The main purpose of the speech “Duties of American Citizenship” is to persuade the public to participate actively in politics. The speech is targeting all the citizens across the United States who inactively involved in politics.
This speech was given in Buffalo, New York, 1883. The speaker is Theodore Roosevelt. Even though Theodore Roosevelt had not become the president of the United States, he was an assemblyman in New York. He devoted his early career fighting against corruption in the government. Therefore, he already has some credibility before giving out the speech.
The speech incorporated all appeals to logic, credibility, and emotion. By using statements that would appeal to logic, Roosevelt intended to guide the audience to come up with a conclusion that he desires. For example, “Nothing worth is gained without making any effort” Rather than being told directly by the speaker, it is more likely for the audience to trust the conclusion they come up with. Also, Roosevelt expressed his own personal opinion in the speech. Instead of using third person point of view, Roosevelt used the first person point of view in several parts of the speech. For instance, “I do wish that more of our good citizens would go into politics……do it in the same spirit with which their fathers went into the Federal armies.” The audience is able to judge Roosevelt’s personal beliefs, then trust him more because the audience have a better understanding of his personalities. Roosevelt also tried to provoke patriotism and guilt in audience’s mind. For example, “In a free republic the ideal citizen must be one willing and able to take arms for the defense of the flag.” By doing so, the audience is more likely to resonate with his claim.
After comparing these three appeals, I feel Logos is the most influential element for the audience. Not only did Roosevelt use logical statements, he used many analogies throughout the speech. By comparing the nation to a smaller community such as family and clubs, audience could make parallel connections between these two ideas. For example, “No man can be a good citizen who is not a good husband and a good father.” By agree on the previous statements, in a domestic perspective, audience is most likely to agree on the follow up statement, which is in a national perspective.
Hi Zhi,
This looks like a good start. You mention that you think logos is most prevalent in Roosevelt’s speech, but I like your attention also to his emotional appeals. You’ve done a good job identifying tactics like his use of first-person, as well as his attempt to “provoke patriotism” by appealing to the audience’s sense of guilt. These are really important things to think about. Do you find that Roosevelt is “fallacious” at all in his attempt to provoke his audience? Does his appeal to “guilt” verge on any scare tactics? Just something to consider.
I’d like you to delve deeper into the idea of his intended audience. I haven’t read this particular speech, so I’m not entirely sure, but could he also be addressing recent immigrants to the U.S. who Roosevelt believes should be assimilating into U.S. culture and politics? I know that he was big on trying define what it means to be an American, especially for the purposes of getting immigrants to conform to our ideals. I just wonder if he was also trying to make sure that new arrivals to the U.S. also became involved in politics. It would also be interesting, in that light, to consider how this speech might still have relevance to an audience today. If so, who would it be? Addressing issues like that helps to really make this topic current.