Contextual analysis is made up of three basic components; intended audience, setting and most importantly purpose. Authors often times consider and work each contextual piece into the construction of their given argument. An argument is not powerful if audience preference is not a main concern, if the setting isn’t taken into consideration, or if the purpose is not relevant to the current situation. On January 28th, 1986 the shuttle challenger exploded 73 seconds into its take off. President Ronald Reagan wrote a critical speech to address the tragedy that had struck our nation that day. It is highly evident in his address that kept audience, setting, and purpose in mind. He comforts a worried public using calm tone and simple yet effective …show more content…
Primarily he starts out his address by speaking directly to his audience, the American people. He states: “We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.” By doing so he establishes who his intended audience is, which is very important in a speech like this. It helps the audience feel a greater connection to the speaker since he is addressing them directly and relating to them. He uses very simplistic diction thought his speech so that it can be understood by the entire nation, ranging from the most educated of Americans to the young children. He even speaks directly to them in his speech by saying “… to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen.” He wanted to reach out to everyone about this tragedy; everyone in America was his intended audience. Another contextual factor is Regan’s purpose in giving this speech, he had three basic intentions. His first was to comfort the public, most people wanted to hear his take on the event since he was the president ergo making him the leader and the man to look up to in times of need. Regan did so by using gentle diction and even spoke in a very calming and relatable way. His second intention was to honor the men who lost their lives as well as their families. Reagan gave each one of the brave men recognition by mentioning each one of their names in the speech. This shows more respect rather than him just lumping them all together as the seven men, it shows he truly cares about and honors each and every individual man. By mentioning the families it also softens his image and shows that he is sympathetic making him easier to listen to and ultimately easier relate to. The more one relates to a person, the more they are likely to
Politicians frequently receive negative publicity at the hand of their own use of language. Their uses of words as they relate to persuasion typically fall within one of the three dimensions of language functions, semantic or thematic. Often their persuasive language can be found to closely resemble any of these three categories simultaneously. There are many tools for analyzing persuasive symbols, many of which should be utilized when analyzing great communicators such as President Ronald Reagan. In response to the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion on January 28th, 1986 where seven brave American’s gave their lives. President Ronald Reagan made history with his famous speech, which didn’t only serve to address the great tragedy, but served as a focal point of comfort for the grieving nation. He commemorated the seven heroes who had fallen that morning in route to outer space; he expressed gratitude to NASA for their past developments and encouraged further explorations. Ronald Reagan was a great communicator, a charismatic persuader whose words delivered focus of the message through utilization of persuasive symbols. This paper aims not to be an all-inclusive guide for analyzing persuasive symbols, but will sufficiently guide the reader to be a more perceptive of persuasive language.
He implements this emotional appeal into his speech to involve all Americans—people living in the United States of America, regardless of their ethnicity, race, or culture, and to acknowledge that the American people have endured this together, and that they will continue to advance after this event with stronger resolve, stronger than ever. In addition, he implements personification to motivate and empower the American people. “Our nation, this generation, will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future” (Bush, 2001). “This generation”, again a synonym for the American people, with its unwavering resolve, will fight for its freedom persistently. He intimates that the future of America and of democratic freedom is in the hands of the American people; that the American people have the power to control their fate.
...speech to the world where he was quoted as saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” The speech was given at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin (“Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall: President Ronald Reagan”). This speech signified the beginning of the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. President Reagan’s foreign policy tactics are another reason why he was a great president.
Thatcher begins the speech by referring Reagan to a “great president, a great American, and a great man.” By doing so, she creates a sense of emphasis on the importance of the former president. Repetition of the word “great” makes Thatchers point clear that Reagan’s existence had a strong impact on the world. She also uses this strategy by beginning three paragraphs with the word “others”. By doing this, she shows that the former president defeated
A couple of the heroic values that Reagan possessed were strength and courage. Most people would agree that it took an agglomeration of strength and courage during the cold war era to make his ever famous, “Tear Down This Wall Speech” in Berlin. Ramesh Jaura explains how many people believe this speech made a positive effect toward ending the cold war:
In his speech in the aftermath of the Challenger explosion, Pres. Reagan used alliteration to convey his feelings of sadness to the families of the seven astronauts lost. He repeats the words special, spirit, and says to show as to what high regards he held the astronauts. Pres. Reagan said that the astronauts “had [a] special grace, that special spirit that says, “Give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with joy” (Reagan 1). The repetition of the words special, spirit, and says means that Reagan believed that the astronauts had something no one else had that differentiated them from the rest of society. Additionally, Ronald Reagan
The audience he was trying to directly get to was the people he understood were listening to it in the East. He also states, “I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me.” To follow up with his statement of intended audience, Reagan says a powerful statement. A statement that is intended to the entirety of the audience. “For I join you, as I join your fellow countrymen in the West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin.” The final sentence meaning “There is only one Berlin.” This is yet another instance in this rhetorical masterpiece that Reagan clearly states his objective of the speech, to unify
In President Reagan’s speech, he made it a point to address the school children of America who were watching during class due to the importance of the first teacher to enter space. President Reagan tried to explain to the children about the costs of exploration and pioneering new frontiers. He told the audience that expanding man’s horizons and the future does not belong to the fainthearted but to those who show bravery. President Reagan promised that we, the people of the Unites States, would continue to follow the Challenger crew into the future.
Given the day after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt talked to the nation on with a powerful speech that got the nation stronger together. The goal of his speech was to strongly encourage Congress to declare war on Japan. Everybody was
The Explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle was a national tragedy as it was the first time we had astronauts die during flight on a shuttle. The type of Speech that former President Ronald Reagan gave was an informative speech on the Challenger explosion that occurred January 28, 1986. During this time, the United States were still pioneering the way for space travel, even though we had already gone to the moon. As Reagan Stated, “We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and, perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun” (Regan), meaning that the reason this tragedy struck a chord with the nation was because we did not expect trivial outcome. Ronald Reagan effectively comforts the nation through the use of rhetoric while also addressing the
One of his most famous quotes about the government and how they should be concerned with the everyday citizen. “Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives”() Ronald Reagan is saying that the government shouldn't be the rulers of our live that they should be there to guide us in time of need and to protect us. The people of the U.S should voice their opinions and not be scared of retaliation. Reagan was one of the few in history that said what he thought and meant what he said. I think this is what made him one of the most successful presidents in the U.S history. Reagan had a strong voice to influence others. That was what helped shape America into what Reagan hoped it might become in his time in office was that he had strong political views and standing up against the government was a great way of showing that. Reagan influenced us by saying what he thought about our government back in the eighties and part of that should stay true
Lind, Michael. "Why We Should Embrace the End of Human Spaceflight."Salon.com. N.p.: n.p., 2011. N. pag. Rpt. in NASA. Ed. Margaret Haerens. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
It is within man’s blood and nature to explore, and space is our next New World. Man’s first achievement in space travel was the launch of the Sputnik on October 4, 1957. For the next decades, space travel was roaring like a rocket, fueled by man’s desire to explore, man’s desire for knowledge, and man’s desire to beat his enemies. However, these impulses have died out as the well of government funding has been diverted to wars and debts, and the interest of the American people has been diverted to wars and debts. Amidst all these issues it is debated as to whether or not space travel is worth the money and the attention of scientists, particularly since humanity faces so many issues on earth currently. However, because of the past inventions, current services, and future benefits, space travel is indeed worth the money and attention of governments and people. It is within our hands to control man’s advancement, and space travel is the next venue to do so.
Ronald Reagan’s speech “A Time for Choosing” marks the beginning of his accomplishment in politics. This speech is one of the first given by Reagan that earns him the recognition of being a great speaker. In 1964, Barry Goldwater was the Republican candidate opposing Lyndon B. Johnson in the presidential election. As part of Goldwater’s campaign, Ronald Reagan gave a speech on television. Regan’s speech, “A Time for Choosing,” was written and spoken to the Americans in order to persuade the Americans to vote for Barry Goldwater. Reagan is one of the greatest public speakers, and he always knew what the people wanted to hear and how they wanted to hear it.
Relating to the Audience: Of all the majors people are looking forward to in this classroom, there is not a single major that has not benefited from the space program. Thus it is important to analyze the most glaring threat this messiah of a program is facing.