TOW #24 FDR's "Day in Infamy" speech

 Reading Goal
        - A text with substance

Writing Goals
        - A solid thesis
        - Flow


         Telling a nation they're going to war is not a message one can send lightly. After the attack on Pearl Harbor it was the duty of the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt to address the people of The United States about the impeding situation. The famous "Day in Infamy" speech was given in order to lead Congress as well as the American people into war. When giving a speech as important as this one was it was necessary that words be chosen carefully, which is why repetition was used throughout the piece. The word deliberately shows up frequently, when explaining the United States was "deliberately" attacked, or that the Japanese "deliberately" planned its actions. Roosevelt also utilized a technique similar to repetition which is an anaphora by repeating the phrase "last night the Japanese attacked..." several times. The words he uses are leading the American people towards his conclusion at the end that he has declared war on the Japanese. He empathizes how the Japanese deliberately attacked not only the United States, but other locations as well, which overall makes his declaration seem warranted. The whole speech was quite short , but left an impact on the American people forever and results in one of the most famous lines of the 20th century "a day which will live in infamy" When FDR addressed Congress with these words he spoke both calm and collected, but with a strong tone, which assisted with giving people the trust that he knew what he was doing and that he was someone who could be trusted. Although FDR did have credibility coming into this situation, declaring war on another nation requires a new level of trust. We are learning about WWII in history right now, but we did not spend much time on this speech in particular. The speech in and of itself gives a clear insight into the war on the American front. While FDR did not specifically mention the war going on in Europe at the time it was almost assumed that he also meant that the United States would finally be entering into WWII. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor there was not much resistance about going to war, but this speech was needed in order to reassure Congress and the United States that The United States had to take the measures needed.