week 6 forum persuasive american speeches discussion

Classmate #1:

Hello Class,

The speech I decided to choose from this week supplemental reading was President Eisenhower’s farewell speech. As I read the speech it was hard to identify logos. Once I finished the speech, I realized logos was not used. I was able to identify pathos and ethos.

President Eisenhower stated that “A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction” (Eisenhower). I feel this direct quote tugs at the readers emotions, which describes pathos. Ethos is present within the speech because of his social standing, he is the President and that is addressed and established throughout the speech. To back up this up President Eisenhower’s states, that “Three days from now, after a half century of service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor” (Eisenhower). This shows his credibility.

“Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world” (Eisenhower), was stated by Eisenhower and is a good example of him using his emotion and not statistical facts. With the Toulmin method, the writer must use concreate satirical facts to help support their claim. I do not feel President Eisenhower was using the Toulmin method. I do, however, feel his speech did present some similarities to a Rogerian method. He gave a mediator speech, because he represented through his emotion when he stated that the United States needed a strong military, but also touched on the fact war should not be rushed. Overall, I feel this speech was successful.

Works Cited

Eisenhower, Dwight D. “Farewell address to the nation, January 17, 1961.” Web.

Classmate #2:

Hello Class,

I decided to review the speech, “On Women’s Right to Vote,” by Susan B. Anthony. This speech contains both Ethos and Logos because of the credibility and logic applied throughout the entire speech. There is a hint of pathos when Susan provided her opinion on the women suffrage and inequality. Susan says the federal Constitution states, “We the people,” not, “the white male citizens,” or “the male citizens.” This provides Ethos because of the strong credibility supported by the supreme law. Senator Summers states,” Sex cannot be a qualification anymore than size, race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” This provides a little more logical standpoint and uses logos to persuade the audience. Susan uses the Constitution and the logical standpoint to get her message across. She doesn’t use pathos as much and I believe it is because she was trying to make an effective concrete speech that was well supported and not emotional. I believe if she had included more emotion, it would have hindered her professional look. The opposing side isn’t mentioned. It’s a little hard to support an unlawful suppression against the Constitution. I believe the speech is more traditional than anything. It isn’t Toulmin because there is no rebuttal or opposing side and its not Rogerian because it is not an open minded discussion to switch to the opposing side. The speech is straight forward, one-sided, and supports the claim. The speech refers to many credible sources in order to strengthen the speech and that’s what makes it great.

Citations:

Anthony, Susan B. “On Women’s Right to Vote.” EmersonKent.com New York 1873