Rhetorical Analysis Of George W. Bush's Speech

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Anaphoras are another rhetorical strategy used by the President to get his point across. George W. Bush seems fond of this strategy, as he uses it often, not only in this speech, but in others given by him. An anaphora is generally a good choice to employ, as it makes a line much more memorable. One memorable line from the President's speech was "They hate our freedoms - our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other." This is also an example of tripartite structure, which is used effectively in Bush's message. Tripartite structure is a useful way to assemble sentences in order to make them more powerful, and memorable. Phrases such as "they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism,…show more content…
Statements like "Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution" evoke strong feelings within each and every person. Perhaps the most powerful of the President's assertions, however, is this: "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." This, although it undoubtedly worked well at the time, is still under scrutiny today, and has landed the President in a number of tough situations. That sentence is also a good example of George W. Bush's tone. He is reverent and somber at times, and at others, full of fiery determination. Throughout the presentation, however, Bush stands resolute. He continually stresses the point of needing to "bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies..." which fits in with his urgently imperative tone. He makes known the great import of acting now, and makes it evident that over thinking and delay will bring failure to the country's quest for vengeance. George W. Bush's use of rhetorical strategies is admirable, regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with his politics. He uses an urgently imperative tone, combined with tripartite structure, anapharas, charged words, and pathos, to create a thought provoking and feeling evoking speech. Looking back, it is evident that Bush used his effective speech as a stepping stone into Afghanistan, and later Iraq. The President even now continues to use rhetorical strategies in the debates against John Kerry, and only time will tell us the result of his
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