In Roosevelt’s speech, he says “If freedom is worth having if the right of self-government is a valuable right, then one and the other must be trained exactly as our forefathers acquire them”. In this quote, he refers forefather to the honored American revolutionists. By making his words more reliable by referring to his ideas to a group of people who were trusted by the public, he effectively uses ethos by appealing to the authority. He also says “Nothing worse gaining is ever gained without effort” to call the audience to action. Although this quote is short, this uses the logical relationship between cause and effect to persuade people straightforwardly, so it can be regarded as effective usage of logos. Roosevelt also appeals to the audience’s emotion by saying “The people who say that they have not time to attend to politics are simply saying that they are unfit to live in a free community”. By saying this, he effectively evokes the emotion of guiltiness from the audience so that they will change their previous behavior.
The main purpose of Roosevelt's speeches is to persuade the public to get actively involved in politics and do more for their country. The speech accomplishes this purpose by insisting that politics was a part of every citizen, since this speech makes the citizen realize their responsibility to their country.
Roosevelt tells his audience that he’s speaking to every American, regardless of their race or background, he establishes that these issues don’t matter when it comes to civic duty. Therefore, he makes his speech memorable for everyone, not just a few privileged people. Additionally, when he talks about what makes a good man, he creates a link between that and civic duty. This relationship grabs the audience’s attention and makes the idea relatable, which is also considered a good factor that contributes to his speech.
The conclusion of the speech is that people have to fulfill their duties as a citizen of the United States and to be involved without the politics to stand up for their country. His logical reason comes from the premises. Roosevelt says “ No man can be a good citizen who is not a good husband and a good father” in order to compare a person’s role in the family in transition to the role of a person in a country. Therefore, he supports his argument by demonstrating that people have to fulfill their duties in their domestic life so that they can similarly be responsible in the nation. He also says “In a free republic the ideal citizen must be one willing and able to take arms for the defense of the flag”. By saying this, he supports his idea of the public participating in political matters to support their country, which was symbolized by the flag. Therefore, he logically establishes ideas with several premises.
Writer: Grace Jun
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