President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the nation at 12:30pm on December 8th, 1941, a day after the Pearl Harbor attacks, with his self-written speech informing the nation and urging Congress to formally declare war on Japan (Rosenberg). His speech ‘Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation’, more commonly known as the ‘Day of Infamy’ speech, is considered one of the most famous and well-crafted American Political speeches of the 20th century.
Franklin D. Roosevelt never gave his own opinion in his speech, but instead relied on his diction to encourage his audience, the American public and Congress, to draw to their own conclusions. He does this by using rhetorical devices such as repetition, ethos, pathos, and using first person pronouns to establish a connection with his audience to convince the American public and Congress that declaring war is necessary.
FDR uses pathos to connect with the audience on a personal level, but more importantly to influence the listeners. FDR uses emotional appeal effectively by his particular choice in words and the tone of his voice during the delivery. While presenting, he showed anger, sorrow, and patriotism, standing as a representative of the United States, while relating with each individual American. First he says that America was ‘suddenly and deliberately attacked’, sparking the audience’s anger as they realize America was targeted with no warning. He then states that America was deceived and ‘under the impression that [Japan's] emperor [was] looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific’. This makes the listener conclude that the United States was the innocent victim, while making Japan look corrupt and strongly disliked for attacking unexpectedly. FDR then goes on to repeatedl...
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In conclusion, Franklin D. Roosevelt's use of simple, yet effective, rhetorical devices created one of the most influential speeches in American history. He connected with the audience on a emotional level, then with ease convinced them to declare war on Japan, which congress then did 30 minutes later with only one member in the House of Representatives who voted no. FDR will always be remembered for this powerful and emotional speech and December 7th, 1914 will always be ‘a date which will live in infamy’ (Roosevelt).
Works Cited
Roosevelt, Franklin D. “Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan
(1941).” 100 Milestone Documents. N.P., 8 Dec 1941. Web. 14 April 2014.
Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Day of Infamy Speech. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Speech to
Congress on December 8, 1941”. About.com. N.p., N.d., Web. 14 April 2014.
Wake Forest University, Spring 2002. Web. The Web. The Web. 29 Jan. 2014. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Speech.
President Roosevelt does a few specific things to be able to establish his credibility as a speaker. Since Roosevelt was the current president, the United States was inclined to listen to him and believe what he was saying. Being the president, the people knew that he was a credible source to receive information from. The president had also been appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1920. This shows that he had experience with the United States military services and knew how to handle the Pearl Harbor situation. Roosevelt?s speech is short, but it still utilizes pathos, ethos, and logos and has just enough detail to let the world know what was going on.
Every famous speech uses specific rhetorical devices in order to persuade and convince the intended audience. FDR’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos, successfully triggered the emotions of all U.S. citizens and effectively provoked the idea of America declaring war on the Empire of Japan. Ethos, or the appeal to credibility and ethics, sways others to believe in a certain idea and to participate in the action as a way to further support the idea. FDR explained Japan’s deceitfulness to the US government as they wrote “false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace” (Roosevelt) in a letter delivered to the United States government shortly after the attack.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the United States Congress following the unexpected attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor the previous day. As a result, Roosevelt asked the Congress to declare war on Japan. In his speech to Congress, President Roosevelt stated that the previous day, which was December 7th, 1941, was a date that they will live in notoriety. President Roosevelt said that the United States of America was abruptly and intentionally attacked by naval and air forces of the Japanese emperor.
Roosevelt’s inaugural address focused on the current situation of the nation and he intended to declare war on the Great Depression. He stated a need to move as a nation through his leadership and become a better nation. Roosevelt took a strong stand and proclaimed, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. He looks to the future asking the nation to fulfill their “true destiny” of ministering to themselves and their fellow men.
Roosevelt used personification in his speech in different ways such as he personifies his actions while his presidency in using phrases such as “but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn”. Roosevelt described something so that others can understand, he talked about the failure of America during the Great Depression. Roosevelt also talked about his plans in helping America while his presidency, “I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require”. In other words, he is emphasizing a point which it will be consider personification. Franklin D. Roosevelt also used diction in his First Inaugural Address in order to demonstrate his word choices in introducing the New Deal. America was facing severe economic issues during the Great Depression, farmers find no markets for their produce, savings of many years in thousands of families were gone and a host of unemployment citizens were facing the grim problem of existence. Roosevelt wanted actions for citizens and actions were given. Roosevelt give out examples of diction such as “let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance”, Roosevelt repeated his chosen words in some point of the phrase to achieve an artistic effect which is best known as diction. Another rhetorical device that Franklin D. Roosevelt used in his speech was antimetabole. Roosevelt used this rhetorical appeal in his speech in order to demonstrate his actions in helping America. Roosevelt talked about the desperate Americans in need of a change “the nation asks for action, and action now” where the words that Roosevelt claimed for a recover. Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted America achieve after a severe crisis and he put himself in task by putting people to
Franklin Roosevelt's use of logos promotes the organization and shape of his rhetorical response. When Roosevelt begins speaking, he addresses his congress to gain the attention of his audience. He then goes through a chronological order of what happened beginning with the morning of December 7. “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God.”
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