Rhetorical devices in day of infamy speech

December 7th, 1941 is a day changed the lives of all Americans. It is the day Japan deliberately attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii killing many U.S. soldiers and destroying a lot of the U.S. naval fleet. This day which turned the tide of World War II, up until this point the U.S. had not chosen to intervene in the conflict overseas, but Japan’s attack had given the U.S. a reason to enter the fight. This speech given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 8th, 1941 was his own passionate plea to the U.S. government and people to support the U.S. entering the war and fighting back against the tyranny occurring overseas. President Franklin D. Roosevelt effectively appeals to the emotions of the U.S. population by establishing trust with his audience through the use of emotional diction, and repetition which allow him to rally support for the war effort. Roosevelt impassions support for the war effort through his use of emotional diction through his declaration of war. He uses certain phrases to alienate the Japanese from the American people and show them as an enemy of the American people.Throughout his speech he uses phrases like “this form of…show more content…
Roosevelt effectively uses rhetorical techniques to ensure trust with his audience through the use of emotional diction, and repetition to appeal to his audience and help rally support for the war effort. Roosevelt’s speech inflamed the passions of the American people to the point that the day after Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor speech Congress declared war on Japan with the support of the majority of the American people. His mastery of rhetorical devices and language helped to get the U.S. on board to enter World War II which eventually helped to turn the tide of the war in the favor of the Allied forces. With his speech, Roosevelt was able to provide comfort to the U.S. people and inspire them to enter the war which makes his declaration of war one of the most powerful in

The thirty-second President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt in his speech, Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941, defines the brutal attacks by the Japanese. Roosevelt's purpose is to persuade Americans to join in the war effort and come together as a country. He adopts a resentful, patriotic tone in order to thoroughly bring attention to the recent attack and the course of action this entails. Roosevelt initiates his speech by describing the attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day and acknowledging the everlasting effect it will put on the country. He appeals to the emotional side of the audience using pathos by announcing that “this is a day that will live in infamy” (1) and that the United States was “suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan” (1-2). This gives his audience a sense of security and relief as this implies that the United States would have stopped the attack if knowledge was present. Furthering the security, he states that he wants to unify the nation and “take all measures” in order to maintain defense and protection.…show more content…
He claimes “as commander in chief of the Army and Navy, i have directed that all measures be taken in our defense” (22). He follows this with asking that “the Congree declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 17th, a state of war has existed between the united states and the Japanese Empire” (30-31). As the leader of the nation and showing his deep care and anger towards the attacls, the citizens choose to listen to him as a voice of reason and trust him. After the horrific attacks on pearl harbor, President Roosevelt makes a speech stating the event and the next stepts to be taken. This convunces the nation to come together to support the war and convinces congress that the decision is one that must be

Nearly everyone has heard the words, “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.” These words, delivered by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, are but a small piece of an elaborate example of a well-executed rhetorical speech. He used rhetorical devices and strategies such as anaphora, repetition, and amplification, in order to achieve his purpose of informing the people of the United States of the attack on Pearl Harbor the day before, to persuade the people to support the war effort, and to remember those innocent lives lost. A major rhetorical choice President Roosevelt incorporated into his moving speech was anaphora. After he explained the country’s relationship with Japan before the attack, and after he explained the devastating results of the attack, he starts to list off in a very structured order the other countries Japan chose to attack, using almost a formulaic approach: “Last night, Japanese forces attacked…” The reason he chooses to repeat the same structured phrases repeatedly is to grab the attention of the audience and to make them feel outraged. It shows who…show more content…
Amplification is when an author states something, then expands, of amplifies that statement. A primary example of this in the speech is in perhaps his most famous line of the entire address: “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, --a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” The reason he amplifies the date December 7 with “a date which will live in infamy”, is in order to stir a response in his audience. He wants to make sure that they will never forget that date, because the United States has never been attacked on their own soil until that date, and that should make any true American’s blood

What rhetorical device is used in the Day of Infamy speech?

Which rhetorical device does Roosevelt use in this passage?

What rhetorical devices are used in Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation?

How does FDR use pathos in his Pearl Harbor speech?