First, tone serves as a prima facie aspect of Rudy Giuliani’s speaking given that the sole purpose of his speech was to comfort the American public through the eyes of the United Nations. Essentially, Rudy Giuliani directs his speech towards the UN General Assembly as a symbol to adopt more counterterrorism measures in order to prevent attacks like 9/11 from occurring in the future. Despite him addressing the UN General Assembly, it seems as if he uses the United Nations to channel his message to the exterior world as a comforting measure to help America put an end to the period of grieving that followed the terrorist attacks.
An example of this is clearly evident in the quote, “This was not just an attack on the City of New York or on the United States of America. It was an attack on the very idea of a free, inclusive, and civil society” (Giuliani 1), where Giuliani channels his message to the public, rather than just to the UN. But amidst all of this, Giuliani’s tone plays a crucial role throughout the course of his speech. In the beginning of his captivating oration, Giuliani utilizes a somber, yet cogent tone that serves as a coping mechanism for the audience, which in this case is served by the American people through the eyes of the UN representatives.
In turn, this establishes a sense of sympathy that Giuliani seems to have for the American people, as revealed through the quote, “The bravery of our firefighters, our police officers, our emergency workers, and civilians we may never learn of, in saving over 25,000 lives that day, and carrying out the most effective rescue operation in our history, inspires all of us” (Giuliani 1). This quote serves as a perfect example to reflect on the sympathetic tone Giuliani displays given that he refers to himself as part of the
New York constituency that shares the same sentiment towards the terrorist attacks. Nonetheless, Giuliani’s tone quickly morphs from sympathetic to more of a patriotic and reassuring tone where he unveils the true nature of the American people in persevering through this crisis. A perfect example of this nationalist tone is expressed in the quote, “We’re defined as Americans by our beliefs, not by our ethnic origins, our race or our religion. Our belief in religious freedom, political freedom, economic freedom — that’s what makes an American” (Giuliani 2).
In essence, Giuliani is trying to convince the American populous that pain is temporary, but healing leads to a greater sense of cohesion and solidity amongst the American people. Next, through the course of his oration to the UN General Assembly, Giuliani employs a series of rhetorical devices’ and strategies in order to facilitate the healing process on a countrywide scale. And though some of these rhetorical devices seem to be fallacious in nature, they serve as a catalyst in helping Giuliani convey his message of perseverance to the public.
First, on numerous occasions, Giuliani develops his tone and emotional sympathy using imagery to paint a picture for the audience. An example of this imagery is evident in the quote, “The evidence of terrorism’s brutality and inhumanity, of its contempt for life and the concept of peace is lying beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center, less than two miles from where we meet today” (Giuliani 2), where Giuliani employs a sympathetic tone combined with this rhetorical device to express his deepest condolences to all those affected.
Rhetorical tactics like imagery allow Giuliani to substantiate his thesis using more pathos than logos given that his intent is to soothe the wounds of the people. Moreover, Giuliani also uses juxtaposition to authenticate his core message in a sense that allows him to gain popularity amongst the audience using artificial, yet effective tactics. An example of this juxtaposition is evident in the quote, “On one side is democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human life; on the other, it’s tyranny, arbitrary xecutions, and mass murder. We’re right and they’re wrong. It’s as simple as that” (Giuliani 3).
This quote truly reveals the fundamental uses of rhetorical devices in finding appeasement and empathy with the audience given that Giuliani contrasts intrinsic American values to the fiendish values that the 9/11 terrorists hold high. In turn, this establishes a sense of strength within the audience as they are able to understand the fundamental differences with extremism, monomania, and peace.
Additionally, Giuliani also manipulates anaphora on numerous occasions in order to provide for greater effect in addressing the audience. Throughout the speech, the most vibrant use of anaphora is evident in the closing remarks when Giuliani goes on to say, “We are unified and we will not yield to terror. We do not let fear make our decisions for us. We choose to live in freedom” (Giuliani 5). The anaphora is quite obvious in those remarks given that Giuliani puts large amounts of emphasis on the word “we”.
In turn, this emphasis allows him to identify with the audience in a more persuasive and sympathetic manner where they are more inclined to absorb his message. The last overwhelming rhetorical device Giuliani employs is his use of allusion, where he alludes to Neville Chamberlain’s failures during the World War II appeasement process as a way to easier identify with the audience by putting the whole situation in a historical context. This allusion is expressed in the quote, “Good intentions alone are not enough to conquer evil.
Remember British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain who, armed only with good intentions, negotiated with the Nazis and emerged hopeful that he had achieved peace in his time. Hitler’s wave of terror was only encouraged by these attempts at appeasement” (Giuliani 4). To me, this part of the oration is the most captivating and inspiring part given that Giuliani conveys to the audience that history teaches us a timeless lesson. In essence, Giuliani emphasizes and stresses the idea that we must learn from our repeated mistakes and move on with action to prevent catastrophes like 9/11 from ever occurring again.
As a result, this allows Giuliani to put his core thesis into historical context that allows the audience to take the proper action in fighting against terrorism and eventually finding peace and serenity. Last, the most booming aspect of Giuliani’s address to the American people through the eyes of the UN General Assembly is his use of logical and emotional appeals. Although on some occasions Giuliani does employ a series of logical appeals, most of his messages seem to be more emotionally based in order to captivate the audience in comprehending when the time for action and retaliation is.
On the logical aspects of his speech, Giuliani makes various suggestions to the UN General Assembly that counterterrorism measures must be adopted on a global scale to prevent attacks like this from ever occurring. Moreover, this speaks to the fundamental political aspects of Giuliani’s position because his oration essentially becomes an advocacy for sweeping defense reform in all of the world’s gateways. Additionally, Giuliani continues his activism in showing his support for shutting off the economic foundations of terrorist organizations.
Giuliani’s logical stance on terrorist funding is explained by the quote, “By taking away their ability to mass large amounts of money, you take away their ability to have others carry on their functioning for them even if they’re removed, arrested, prosecuted, or eliminated through war or through law enforcement” (Giuliani 3). But amidst all of the logical appeals Giuliani conveys to the audience, his speech is targeted to the audience more by emotional appeals.
Through his tone and rhetorical devices, Giuliani understands that his role as a politician is to help heal an ailing community and country in a time of serious harrowing distress. As a result of this responsibility, Giuliani employs various emotional appeals that are fallacious contextually, but provide aid in a figurative sense. A perfect example of this form of an emotional appeal is patently evident in the quote, “We can’t let terrorists change the way we live” (Giuliani 5). Though this quotation was meant to rovide peace and security to the people of New York, the truth of the statement still suggests that the terrorists succeeded in damaging the American dream and the American way of life.
In essence, Giuliani employs a Red Herring Fallacy where a speaker attempts to hide the truth by absorbing attention away from the actual issue at hand. Contextually, this fallacy is highly evident given that Giuliani tries to shy away from the fact that the terrorists damaged the course of American history, security, and solidity for centuries to come by calling for some blanket statements that are meant to provide some sort of comfort.
Amidst the fallacies, many of the emotional appeals still remain highly successful because they essentially bring a larger community of nations and people gathered at the UN General Assembly together to fight against one common issue: terrorism. One example of this type of emotional appeal is expressed in the quote, “God is known by many different names and many different traditions, but identified by one consistent feeling love — love for humanity, particularly love for our children.
Love does eventually conquer hate. I believe that. I’m sure you do” (Giuliani 4). This type of emotional strategy appeals to the greater audience in a sense of understanding where Giuliani identifies one characteristic that unites all of the people in New York and around the world. In essence, this helps Giuliani convey his message to the audience showing that the people affected by 9/11 or no different from one another and are brought together by the eternal forces of love, religion, and community.
Moreover, this powerful rhetorical strategy truly engages why rhetoric was utilized so successfully by the Sophists in their teachings to the Athenians. These emotional appeals allow the speaker to gain persuasiveness in terms of tone, style, and diction where it unites the general public to be moved by one issue. In this case, Rudy Giuliani successfully used emotional appeals to unite an audience in order to come together and find peace and harmony in a period of healing.