Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Samantha Neal
Miss Cook
Composition-01
19 January 2017
The Duties of an American Citizen is a speech by Theodore Roosevelt and it was given in
1883, the same exact year that the Civil Service Reform Act was passed. The Civil Service
Reform Act, also known as the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, is a United States federal
law, enacted in 1883, which established that positions within the federal government should be
awarded on the basis of merit instead of political affiliation (The Pendleton Act (1883)). This
act was passed to prohibit government officials and employees from soliciting campaign
donations from yard workers. This bill extends the law to cover all civil service workers as long
as they make campaign contributions in order to keep their jobs (Huneiti). This is important
because the people would now need to stay informed about the political agenda and what was
going on in congress so they were not just mindlessly throwing their contributions away. So the
main purpose of Roosevelts speech was to persuade the American people to become more
involved with the country and its politics. Along with this, he was trying the persuade them to
fulfill their duties as a citizen of the United States of America and stand up for their country.
In this speech, Roosevelt was using the three appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos to
persuade his intended audience to take action and represent their country, in congress, as the
people of the United States of America. Roosevelt explains how no man has an excuse to dismiss
his civic duty no matter how great they think their own excuse is. He also boldly states that a
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man who lives in the luxury of freedom is no man at all without repaying the people who fight
with their lives by just being politically aware and active. As I mentioned previously, Roosevelt
uses literary appeals to further persuade the people of The States to make the effort and walk the
The first appeal that Theodore Roosevelt uses in his speech is ethos. The first example of
this appeal is when Roosevelt says, It ought to be the axiomatic in this country that every man
must devote a reasonable share of his time doing his duty in the political life of the community
(Roosevelt). This is an example of ethos because he is calling to the American peoples ethics by
appealing to their sense of reasonable requests. Roosevelt describes the time spent doing political
duties as a reasonable share and that word choice helps paint a positive, realistic picture in the
minds of his audience. By using this appeal, he is also making civic duty seem more achievable
to the common man. Another example of ethos is when he says, I think we ought to be
broad-minded to recognize the fact that a good citizen, striving with fearlessness, honesty, and
common sense do the best for the nation (Roosevelt). This is an obvious use of ethos solely
because of his use of positive connotation. He uses descriptive words such as good, fearlessness,
and honesty to describe a citizen that is doing the right thing by participating in the government.
This helps appeal to the goodwill of the audience because it states that these good attributes will
do the best for the nation. By bringing up what was best for their home it sheds light onto the
bigger picture and whats more important. These are just some of the few examples of ethos in
The second appeal that is used in this speech is logos. Logos is the literary device that is
more targeted towards the audiences sense of logic and it usually consists of employing reason
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within the persuasion. Roosevelt uses this multiple times and the first example is when he states,
nothing worth gaining is ever gained without effort (Roosevelt). This is a use of logos because
it appeals to the American peoples sense of logic by using an approach that makes the most
sense. This quote also stresses that a change within the American government can not, and will
not, be made without the effort of the American people. The second example of logos is when
Roosevelt states, but if he has the right stuff in him he will go ahead and do his duty irrespective
of whether he meets success or defeat (Roosevelt). This appeals to logos because if one was to
think logically, if you have the means to do something as a citizen you should do it whether your
cause fails or succeeds. This also calls out to the American citizens who may have the means to
make the difference but have just decided not to take the chance. There are many example of this
literary advice in his speech and they are very effective at persuading his intended audience.
The last literary device thats used in this speech is pathos. This device appeals more
towards the emotions of the audience and there are countless examples of this in Roosevelts
speech; the first being, no man can be a good citizen who is not a good husband and a good
father, who is not honest with his dealings with other men and women, faithful to his friends and
fearless in the presence of his foes, who has not got a sound heart, a sound mind, and a sound
body (Roosevelt). This phrase uses positive connotation and emphasis on the adjectives of a
good man. It is targeted towards American citizens emotions and is meant to bring forth
feelings of possible guilt or pride; whether you act as a citizen in the way Roosevelt described.
Another obvious use of pathos is, when once a band of one hundred and fifty or two hundred
honest, intelligent men, who mean business and know their business, is found in any district,
whether in one of the regular organizations or outside, you can guarantee that the local
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politicians of that district will begin to treat it with a combination of fear, hatred, and respect, and
that its influence will be felt; and that while sometimes men will be elected to office in direct
defiance of its wishes, more often the successful candidates will feel that they have to pay some
regards to its demand for public decency and honesty (Roosevelt). This quote also targets the
intended audience's emotion by using positive connotation to describe honest men who want
nothing more than whats best for the country. He also uses negative connotation to describe
certain politicians and that strikes distrust into the minds of the American people by using words
such as: fear, hatred, and defiance. Roosevelt effectively uses pathos to influence the emotions of
All in all, Theodore Roosevelt efficiently uses ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade the
American people to become more involved in politics within their own country. By appealing to
their sense or morals, emotion, and logic, Roosevelt argues the importance of fulfilling ones
Works cited
Huneiti, Haya. ""Duties of American Citizenship"." Prezi.com. N.p., 04 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Feb.
2017.
Comments:
Total: 24.75/25 x 4 = 99/100
This is an excellent rhetorical analysis! The essay is very well organized and supported. The
topic sentences could be a little more insightful, but overall the essay is very good. All evidence
is thoroughly explained.