Rhetorical Analysis Of We Go To The Moon

A Rhetorical Analysis of “We Choose to go to the Moon” by President John F. Kennedy
Officially known as the “Address at Rice University on the Nation’s Space Efforts”, the “We Chose to go to the Moon” speech was delivered by President John F. Kennedy September 12th, 1962 at the Rice University Stadium in Houston, Texas with the primary purpose of convincing the American public that the dream of landing a man on the moon was something worth striving for and something America planned on achieving. Prior to delving into the content and style of the speech, it is imperative to address the context and circumstances under which it was orated. John F. Kennedy was our nation’s 35th President. He is known for building the popular perception of being
He is known for shifting the U.S. efforts in space “from low to high gear” (Parnet). Besides the diverse audience assembled at the Rice University stadium, President Kennedy spoke directly to the general public, who watched the highly compelling delivery of this powerful speech live through their television sets in their family living rooms all across the nation. These notable features of the speaker go a long way to establish the pathos aspect and they bolster the validity of the president’s bold
He starts off by stating numerous historical facts and statistics, the most fascinating of which includes a timeline of the progress of mankind in the past 50,000 years, condensed to 50 years. The fact that most of the developments of mankind are crammed in the final few years of that “50 year” condensate perceptibly demonstrates the marked acceleration of scientific and technological development. The credibility of this information adds to the logos aspect of the speech, but it does not weaken the pathos factor. He ties these advancements of mankind to feelings of pride, awe, and marvel. When he praises America for never failing to lead the way in multiple arenas, his speech is colored with shades of patriotism, further harnessing emotional appeal and amplifying its pathos. He later reels in his audience by adding where America falls in the field of science and moves on to space exploration. When he arrives at a comfortable middle ground in his speech, he plunges into detailed logistics and implications of a manned trip to the moon. He no longer focuses on capturing his audience’s attention with appealing and exalting statements. Instead he candidly and honestly brings forth the implications of this project. He also mentions how the program should be given “high national priority” and how citizens should assist towards providing for it monetarily and bear part of