Our Former President

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911jointsessionspeech.htm

George W. Bush might be known as the infamous 43rd president of the United States by many. Yet when we listened to him on, an infamous day as well, 9/11, noone doubted his decisions. Why is that? For one, the US had just been attacked.
President Bush stated "Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom" Everyone thought we were going to defend our freedom. But I say, what freedom was taken from us? We might have lost the "freedom to live safely" but then again the government decided to spy on. some of his words such as "They stand against us, because we stand in their way." sound full of swagger if we think about them today. Now that we know that people in the middle east are dying. But when the attacks on September 11th occured these words meant different things.
So goes the way and when our ex-president used them. Noone would like to live in a country with a president who thinks his country is all powerful. I know that I wouldn't. But we fell for his words because of anger. The president knew how to get to the people is he used the right words and in the right order. If he said "we're going to attack the Taliban because we can" no one would have probably agreed. But after US citizens died and many were outraged these type of words didn't matter and so we went onto war...

World War II

For the speech go to http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=878



Many of us know the great Winston Churchill. He gave amazing speeches that motivated the people of Britain to not give up even if Germany was on the brink of defeating them. For example in the speech in the link above he is adressing the people of Britain. He is adressing them at the start of World War. Winston rallies them to not give up, he inspires them with the thought of their children, the future generations. He doesn't say all of this directly but he infers to them with his choice of words. The syntax he uses gives the message that they need to fight to give freedom to the people who will love it the most. As I interpret that it means the people who will come after them.

The people are also under the control of Pathos. The people have made the choice to go to war and Churchill tells them of a time when they will not have have to deal with the German Nazis.
As you may have noticed most speeches, if not all of them, appeal to the peoples Pathos, their feelings. WIth Pathos you can capture the moment and make people feel so "good" that they will cheer for you and follow your words and even fight for their country. Because people have pride and the pride that they have can always be swelled up with the right words. Churchill definitely knew how to do this.

Hitler's Speech of May 1, 1935

When we think about Hitler we think about the horrendous acts that are associated with him, but have we ever stopped to think why he so easily manipulated people? It was his speech style of course. He made German's feel united, he had them feeling as if they were doing good. Hitler's choice of words and his appeal to the people Pathos was what made thousands of people follow him.

When we see words such as peace, and resurrection coming from a man like Hitler it is hard for us to believe him. That is why he was such a great manipulator of minds. He deceived people by telling them that they were not looking for war or trouble, they were just simply looking to resurrect their great city and to make peace with the world. But in order they had to kill hundreds of thousands of people right? He even humbles himself against them saying that he had an honor of leading them. Does he not sound like a good person who just wanted to lead a country out of dark times? There were no words in there about killing people, or fighting back. There were words of rising up, having peace, and going into a better future.

I could not locate the website which I got this speech from again, but lucky me I saved the speech on my email. so below is the speech itself. Take a look at it, don't think of it as Hitler speaking, think of someone good, someone you can imagine giving a speech about reconstructing a nation then you will see how well Hitler was able to make people feel in order to follow him.

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. . . A WRITER has summed up the impressions made on him by this time in a book which he entitled 'The Decline of the West.' Is it then really to be the end of our history and of our peoples? No! we cannot believe it. This age must be called, not the decline of the West, but the resurrection of the peoples of this West of ours! Only that which was old, decayed and evil perishes; and let it die! But new life will spring up. Faith can be found, if the will is there. Our leadership has the will, and faith is with the people....

So we have come together on this day to prove symbolically that we are more than a collection of individuals striving one against another, that none of us is too proud, none of us too high, none is too rich, and none too poor, to stand together before the face of the Lord and of the world in this indissoluble, sworn community. And this united nation, we have need of it. When was a leadership at any time faced with a heavier task than our German leadership? Consider, my comrades, what our Germany is, and compare it with other countries. What have we? One hundred and thirty-seven people to the square kilometer; no colonies; no raw materials; no foreign exchange, no capital, no longer any foreign credits; only heavy burdens, sacrifices, taxation, and low wages. What have we, compared with the wealth of other States, the wealth of other countries, the wealth of other peoples, with the possibilities of living that they possess? What have we? One thing only; we have our people. Either it is everything or it is nothing. On it alone can we count. On it alone can we build. Everything that we have created up to the present we owe solely to its goodness of heart, its capacity, its loyalty, its decency, its industry, its sense of order. And if I weigh all this in the balance, it seems to me to be more than all that the rest of the world can offer us. So this, I believe, can be our message to the other peoples on this first of May: 'You need have no fear that we want anything of you. We are proud enough to confess that we ourselves own that treasure, which you certainly could not give us - our people.' I could, as leader, think of no more glorious, no prouder task in this world than to serve this people. One might give me continents, but I would rather be the poorest citizen among this people. And with this people we must and shall succeed in achieving also the tasks that are still to come.

What we want lies clear before us: not war and not strife. Just as we have established peace within our own people, so we want nothing else than peace with the world. For we all know that our great work can succeed only in a time of peace. But just as the leadership of the nation in the domestic sphere has never sacrificed its honor in its relations with the German people, so it can never surrender the honor of the German people in its dealings with the world.

We know what we owe to the world. May the world come to understand what she can never deny to a proud people, and above all may she comprehend one thing: the Germany of today is not the Germany of yesterday - just as little as the Germany of yesterday was the Germany of today. The German people of the present time is not the German people of the day before yesterday, but the German people of the two thousand years of German history which lie behind us.

Barack Obama's victory speech

So as we all know Barack Obama is the president elect of the United States. On the night of the election, after having won, he gave a speech. For the full speech go to (http://obamaspeeches.com/E11-Barack-Obama-Election-Night-Victory-Speech-Grant-Park-Illinois-November-4-2008.htm)

This speech shows a lot of repetition of small phrases. Before that one phrase, "yes we can" Obama gives several examples of things that this country has done that seemed impossible. The whole speech was about the power of America to change and to allow new opportunities to different people. It is true, we have changed. There were slaves before, and now we have a African-American man ready to govern this country. Women couldn't vote, and there were two women in this last election. Obama might have not mentioned these examples, but from what he says it is very clear that he wants to say that in American everything is possible.

Besides this he makes the audience feel a part of this victory. He makes us feel like we have just taken a step towards a brighter future. When He speaks about how his campaign grew.

"It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth."

Bitter cold, scorching heat, apathy, has not perished. These give this small paragraph a feeling of hardwork. Obama's appeal to the emotions of the people is present throughout his speech. No one can deny that they felt like screaming as they heard this speech.

For this first blog post I will analyze first of all the presidential nomination speech of John McCain. If you wish to read a full transcript go to "http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/john_mccains_acceptance_speech.html"

With the presidential elections coming up in three weeks from this Sunday I thought it would be reasonable to choose to do an analysis on this candidates acceptance speech.

Through out his speech senator McCain uses mostly the rhetorical concept of Pathos. For example when he starts talking about his parents he makes use of pathos,
"When I was growing up, my father was often at sea, and the job of raising my brother, sister and me would fall to my mother alone. Roberta McCain gave us her love of life, her deep interest in the world, her strength, and her belief we are all meant to use our opportunities to make ourselves useful to our country. I wouldn't be here tonight but for the strength of her character."
He uses words such as love, deep interest, strength, and belief to create this effect. It seems like he is just telling us that his mom raised him but we also get the feeling of strength and compassion, sort of, when we hear of a hard working mother who raised three kids on her own.

If you can find more paragraphs or sentences that appeal to pathos feel free to post them up as a comment. As we look closer at McCain's speech we can see that he doesn't really want to rely on the facts that he is going to use. He has the crowd so overwhelmed with feeling that he doesn't need to, because he has the audience so stuck on feelings of victory and patriotism.

When it comes to John McCain explaining of what his plans are he makes them look like they are top of the line. He achieves this by making the other candidates, Senator Obama's, look like the antithesis. As we know antithesis is the extreme opposite. While he says he explains what he wants to do he says that Senator Obama wants to do the complete opposite.

introduction

My name is Edwin Garcia, I was born and raised in Los Angeles California. I am a sixteen year old high school senior who just joined one of the most rigorous classes in our school, and like many of my peers i don't know what to expect out of this class, except a challenge. My mom and dad both came from another country in order to give me an opportunity to have a better life. Thinking of the sacrifices makes me very motivated and encourages me to always do my best. Now in This class we were all assigned to our very own topic which we are to write about throughout this upcoming year, My topic was recent speeches.
As times pass by more and more powerful speeches are heard. Speeches which motivate people to move towards the same goal. Speeches which can make a direct impact in someones life. Speakers like Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi, or even senator Barack Obama, and John McCain's speeches create impact in our world. It will be my job to take and analyze some of these speeches. I will break them down into parts and explain them, because these speeches aren't always the easiest to understand, but within them they always have a very deep meaning and message.
As for our class, I know that all of us have the potential to comprehend the advanced concepts of the English language. Yes it is a tough class and it will require a lot more work and decication from us, but we willl all make it, and we will all take that exam pass it and would have a better transcript than other students have, and would have eliminated a class we would have taken in college.