9/11 Rhetorical Strategies

Although tragedies are often quite sad and tragic, many can often lead to a better tomorrow with the right kind of leadership. For example, world leaders like former U.S. President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair use their speech to motivate people into overcoming a tragedy and turning it into an opportunity to make the future greater and safer for posterity. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011, it was absolutely necessary for Bush and Blair to use their speech to turn the world around and into a more positive direction. To accomplish this task, both Bush and Blair had to utilize tone and rhetorical strategies that would appeal to their audience.
Generally, tone can be described as the attitude of

Some of the most common rhetorical strategies used include simile, metaphor, repetition, and allusion. In George W. Bush’s speech, he uses a rhetorical strategy when he says, “We will rally the world to this cause, by our efforts and by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.” The rhetorical strategy that Bush has used is known as an anaphora, a common type of repetition. The repetition of the phrase “we will” heightens the emotion of the speech, and it also adds a great amount of emphasis. On the other hand, Tony Blair also uses rhetorical strategies in his speech. For instance, Blair uses a rhetorical device when he says, “And as you crossed the room, you felt the longing and sadness; hands clutching photos of sons and daughters, wives and husbands; imploring you to believe them when they said there was still an outside chance of their loved ones being found alive, when you knew in truth that all hope was gone.” To have a better appeal to emotion, Blair softens his words when he says “all hope was gone” rather than saying that the victims of the terrorist attacks were ruthlessly killed. This rhetorical strategy is known as a euphemism. Both Bush and Blair employ rhetorical strategies throughout their speeches in order to accomplish their