President Bush 9/11 Speech Rhetorical Devices

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I have spent a few days skimming through speeches and brainstorming ideas in my head about the different rhetorical strategies used by many famous American speechwriters. The one that stood out to me the most was President Bush’s “9/11 Address to the Nation” speech. I have picked this speech because I think President Bush did a great job of appealing to his audience and used different rhetorical strategies to help him carry out his goal. I believe Bush’s purpose was to reassure the people of America that the government was not going to stand by and let something like this happen again, he also wanted to express his sorrow and give comfort to the American people. After the terrorist attacks on 9/11 the country was in fear and distress. The country needed someone to calm them down and reassure them that everything was going would be fine. President Bush had a tough task. He had to write a speech that was highly directed toward pathos. The country did not need to hear a factual based speech about the attacks that took place earlier in the day and remind them of their fears. The country needed a speech that was going to…show more content…
He used rhetorical devices to help get his point across to the Americans. He used a metaphor when he said, “These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” This metaphor allowed Bush’s audience to visual America as a strong courageous nation. In his speech, Bush established that America would not be a coward and using this metaphor only made his argument stronger. He also used anaphora when he said, “Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened.” He used anaphora to his advantage because doing this he re-emphasized that many people have been affected and that affected us all, as a nation. He wants all the Americans in fear to know that they are not
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