Lauren Seymour AP LANG-8

2/13/12 Reagan Essay

After the United States attacked Libya on April 14th, 1986, President Reagan made a speech directed to not only the nation but the entire world. Reagan spoke not only to justify the attack to America and its European allies, but also to maintain the strength of the nation. Although the attack was harsh, Reagan uses rhetorical techniques to depict the air strike as necessary and justifiable. To convey his message, Reagan used appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos. By stating my fellow Americans, Reagan illustrates that he is a citizen and understands the lack of apprehension of the people. He reinforces his credibility as an American by portraying that even though he is the president, he is still a citizen and can relate to the uncertainty felt by the audience. Reagan appeals to ethos to create a sense of unity between himself and the everyday American by selectively using personal pronouns like We: We as Americans are slow to anger. Reagan opened his speech by declaring that our forces have succeeded their mission. He assures that the attack was a success and maintains unity by saying our. He appealed to logos to suggest the attack was provoked by the actions of Quadafi: 230 wounded, among some of them 50 American personnel. This magnifies the impact of the deaths on the audience which provides the listener with assurance. Facts allow the listener to put the situation into perspective. Lastly, Reagan appeals to pathos by mentioning the innocent Libyans who may have suffered from the attack. Using specific language, he appealed to the readers sentiment: The Libyan people are a decent people caught in the grip of a tyrant. This forces the audience to feel empathetic towards the Libyans.

Reagan utilized specific sentence structure to portray his intent that the attack was necessary. By using simple sentences, Reagan evokes a tone of strength and conviction: He [Qadhafi] counted on America to be passive. He counted wrong. The parallelism exaggerates the effect of the sentence. The use of a simple, even clich sentence helps President Reagan assuage to the uncertainty of everyday Americans: Today we have done what we had to do. Using simple syntax allowed him to control the overall mood and tone of the passage. Reagan addressed the mood. The audience felt uncertain due to the lack of apprehension. By sternly addressing the attack, he created a tone of a serious and formal nature. The audience will feel assured after hearing the speech. Lastly, Reagan uses language to justify the air strike. By including examples of past attacks planned by Qadhafi, it reassured the rationale of the attack. The speech included specific word choice such as direct, precise, and irrefutable. These words reinforce the idea that the attack was neither careless nor pointless and convey a tone of conviction. It was a premeditated attack in response to Qadhafis actions. The details given about Qadhafis reign of terror characterize him as a ruthless terrorist. He is described as an enemy. He repeats words such as terror to reinforce his characterization as a cruel leader. Reagan alluded to prior attempts to serenely resolve issues between America and Qadhafi: We always seek peaceful avenues before resorting to the use of forceand we did. This portrays that violence was used as a last resort, making the attack justifiable. Although the air strike may initially appear as harsh and over-dramatic to some, President Reagan illustrated that it was very obligatory. Using rhetorical techniques, Reagan convinced the world-wide population that is was a vital action in protecting our nation. When warnings are proven ineffective, drastic measures must be taken to prevent

harm. Although the speech focused on Libya, Reagan proved to the world that America has the strength to overcome any obstacle. Despite the potential risk of harming and disrupting innocent Libyans, it was imperative to ensure that terrorists have no sanctuary anywhere.