Rhetorical Analysis Of 9 / 11 Speech

Throughout the speech, Bush uses his credibility and ethos to build up his purpose. He has automatic credibility because he is the one giving the speech, creates trust with his beliefs, and was the president at the time that the attack occurred. Bush created ethos by saying, “tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those

Bush uses appeals throughout his formal speech to help advance the argument he proposes. While doing this Bush takes his listeners on a roller coaster of emotion, appealing to pathos and to logos, then to ethos and back to

The rhetorical device, ethos, is used throughout “Bullhorn,” which is the persuasion of the audience through ethnic such as: their reputation, experience, and values the author exerts through the claim. President Bush contributes all appeals throughout his speech. As Melissa H. Weresh’s, a director of legal writing and professor of law at Duke University, asserts “…it is important to consider not only

What better way is there to appeal to an emotionally damaged group of people than to appeal to their feelings of resentment? The pathos in this speech was instrumental in the rise of Bush’s approval rating from just over 50% to a staggering 90% (Gallup, Inc. “Presidential Approval Ratings -- George W. Bush." Gallup.com). In one instance, Bush mentions the sight of Republicans and Democrats alike joined together on the Capitol singing “God Bless America”, and this is just one phrase that illustrates how devastating the attacks were. Bush makes many remarks to demonstrate that the acts of the Taliban are illogical, and only acted upon sheer spite. As said by Bush himself, “They hate what they see right here” (“The Rhetoric of 9/11: President George W. Bush -- Address to Joint Session of Congress and the American People”). He goes on to explain that this is indeed a reference to the democracy that the U.S. is

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

Another rhetorical appeal that was used in the speech were logos, to make the speech more credible, logical, and

Bush has the respect of America throughout this speech because at the time he was the President of the United States of America. He had many people on his side, keeping him informed about everything going on and from all parts of the world. He was Americas’ leader and a friend and ally to other countries. He was knowledgeable and with the help of others was able to make sound discussions on what step to take from there. Unfortunately, Bush’s speech lacks sources, about how he knows what al-Qaida is and what their goal is, to make himself more credible. But at this point and time, America was so despite for answers, they would take any information.

Bush uses the appeal of ethos in an effective manner. Bush had prior experience being a governor in Texas before his presidential experience. He is very clear and confident throughout this entire speech that the American people will recover from this event. Bush knows how the American military functions more than any other person out there, and he states, “our military is powerful, and its prepared” (Bush, 2001, para. 3). That statement is very bold and it would give any American the sense of protection they needed to feel during this time. Bush had the experience to lead this country in a time like 9/11 and he and congress worked together hand in hand to work powerfully on these attacks (Bush, 2001). Although most of the American people did not know Bush on a personal level, when he delivered this speech, he made it his top priority to feel a personal connection with the entire country. Having the title of the President of the United States gives Bush the credibility he needed to use ethos effectively in the 9/11 speech.

“Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans” (Bush 7). As the newly elected president, Bush must make an impression that he can be a strong president and uses ethos to build that credibility. “I have directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice” (Bush 7). He shows the persona of a reliable leader who can get the situation under control. “And I pray they will be confronted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me” (Bush 7). With the biblical allusion, Bush is trying to showcase that God supports

He refers to religion when he stated “And I pray they will be comforted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.” George W. Bush mentioned that God, a greater Power will insulate our country. America reassures their safety and security of the President quoting a verse in the Bible that says God will comfort you in the darkest of time.

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

Bush uses his presidential platform to help alleviate the fear of the American people. In doing this he had to act poised, calm, and professional as his predecessors had to in times of catastrophe and tragedy. Bush had been in the middle of a book reading at an elementary school in Florida at the time of the attack. As soon as the attack happened Bush was contacted and immediately boarded Air Force One, flew from Florida to Washington D.C., made this address to the nation, and finally he flew to New York to aid the first responders in the cleanup of the wreckage. This showed professionalism on Bush’s part because he had dropped everything to help his country. This made the people want

The purpose of this speech was, overall, to address the tragic acts of terrorism. President Bush accomplishes this in an informative and effective manner through his elegiac tone throughout the speech. This mournful way of writing gives a respectful and empathetic feeling to the address. This is incredibly important, as many people were feeling grief, loss, fear, and heartache at the time. Another purpose for the speech is to call the American people to action. President Bush, through his use of imperative statements, successfully rallies his audience to action. After describing some upcoming changes to the government, he said “These measures are essential. But the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows” (“George Bush Speech”). This imperative statement gets the audience feeling determined to do their part to destroy terrorism. Soon after, he said, “I have a message for our military: Be ready. I’ve called the Armed Forces to alert, and there is a reason. The hour is coming when America will act, and you will make us proud” (“George Bush Speech”). This specifically calls the military to action, which is a critical aspect of the speech. President Bush also uses this speech as an opportunity to thank people who made a difference in the tragic event, saying “I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an important time”, “I thank the world for its outpouring of support”, and, “…I thank you for your

Looking back on this speech after many years (listening to it and reading it), it is far easier to see and understand the political maneuvering that was going on in the speech. President Bush and his team very astutely knew how to manipulate the situation to get the desired effect. He used terms like, murderous ideologies, “a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam”, terror network that is global and many others to define the enemy as “evil” (Bush). He made sure everyone understood this evil was a world issue without a single country being responsible but an ideology that was directly contrary to peace and freedom. This of course makes his statement of being with us or with terrorists all the more effective: forcing every country in the world to be civilized and stand with America or allow terror to go unpunished and threaten all ways of life (Bush). In doing this, he made it clear fighting terrorism was a world issue and every country should take a stand. Know, so many years later, terrorism is still an evil many nations are struggling to defeat. The war on terror continues.