The Evil Empire
Courtney
Professor
English 1302
20 September 2013
An Analysis of Ronald Reagan’s “The Evil Empire.” Ronald Reagan gave a speech in Orlando, Florida on March 8, 1983 called, “The Evil Empire.” This speech was intended for the ears of all Americans and is one of the best known presidential speeches ever given. In his speech, Reagan uses multiple rhetorical strategies such as; metaphors, allusions, rhetorical questions, tone, pathos, and uses references from the bible. He talks about all the main points of abortion, teenage sex, drugs, the Soviet Union, and the practice of praying and God in our public schools. His speech was very well written, moving, and extremely influential. This speech shows the president’s belief that the morals and welfare of all of the American citizens has changed and also shows that Reagan is willing to do whatever he can to change not only our country but, the world. Allusion is one of the rhetorical strategies President Reagan uses numerous times during the course of his entire speech. The first example seen in the speech is when Reagan uses allusion when he is telling the story of “an evangelical minister and a politician arriving at heaven’s gate” (Reagan 2). He uses this story to show that there are still honest and respectable politicians, legislatures, congressmen/women, and any other government officials in the public eye out there. He goes on to say that “we need your help to keep us ever-mindful of the ideas and principles that brought us in the public arena in the first place” (Reagan 2). “Us”, is referring to the representatives of our great country. He wants the American citizens to stand up for what they believe in and be opinionated on their beliefs. Reagan is telling the general public that he wants to listen and hear what we as citizens have to say and what changes we would like to see be done in our country. Another example of an allusion in “The Evil Empire” speech is when President Reagan talks about the young
Professor
English 1302
20 September 2013
An Analysis of Ronald Reagan’s “The Evil Empire.” Ronald Reagan gave a speech in Orlando, Florida on March 8, 1983 called, “The Evil Empire.” This speech was intended for the ears of all Americans and is one of the best known presidential speeches ever given. In his speech, Reagan uses multiple rhetorical strategies such as; metaphors, allusions, rhetorical questions, tone, pathos, and uses references from the bible. He talks about all the main points of abortion, teenage sex, drugs, the Soviet Union, and the practice of praying and God in our public schools. His speech was very well written, moving, and extremely influential. This speech shows the president’s belief that the morals and welfare of all of the American citizens has changed and also shows that Reagan is willing to do whatever he can to change not only our country but, the world. Allusion is one of the rhetorical strategies President Reagan uses numerous times during the course of his entire speech. The first example seen in the speech is when Reagan uses allusion when he is telling the story of “an evangelical minister and a politician arriving at heaven’s gate” (Reagan 2). He uses this story to show that there are still honest and respectable politicians, legislatures, congressmen/women, and any other government officials in the public eye out there. He goes on to say that “we need your help to keep us ever-mindful of the ideas and principles that brought us in the public arena in the first place” (Reagan 2). “Us”, is referring to the representatives of our great country. He wants the American citizens to stand up for what they believe in and be opinionated on their beliefs. Reagan is telling the general public that he wants to listen and hear what we as citizens have to say and what changes we would like to see be done in our country. Another example of an allusion in “The Evil Empire” speech is when President Reagan talks about the young
Cited: Reagan, Ronald. “The Evil Empire.” Orlando, Fl. 8 March 1983. Speech. American Rhetoric. 2008. Web. Page numbers 1-8. 20 September 2013.