Language
The language used by George W. Bush in his “War on Terror” speech is formal, but also explicit and easy to understand. To get his message across, the speaker uses various rhetorical devices and a carefully selected vocabulary that combines appeals to emotions with appeals to credibili…
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Choice of words
The speaker’s choice of words reflects the topics and circumstances of the speech, with references to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the war on terrorism.
To construct a negative image of terrorists and emphasize the risks and threats they pose, Bush uses many negative words and phrases: “fringe movement” (l. 84), “tactics of terror” (l. 97), “evil and destruction” (ll. 98-99), “brutalized” (l. 103), “starving” (l. 104), “hate” (l. 155), “every atrocity” (l. 166), “radical visions” (l. 172), “instant retaliation and isolated strikes” (ll. 189-190), etc. They are meant to convince the audience that the measures he intends to take against terrorist are necessary and urgent: “Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are wit…
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Tone
If you watch the video of the speech, you will observe that George W. Bush’s tone of voice is generally calm and reassuring. This attitude was necessary to give a sense of security to the people after the shock and panic of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
On rare occasions, he raises his voice to show determination, such as in the following examples: “…but we condemn the Taliban regime.” (ll. 110-111); “We will not tire, we will not falter and we will not fail.” (ll. 332-333)
The content of th…
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Anecdotes
Anecdotes are stories the speaker includes in his address that have the purpose of conveying an moral message. One such example is: “Passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer. And would you please help me welcome his wife Lisa Beamer here tonight?” (ll. 8-10). The reference is meant to show the audience that individuals’ sacrifices for the greater good are not forgotten and are highly appreciated.
The same message is conveyed by an…
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Political propaganda
Political propaganda means conveying information that is biased or misleading to promote a certain political view or cause. A device associated with propaganda is the bandwagon technique, which means encouraging people to think or act in a way because others do it as well, appealing to people’s fear of being left out.
Bush gives the example of an influential country such as UK who supports US in its fight against terrorism: “America has no truer fr…
