Rhetorical Analysis Essay

The purpose of Roosevelt’s speech was to encourage the American people to push for the removal of corruption in big business, politics, and the media through peaceful means and to preach for middle class progressive reform. Around the time of Theodore Roosevelt’s speech in 1906 public interest was aroused by investigative journalists who published truthful reports about political corruption, industrial monopolies, and fraudulent business practices in the hopes of trying to spark reform. The problem was that during this time period a majority of these articles were written with intentionally false information meant to trick readers or were written using exaggerated facts meant to sell more articles this was known as yellow journalism. Roosevelt believed as president it was his duty to be the moral compass for his nation. Roosevelt was vehemently against this corruption but at the same time was for the honest reporting of this corruption. Roosevelt was trying to end this corruption and in order to do that he needed the American people to pressure the government into action and to pressure the media to report investigative articles while also being honest.

Roosevelt begins his speech by giving details of Bunyan’s ”Pilgrim’s Progress” which goes from line one to nine. The reason for starting the speech with details is that the Man with the Muck Rake is a character from “Pilgrims Progress” which is used by Roosevelt thought his speech as an analogy for how he feels about investigative journalism. These details are vital to allow for those who are not aware of the book’s character to get Roosevelt’s reference and analogy.

As soon as Roosevelt finishes giving his details about the Man with the Muck Rake he makes the analogy comparing ...

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...that at this time was that the Middle-class Progressive reform movement, which was what Roosevelt was pushing for, was not the only answer to the problems of industrial corruption in the progressive era. Radicals and anarchists were convinced that the economic realities were so unjust that revolutionary action was the key to a harmonious society. Roosevelt feared that these views which opposed his own where growing in popularity so Roosevelt wanted to convince people to still have faith in capitalism.

From Teddy Roosevelt we should learn that everyone should stand up for morals and should be willing to exert pressure to instill such morals into immoral practices. Americans should learn to stand together to fight against corruption and dishonesty but in a way that is civil and moral lest the people fighting should turn into the very thing they are fighting against.