Rhetorical Analysis Of George W. Bush's 9/11 Speech

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On September 11, 2001 America would be changed forever. In the early morning, there was a horrible incident. The twin towers were attacked by terrorists. Shortly after the attack, George W. Bush made an important speech, “9/11 Remarks at Barksdale Air Force Base”. He spoke at Barksdale Air Force Base to inform America of what had happened and how the government was going to handle it. Being president at the time of the attacks was hard and it forced Bush to put some of his plans on hold. He only because president a year prior to the attacks so this gave him a tough challenge. In Bush’s speech, his content, delivery and structure were effectively used to appeal to the audience. Bush’s speech is full of meaning and importance. His message …show more content…

Because it is the president speaking, it automatically gives the speech a high level of credibility. Americans are going to believe what he has to say because he is the one running the nation. He is of such high importance in America. Bush uses a personification to say “freedom itself was attacked” (Bush). He gives freedom human-like characteristics. Freedom is not human, and cannot literally be attacked, but he uses personification to connect to the audience. People will be able to relate more if they can connect to what he is saying. When he informs America the government has “taken all appropriate—appropriate security precautions to protect the American people” (Bush) he is using an alliteration. The repetition of the ‘p’ sound helps to put emphasis on what he is trying to say. If there if emphasis it seems more important so it is more likely to be remembered. At the end of the speech there is a call to action. Bush asks people to “join me in saying ‘thanks’ for all the folks who have been fighting hard to rescue our fellow citizens…” (Bush). He does this to get others involved in a small way. People put their life on the lines for others and he wants them to be recognized. In his non-verbal delivery Bush does not use very many gestures. He does have notes with him and looks at them periodically but not too often. He is very confident when speaking and uses a rate and tone at which people can easily understand. While Bush’s speech had good information and was presented well, the order in which he presented information was

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