Response to Trump's Speech, 9/24/16

With the presidential election slowly approaching its due date, Americans stand bewildered by the ridiculousness of the two leading candidates -- Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Who's worse? Who's better? Who will lead this country to greatness, and who will set it on fire? While I can't quite answer these questions, I know one thing for certain -- Trump writes (or, at least, presents) far better speeches than Clinton. 

Trump perfectly incorporates the three components of rhetoric: ethos, pathos, and logos. Throughout the speech, he continually develops his ethos as he promotes himself to be the "savior of America." "...Our plan will put America First...My plan...I will..." Furthermore, Trumps heavily criticizes Clinton's agendas (e.g. : "This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness" ), and by "bringing" her down, he "builds" himself up. With pathos, Trump chose fear as the driving force of his speech. By speaking of murder, terrorism, poverty, Trump makes his audience feel threatened and scared for their lives and the future of America. Overall, the speech sends the message of "If you're scared - vote for me." Finally, Trump brings in statistical data and historical references to develop his logos. "Homicides last year increased by 17% ...Household incomes are down more than $4,000...In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map..." Trump lays out the struggles of our nation, then backs them up with statistics , and therefore sways the audience with his reasoning. 

Trump might be a little crazy, but his speech is the Art of Rhetoric at its finest!

Reflection on Bush's 9/11 Speech , 9/17/16

 After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, George W. Bush needed to address the nation with the words of comfort and encouragement. With a confident, furious tone, he spoke of the horrors that filled the hearts of millions with grief and despair. Throughout his speech, Bush creates a sad, eerie mood with the use of words such as "evil," "terror," "chaos" and "retreat." He "connects" with the audience by putting himself in the "our" and "us." However, to me this speech sounds more violent than it should have been. When people are as vulnerable as they were on that day it is rather easy to play on their emotions, and instead of calming them down, he evokes more fury and anger. Consider this sentence: "A great people has been moved to defend a great nation." This is a call for violence, a call for more blood and destruction. I do not think that this message is what the country needed. Americans had to be united, but not for the intentions of war, but to survive through the pain and pay tribute to the victims.

Introduction, 9/15/16

Hello Ms. Moccia!

How are you doing?
Here is a little something about me.
I like books. And movies.
And cats.
And being alone.


Okbye