Rhetorical Analysis Of 9 / 11 Speech

Despite the several terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, America remained strong and united. In the speech “Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks”, George W. Bush, addresses the terrorist attack of September eleventh to let the citizens know they can overcome a tragic and mournful incident by remaining unified and a powerful country. The primary audience are the citizens and the family members of the ones who had died or were involved in the incident. The secondary audience are the terrorists to let them know American’s are not scared and will stand together against them. Bush uses ethos, pathos, and figurative language to encourage the citizens to be stronger, united, and feel safe.

Tuesday morning, September 11 of 2001, referred to as a day to remember, the twin towers were attacked by terrorists in a hijacked plane. Thousands of lives were lost and it was a day that brought great sorrow to America. George W. Bush, the president at that time, addressed his speech to America as a nation, giving them hope that the events that took place earlier that day would not shake them but that they would come back stronger. In this essay I will evaluate Bush’s formal 9/11 Address to the Nation and discuss the speaker’s appeals to pathos, logos and ethos to convey his message that America can stand tall as one.

Another way Clinton uses pathos is when he tries to comfort the people who have lost loved ones by saying, “You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything.” Clinton lets the audience know that they have people that will help them through this hard time and they have the nation behind them: “You have certainly not lost America, for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes.” Clinton ultimately reaches his goal of comforting his audience by using ethos and pathos strategies throughout his speech.

Imagine what it’s like to be a member of a nation who’s just been victimized in attacks that took the lives of around 3000 innocent people. The Attacks of September 11, 2001 were a series of four acts of terrorism directed towards the United States. The whole nation was present in a state of utter shock and emotional disarray. Besides, many of their loved ones were taken from them, and many others were threatened. If the Taliban terrorists were willing to commit attacks such as the ones of September 11th, 2001, then what made everyone else immune? In the “Address to Joint Session of Congress Following 9/11 Attacks,” George W. Bush substantially utilizes strong pathos, in addition to use of moderate amounts of ethos, logos, and a very urgent and resentful tone to persuade the American people that he will take the measures necessary to ensure that the terrorists are brought to justice. In fact, he was well aware that the people were fearful regarding their future, and he took full advantage of the emotional nature of the situation to win over the support of the people at the time. After 9/11 and his speeches, his approval rating shot up to an all time high; he had managed to intoxicate the people in the fashion which he handled the circumstances, and convinced the American people that they were in good hands.

One of the most catastrophic events America has faced were the September eleventh terrorist attacks. Our nation faced one of the most damaging attacks in our history and it was up to our president, George W. Bush, to address the entire nation and assure everyone that America still remains a strong and functioning country. Our President George Bush was called upon to address the nation, a nation that was currently suffering from loss, fear, and despair. His goal was to persuade Americans to take comfort in the effort being put forth in resolving the aftermath of the attacks and the fear they caused. Recognizing his audience as being innocent victims of an unknown evil, President Bush ultimately had to present a speech that mastered various techniques

On September 11, 2001, George W. Bush delivered his 9/11 Address to the Nation at 8:30 PM to all Americans. This speech, broadcasted throughout the nation from within the Oval Office just hours after the terrorist hijacking and the crash on the Twin Towers, reassured American citizens during a time of devastation and need of proper leadership. (Eidenmuller). Through rhetoric intended to convey strength and the actions America had already taken to combat this tragedy, Bush instilled hope in the American people and provided them with a sense of unification.

The events that took place in America on September 11, 2001 will have a lasting wound on this country forever. President George W. Bush’s speech, “A Great People Has Been Moved to Defend a Great Nation”, gave America something to have hope in. Bush was a republican president and was the 43rd of the United States and was a very passionate man. Although Bush had to make some tough decisions that very day, he was a president that made a lasting impact on America. Throughout Bush’s speech, he effectively covered pathos, ethos, and logos.

President George W. Bush uses pathos in his speech to help unify the people. His wording has people feeling shocked, surprised, and angry. He reasons the cause for the attack was because “we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world” (Bush 7). Bush successfully vilifies the enemy, as it is still strong today, to unify the citizens under a common enemy. He continues pathos with a justice-seeking tone on how he will bring justice to those responsible. With compassion and hope, Bush asks people to pray on behalf of those affected by the

Feelings of concern, compassion, and interest, “Being a president that is willing to come to heart of the tragedy that had just occurred, automatically lifted his character to that of a person who is caring, compassionate, and interested. His sense of eunoia or goodwill was seen throughout his speech,” (Docan.) Other feelings which were shown that day were feelings of sympathy and pity (pathos), “Bush's numerous statements, such as, “The nation sends its love and compassion to everybody who is here”, bring out emotions of pity and sympathy, placing America as the “helpless and harmed”,” (Docan.) He also brought out emotions (pathos) combined with religion (logos), “Bush used an immense amount of religious jargon Phrases such as, “On bended knee in prayer” and “May God bless America,” appealed to both emotions (pathos) and to ways of thought (logos) and religion,” (Docan.) A sense of security was re-established and the American people were reassured that things would turn out fine. This reassurance was seen in the following, “And the people who knocked down these buildings will hear from us soon,” he was not creating fear in American lives, but he was appealing to the fears of whoever knocked down the buildings,” (Docan.)

The use of Pathos in this speech are used in a way that affects everyone’s emotions do to the attack on Oahu, Hawaii. Here’s an example of pathos in the speech given: “The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost (Franklin D. Roosevelt).” Roosevelt stated that the attack caused severe damage to our military forces, which affected the military emotional and physically as well as the citizens. The president also stated that a vast number of Americans were lost, which would appeal to the emotions of the nation. With Roosevelt’s statements the U.S. people are now feeling unsecure whereas the president wants to go to war to show other nations that we will defend ourselves. Another example would be, “The United States was at peace with that nation (Japan).” After hearing the speech, this quote would also become a part of Pathos, therefore, people’s emotions are starting to rise up do to the fact that Japan attacked the U.S. when we had a peace treaty.

September 11, 2001 was a tragic part of  history for the United States of America. On September 11,  four planes crashed down by hijackers at the Pentagon, the Twin Towers, and a Pennsylvania field. The Pentagon and World Trade Center were the primary buildings where the Al Qaeda wanted to attack. The White House was another target, however they never made it. Later that night, President George W. Bush gave a speech about 9/11 in the Oval Office. George W. Bush inspired America of their safety and security of his confident tone, religious beliefs,word choice.

In the beginning of the speech he uses pathos, or emotion, which is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response. George W Bush says, “Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge -- ­­huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat” (1). He tries to catch his audience by talking about all the bad things, and lives ended, but then states, “But they have failed. Our country is strong” (1).

After the twin towers fell and condensed to rubble on September 11, 2001, the Bush administration quickly formulated a plan to maintain the nation’s sense of national safety and security. John Lewis Gaddis summarized the administration’s directions to the public when he wrote, “Bush requested, and only partially received, what amounted to a global police action against terrorism, combined with a call for vigilance at home and abroad, combined with the suggestion that, despite what had happened, Americans should carry on with their ordinary lives” (Gaddis at 37). The citizens were to follow the example of former British politician Sir Winston Churchill; Bush believed the nation would best react to the crisis by applying Churchill’s words

On September 11th, 2001, tragedy struck America with the attacks on the Twin Towers and on the Pentagon. Not only did tens of thousands of New Yorkers see these atrocities firsthand but, millions of viewers watched in horror on the news; witnessing their nation under attack. Hundreds of terrified civilians ran from the carnage, however there were some who ran toward the collapsing buildings to save innocent lives. President George W. Bush stood with the fire fighters, the police and other first responders holding the flag of his nation and gave his address to the mourning citizens of the United States. He mainly used the strategies of ethos and pathos to try to comfort the American people and also have them rise and fight against the terror.

September 11, 2001 may be considered one of the most tragic days in U.S. history, the amount of people that lost their lives to such a horrible act of terrorism qualifies this day as arguably one of the worst days in United States history The president of the United States; George W. Bush addresses the nation after the horrific events later that night. In his speech he uses several rhetorical devices to emphasize his points in his speech. The use of pathos, ethos, and metaphors to influence the overall positivity and effectiveness of the speech