Rhetorical Analysis Of Man Takes First Steps On The Moon

As a result of the successful mission that landed the first men on the moon, called the Apollo 11 mission, many people were inspired to provide commentary on this landing. Although these texts describe unique individual purposes about this landing, they all effectively support their purposes through the use of several rhetorical devices.

A newspaper article called Man Takes First Steps on the Moon, released by the Times of London, uses descriptive diction and a cumulative paragraph structure to effectively fulfill the purpose of reporting information and details about events during the Apollo 11 landing. Instances of descriptive diction are included in the astronaut’s descent, writing that there were “nine rungs on the ladder” and showing the

Launch: A Symbol of Man’s Greatness, an article published by Ayn Rand, aims to convince the audience that the takeoff of the Apollo 11 is a representation of man’s highest level of capability. By using diction that describes primal feelings and long sentences, Rand fully achieves this purpose. Diction describing primal human feelings--such as “anxiety” and “involuntary” is used before Rand finishes describing the takeoff of the rocket, but is not seen through the rest of the text (Rand). What is normally seen as uncontrollable human tendencies disappear once the rocket leaves, showing how powerful the structure, made possible by man’s ability, is. When those watching the takeoff no longer experience anxiety or fear as a result of the rocket’s successful takeoff, they control nature because this extension of humankind can channel natural tendencies. Being able to control something thought as uncontrollable and unpredictable exemplifies how man can overcome adversity and possess the capability to achieve great actions. Another device that Rand uses to achieve her purpose is long sentences. In several areas of the text, Rand writes using sentences that can span almost six lines in length. For example, the text describes the importance of the launch by stating “The meaning of the sight lay in the fact that when those dark red wings of fire flared open, one knew that one was not looking at a normal occurrence, but a cataclysm which, if unleashed by nature,

He does this by using derogatory diction along with black and white shading to set a disapproving tone towards humankind. In the drawing, Herblock includes three words, which are “war”, “poverty”, and “prejudice” in a smog-like cloud around the earth. The connection between the cloud and the words show that much like how the human’s method of living resulted in pollution of Earth, they were also responsible for creating these ideas. The fact that a man is on the moon with his back turned to the smog shows that humans did not fix their problems they caused and instead moved on. Since this was released in a time period close to the successful Apollo 11 mission, the author implies that this is the kind of path humans may take as a result of finding an alternative place to live. Another way Herblock conveys his purpose is through the use of a black and white shading to set a disappointed tone for humans. The use of the black and white scale allows there to be contrast to highlight the moon where the man is by making it bright white, while the earth is dark and seemingly desolate. Once humans realized it was possible to successfully go to the moon, they later on found a way to go to it. They abandoned the planet they used to live in, now shadowed by their own pollution, going to a