concern in human life and truly wanting to improve life. This movie wasn't all optimism though, it also criticized some politicians for muckraking and it criticized the media and the American public for thinking that the private lives of politicians is their business.
Obama is able to gain his listeners’ ears because of his clear and effective writing. In Obama’s writing various elements of rhetorical framework create a strong and persuasive argument that Obama is able to present in grabbing his audience’s attention and consideration. Seen through his writing, Obama’s use of rhetorical appeals, devices, and context create an in-depth look into the problem of the racial divide which still exist today. In writing an effective argument, Obama employ’s through rhetoric’s personal experience, historical events, religion, and the current state of things, which he asks his audience think more about. By noting that the problems of America as a whole is a problem that every citizen shares and not a problem that exist individually for different races. Obama is able to have his audience focus on the real issues Americans face moving forward. Ultimately, as it is seen prior before the speech was published and given, Obama’s intent on the direction and how his speech would be formed, along with writing techniques that were used to craft the speech, all reveal his personal knowledge of rhetoric’s and ability to write a persuasive argument. Through his speech Obama is easily able to dismisses his critics and do what he intended to do, being that he wants his audience to focus their attention on to the more serious problems that remain unsolved for American
Thomas Jefferson, in his inaugural address, stated that America was, “A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry…advancing rapidly to the destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye...” He was a strong believer in the progressive nature of morality and held an optimistic view of the nature of humanity and human ability. Jefferson believed that all people were equally naturally endowed with the ability to determine right and wrong. This strong belief in even the common man’s ability to make judgements, gave him a foundation for his support of democracy. Jefferson believed that since all men had this judgement naturally gifted to them, they were capable of selecting
President Obama’s Inaugural Speech: Rhetorical Analysis. Barrack Obama’s inauguration speech successfully accomplished his goal by using rhetoric to ensure our nation that we will be in safe hands. The speech is similar to ideas obtained from the founding documents and Martin Luther King’s speech to establish ‘our’ goal to get together and take some action on the problems our country is now facing. As President Barack Obama starts his speech, he keeps himself from using ‘me’, ‘myself’, and ‘I’ and replacing it with ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘together’ to achieve his ethos.
Gaining the credibility in a speech can be difficult at times and can test even the best speakers ability to keep the crowds attention and respect. One of the ways to keep credibility with a crowd is practicing and applying appeal to ethics. Which is defined as winning the favor of the audience by showing strong credibility in the speaker (Merriam-Webster). One of the best speeches that exemplifies the usage of appeal to ethics is Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death” speech where he addresses an issue of war at the revolutionary convention. Henry through appeal to ethics developed his credibility and wanted the people listening at the convention to believe they can’t sit and do nothing instead they have to get their hands dirty and fight.
President Obama’s Address to the nation was presented on January 5, 2016. His speech was shown on all of the major network stations. The main goal of his speech was to get the point across to the nation about the increasing problem of gun use. His speech really focused on the issue of gun control and if it would benefit the country. Overall, the biggest idea of his Address was that gun control is a large issue in the United States. The way to prevent deaths caused by firearms can be prevented in other ways than taking peoples guns away. The examples brought up in this Address really stood out to me. The use of personal, national, and global examples really made his speech stronger on the topic of effectiveness.
The Author of this book share her personal experiences of being rejected. She talks about the roots of feeling rejected and the ability to poison relationships from the inside out. She talks about insecurities, loneliness, and how we are handpicked by God.