Space Speech Persuasive Speech

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The Soviet Union sent the first satellite in orbit in 1957, to start the marathon of deceptions to be the first country to the moon. The Soviets had a serious head start, sending a dog, Laika, into space, becoming the first country to send a living being into space. The U.S. had some serious catching up to do, and we did not want to be second to the Soviets in anything. Because of the dangerous drive that the U.S. imputed into the quest for domination in space, we were able to top the Soviets, and prove our power once again. Although we ended up victorious in the space race, the country needed to be convinced to join the competition. President Kennedy delivered a riveting speech to Rice university, thoroughly convincing the country of the importance of space exploration. He used many good arguments, and tugged on emotional and ethical heartstrings. His arguments were accurate, …show more content…

He condenses the 50,000 years of human history into 50 years, and condenses U.S. into 1. JFK reminds the audience of the progress the U.S. have made since the founding of the country, and reminds us of the rise to becoming a world power. Kennedy goes on to suggest an exploration of space, saying “Surely the opening vistas of space promise high costs and hardships, as well as high reward”. The condensation of history achieves 2 things. First, it give the listeners or readers a sense of how much the U.S. has actually achieved in it’s short time as a country. Second, it provides belief and hope to the audience, making them wonder what the U.S. can achieve in another “2 years”. Maybe the U.S. can send a man to the moon, and beat out the Soviets to the next frontier. Achieving space exploration though was impossible though, without the support of the country, and this speech, and this opening persuasion is vital to convincing the country into joining the space

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