Rhetoric

Over the past two weeks we have been exposed to two different forms of persuasive techniques through MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail and the guest speakers from the Army. We also learned about Aristotle's rhetorical triangle that is made up of ethos, pathos, and logos. I would like to look at Franklin D. Roosevelt's Declaration of War to Japan speech to analyze its rhetorical strength.

In President Roosevelt's opening sentence, he addresses a number of important people and explains the reason for the speech; the United States was attacked by Japan. He uses logos in the sense that he expains when and where Japan attacked. In the next few sentences, he uses pathos by telling the people how the Japanese were keeping relations civil while they were actually secretly planning an attack. This information was intended to make the people realize the dishonesty of the Japanese. The President informs the people that many lives have been lost which can be seen as logos in the sense that it is a statistic, and it is also ethos because Roosevelt is sympathizing with the country. Roosevelt states that he has taken every measure of defense as the Commander and Chief of the armed forces, and the American people will overcome the loss. He reassures the people of his power and credibility and also things will be all right. Leading up to his request to Congress to declare war on Japan, he states that America is in danger and that some sort of action must take place. By informing the people that the country is in danger but can be triumphant if action is taken, Roosevelt is appealing to the emotions of the people.

This speech contains a great amount of ethos, pathos, and logos, and it had to "pack a punch" because action was needed quickly. The difference between this speech and MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail is that the President had to get his message across quickly and effectively, while Martin Luther King Jr. had time to draft his letter in a manner that would be most persuasive. I believe if the Army recruiters had performed a presentation to persuade us to think about joining the Army, it would have been much more similar to Roosevelt's speech because they would have had to get their message across in a shorter time. Roosevelt presented his information quickly and efficiently and provided enough statistics and emotions to persuade his audience. In many occasions it is important to be short and sweet, and President Roosevelt was able to capture his audience in an effective way.