Jacob Hamilton

Professor Jackson

Comp 1302

2/15/17

Rhetorical Analysis

The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 is remembered each year for the thousands of

people who lost their lives in the attack or responding to it. A day that started off with a clear sky

eventually ended in a cloud of rubble and terror. The entire nation was glued to the TV watching

news coverage of the terrible events unfolding because of a group of radical terrorists. In

President George W. Bushs address to a Joint Session of Congress, Bush uses inspiring diction,

repetition, and parallelism to express his sorrow for the people who lost their lives and make sure

the nation knows the U.S will not stand for terrorism.

The first thing a leader must address after an event like 9/11, is their sympathy for the

families that lost loved ones. Thousands of people lost their lives in the burning buildings, on the

planes, at the pentagon, and responding to the attack. Bush starts off the address by saying

normally these kinds of meetings start off with the president addressing the state of the union

however, he goes on to say, the entire world has seen the state of our unionand it is

strong(Bush). The whole nation was broken and scared after 9/11 so hearing President Bush say

the nation is strong inspired a lot of people and gave them hope, hope that seemed nowhere to

be found. President Bush went on to use words like courage and exceptional to describe the

passengers that took over the flight headed for Washington D.C and deliberately crashed the

plane in a field in Pennsylvania, saving potentially hundreds of lives. Their heroic actions

inspired many people to join the fight against terrorism and to help rebuild the nation. President
Bush immediately states that the events on 9/11 were an act of war against the United States and

gives a series of demands to the terrorist group responsible for 9/11, Al Quaeda. Bush then states

the demands are not up for negotiation or discussion and must be carried out immediately

(Bush). It is important for the American people to know that the United States is not going to

negotiate with terrorists by any means so President Bush inspired many more people simply by

presenting a strong united front.

It is important for the President to give a clear and precise speech after an event like 9/11

so the American people know what to expect in the near future and will stand behind him.

President Bushs repetition of the word, justice, when he says, Whether we bring our enemies to

justice, or justice to our enemies, justice will be done showed the American people that the

United States was not going to let the terrorist group behind 9/11 get away without punishment.

As we now know this sparked the ten year manhunt for Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al

Quaeda, so we can see how powerful a simple sentence can be. It was also important for

President Bush to emphasize justice for the families who lost their loved ones on 9/11 so they

know the men responsible will be punished accordingly. It certainly didnt heal the pain of losing

a family member or friend but it may have helped people gain a sense of closure. President Bush

ends the address by stating, I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this

struggle for freedom and security for the American people (Bush). The repetition of the word

I showed President Bushs personal attachment to the victims of 9/11 and the well-being of the

American people. Ending his address with the personal declaration gave Americans hope that

they had a strong leader that was putting the peoples interests first and acting quickly to respond

to 9/11.
 The months and years after 9/11 were highly anticipated by Americans who were very

uneasy about their safety and well-being. A war was inevitable but President Bush stated that this

war would not be like the war against Iraq or like the air war above Korvoso two years prior

(Bush). Bush paralleled the two previous wars to show how different the upcoming war was

going to be. Instead of sending troops directly to suspected countries Bush explained the United

States will cut off supplies to nations supporting terrorism until there is nowhere left for terrorists

to hide. He also explained that secret covert missions would be carried out to find terrorist

supporters and correspondence. The war on terrorism at the time was very different from wars

that America was used to fighting. For the first time there was a real homeland threat against the

United States and the American people making everyone anxious. Bush also directly addresses

the air safety reforms that will be put in place like dramatically expanding the number of air

marshals on domestic flights, and taking new measures to prevent hijacking (Bush). After 9/11

many Americans were understandably scared to get on flights so it was very important that

President Bush addressed that air safety reforms will be put in place to prevent something like

9/11 from ever happening again.

The tragic events that happened on 9/11 changed not only America but other countries

around the world as well. The terrible actions carried out by the hijackers are still causing

damage in America through racial and religious discrimination. President Bush addressed a

nation that was broken and scared with intentions of inspiring and informing people that America

was still a strong united country that will not stand for terrorism.
 Works Cited

CBS/AP. "Remembering 9/11: "We Must Never Forget That Day"." CBS News. CBS

Interactive, 11 Sept. 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.

History.com Staff. "9/11 Attacks." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web.

14 Feb. 2017.

George W. Bush Joint Session Address on Terrorists Attacks.