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George W. Bush ■ Address to the Nation on September 20, 2001 111

Freedom and fear are at war. The advance and that is good. Even grief recedes with
of human freedom, the great achievement of time and grace. . . .
© Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.
our time and the great hope of every time, now The course of this conflict is not known, yet LANGUAGE AND STYLE
depends on us. its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice
Our nation, this generation, will lift the dark and cruelty, have always been at war, and we
threat of violence from our people and our know that God is not neutral between them.
future. We will rally the world to this cause by Fellow citizens, we’ll meet violence with 45
our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we patient justice, assured of the rightness of our
will not falter, and we will not fail. cause and confident of the victories to come.
It is my hope that in the months and In all that lies before us, may God grant us
years ahead life will return almost to nor- wisdom and may he watch over the United
mal. We’ll go back to our lives and routines States of America.

LANGUAGE AND STYLE
1. The speech is organized and controlled with many rhetorical questions. Identify
those questions and discuss how they appeal to the audience. How do these
questions directly address exigence and purpose?
2. George W. Bush employs repetition throughout the speech. Find some specific
examples of repetition and explain how these syntactical choices support his
purpose.
3. There are many examples of juxtaposition in the speech. List two examples of
contrasted ideas and discuss how these contrasts connect to the subject of the
speech and the emotional condition of the audience.
4. Bush is seeking the support of the American people. The speech is successful in
bringing together a broken nation. Discuss the rhetorical choices that connect
(the way a writer writes, you may choose juxtaposition, parallel structure,
rhetorical questions, or repetition) to the content and reinforce the idea of
balance.

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