Woodrow Wilson War Speech Analysis

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The speech “War Message” by former president Woodrow Wilson is one of the most memorable speeches of all time. He is able to capture the audience’s attention and really make them listen with the help of many rhetorical elements. Woodrow Wilson is by far one of the best presidents this nation has ever seen and also one of the best speakers of all time. The magnitude of this speech and what it is about gives it such an appeal without even trying. The rhetorical elements of this text such as ethos, pathos, and logos are what gives this speech its credibility, its powerfulness, and its persuasiveness. Wilson is extremely knowledgeable and genuine when it comes to speaking about the German country in his speech. He is very ethical in his approach …show more content…

His purpose of his speech alone is extremely powerful and it is on a sensitive subject. The purpose of his speech to portray the government of Germany as a threat and as an enemy which is achieved without a problem in his speech. He wants the congress and America to get behind him so that we can go to way united and take care of something that is causing harm to the entire world, no matter what country. Wilson has two main tones throughout the entire speech which are serious and sympathetic. Notice that he never once states anything about being mad or furious, he kept his cool which is hard to do in a situation like this. His serious tone is exhibited when he is speaking about why they need to go to war and what they intend on doing. His sympathetic side comes out when he speaks about all of the lost lives that the German Government is responsible including the ones of sick and elderly people. The main audience of this speech specifically is congress because he is speaking directly to them but he also is speaking to America and all of the other nations simultaneously. He wants to get the approval of congress and he wants other nations including his own to back him and support his efforts. Wilson repeatedly hits the nail on the head with his use of rhetorical elements. In 1917, Woodrow Wilson delivered a speech, “War Speech”, that will go down as one of the best and most powerful of all time. He really emphasizes on the rhetorical elements so that he can get the people of our nation and other nations to back him and he ultimately achieves his goal as we did end up going to war with Germany and winning. The rhetorical elements of this text such as ethos, pathos, and logos are what gives this speech its credibility, its powerfulness, and its

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