Rhetorical Devices in FDR's Inaugural Speech

Rhetorical Devices and Appeals in FDR's Inaugural Speech

Rhetorical Devices

• Patterns of words and ideas that create emphasis and stir
  emotions in the audience.

• Some examples include:

  • Parallelism

  • Restatement

  • Repetition

  • Analogy

  • Allusion

  • Anaphora

  • Connotative Diction

  • Many more...

Parallelism

• Repeating a grammatical structure or an arrangement of
words to create a sense of rhythm and momentum.

• “Ask not what your country can do for you —ask what you can do

for your country.” -JFK

• “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we

give.” —Winston Churchill

• “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

Parallelism in FDR’s “First Inaugural
Address”

• "...on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance..."

• Lists the ways in which confidence lives in American people, without confidence, there

would be no motivation

• Idea of cause and effect: motivation → help people overcome low economic state

• “…values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to
pay has fallen…”
• “It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest
assurance”

• Adds emotion and tone

Repetition

• Expressing different ideas using the same words or images in order to reinforce concepts and unify the speech

• “If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or

clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit
it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.” Winston
Churchill

• In other words….say it loud and clear and again and
again and….yes, again.

Repetition in FDR’s “First Inaugural
Address”

• “The money changers have fled from their high seats in
the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that
temple to the ancient truths.”

Restatement

• Expressing the same idea in different words
to clarify and stress key points

• “Slowly and grimly they advanced, not knowing what lay
ahead, not knowing what they would find at the top of the
hill, not knowing that they were so near to the outpost.”

Restatement in FDR’s “First Inaugural
Address”

• “Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have
multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use
of it languishes in the very sight of the supply.”

Analogy

• Compares two things, which are alike in several respects,
for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar
or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or
object is similar to some familiar one.

Analogy in FDR’s “First Inaugural
Address”

• “…the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every
side…”
• “The money changers have fled from their high seats in
the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that
temple to the ancient truths”

​

Metaphors & Similes & Personification

• We know these by now...don't we?

Fill in the Blank

What is a metaphor?

Fill in the Blank

What is a simile?

Fill in the Blank

What is personification?

In FDR’s speech

• Personification:
• “Nature still offers her bounty and humans have multiplied it”
• “These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that

our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister ourselves
and our fellow men.”

• Proves points and adds inspiration

• Metaphor:
• “emergence of war”; “lines of attack”; “armed strife”; “great army of

our people”: “disciplined attack”; “wage a war”; “invaded by a foreign
foe”

• Strategically included these militaristic phrases to make the Great Depression

seem like an enemy of war while uniting the people and giving them a reason
to fight for a new economic freedom

• “the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side.”

• Used to emphasize the circumstances that the American economy is facing;

also serves to personify the troubles that American industry was going
through…the industry of America is lying useless all over the place like
withered leaves.

Allusion

Reference to another (real or fictional) object, person, event, quote, or other work.

Allusions

• “Yes, the moneychangers have fled from their high seats in the

temple of our civilization”

• Biblical allusion

• Moneychangers in the Bible were thrown out by Jesus in order to restore

the temple into a house of prayer

• Shows the wrong that caused the Great Depression has been analyzed

and uses the mistakes made in the past to restore everything and correct
things for a better future

• Convinces Americans to see the Great Depression in a positive way

• “We are stricken by no plague of locusts”

• Biblical allusion

• In the Bible, God would send locusts to eat up the land and cause

destruction to the cities and nations that did not please him

• FDR is trying to convince people the Great Depression is not God’s

doing and to convince the people they can overcome together

​Anaphora

the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses; it helps to establish a strong rhythm and produces a powerful emotional effect.

Anaphora in FDR's Speech

“It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance”

"It can be helped by  preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing through foreclosure of our small homes and farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities.”

​Connotative Diction

Words chosen deliberately for the feelings and attitudes associated with them.

​Connotative Diction in FDR's Speech

"We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike."

Let's Quiz!

Multiple Choice

“… on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance…”

• Alliteration

• Personification

• Parallelism

• Logos

Multiple Choice

The following text from the speech show FDR's use of which rhetorical device? “emergence of war”; “lines of attack”; “armed strife”; “great army of our people”: “disciplined attack”; “wage a war”; “invaded by a foreign foe”

• Allusion

• Anaphora

• Metaphor

• Logos

Multiple Choice

“We are stricken by no plague of locusts” is an example of which rhetorical device?

• Allusion

• Anaphora

• Metaphor

• Logos

Multiple Choice

“It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance” The repetition used is these lines is an example of which rhetorical device?

• Allusion

• Anaphora

• Metaphor

• Logos

Multiple Choice

"We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike."

• Alliteration

• Connotative Diction

• Parallelism

• Logos

Multiple Choice

When FDR brings himself down to the level of the audience by addressing them as "My fellow Americans..." this is:

• Pathos

• Logos

• Ethos

Multiple Choice

When FDR provides a

plan for addressing the Great Depression including

reducing foreclosures, addressing the broken

transportation systems and infrastructure, and

expanding agricultural growth... This is:

• Pathos

• Logos

• Ethos

Multiple Choice

Roosevelt used the issue of ______ after imparting the truth in the audience “this great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.”

• Pathos

• Logos

• Ethos