TOW#7: Nonfiction Piece

In the “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation”, Frederick D. Roosevelt informs the United States on the dreaded Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that occurred on December 7th, 1941.  Within this speech, Roosevelt, the President of the United States at the time, uses remorseful diction as well as repetition in order for Roosevelt to further relate with his audience.  Being that Roosevelt is the president of the United States during this time period, many people look up to Roosevelt as a man of higher authority and power than any other citizen.  Within his use of rhetorical devices however, Roosevelt manages to relate to his audience by making the Japanese out to be a common enemy to both him and the rest of the United States.  Within his usage of remorseful diction, such as “A date which will live in infamy”(para. 1), Roosevelt brings pathos to his speech, allowing for his audience to emotionally relate to Roosevelt both through anger and sorrow.  Being that this major event brought the United States into World War Two, this anger allows for an effective usage of propaganda in order to convince American citizens to enlist into the war.  While the purpose of the speech was not in particularly for the United States to gain more troops in its forces, the purpose was in fact for the United States as a whole to feel the need to unite against the Japanese.  Through this usage of remorseful diction, I believe that Roosevelt does a great job at convincing the American population to do just that.  If Roosevelt were not able to establish this pathos into his speech, the United States reaction to joining the war may have been a very negative one, but because Roosevelt was able to bring himself down to the level as the rest of the American population and establish a common enemy, the reaction was nowhere near as catastrophic as it could have been made out to be.  Because of this, I believe this speech was very effective.