Listening to. and afterwards reading, Winston Churchill's speech Sinews of Peace, multiple things stood out to me. Throughout the speech, Churchill appears to be appealing to his audience's, the students and faculty of Westminster College in 1946, sense of ethics. Throughout the speech, Churchill talks about communism and people in some foreign countries not having rights that we are fortunate to have in the United States, highlights how these things are not right, and repeatedly emphasizes how important it was for them to help those people and defeat tyranny.
Another way that Churchill appealed to the audience's ethos is through his use of language. He frequently uses very grand adjectives to describe different things, such as when he uses the word sub-human to describe the idea of not helping other nations who are in need of assistance. He also uses powerful images and metaphors, such as when he references the Tower of Babel to show what the UNO was not doing.
Churchill's ability to effectively appeal to the ethos of his audience is also aided through how well he knows his audience and how he holds himself during the speech. As he spoke, Churchill showed that he really knew who he was addressing, as evident from the fact that he attended the college as he referenced in his introduction. He also addresses the topical issues of the time knowing that they had a pretty good prior understanding of what he was talking about and did so in a refined but simple way. His tone of voice is also quite friendly throughout his address and he shows that he is someone who is trustworthy, making it easier for the audience to believe his words and believe what he's saying is morally correct.
Overall, I would say that Winston Churchill was a skilled rhetorician and knew how to utilize multiple tools to help him craft a meaningful and moving speech. He was genuine and emphasized the ethical aspects of the war in his speech, effectively communicating his message and creating an incredible of piece of work.
Image Credit: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1953/churchill/biographical/ Public Domain
I also noticed the superlative nature of Churchill's adjectives. Even though he says them with relative calmness, these words, I imagine, sent quite a shock and chill to some if not all of the audience. Using such intense language in a calm and confident tone is powerful.
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