Rhetorical Analysis Of Vito Russo's Speech

Jim Valvano, a college basketball player at Rutgers University, broadcaster for the NCAA, father, and prolific college basketball coach for North Carolina State University, was presented with the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the ESPY Awards on March 3, 1993. Valvano was fighting metastatic adenocarcinoma, a cancer of the bones, at the time and was not expected to live much longer. Because Valvano’s time was fading, sports fans from around the world were anticipating a powerful speech that they would remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. In his speech, Valvano is able to emotionally connect to his audience with the use of humor, enthusiasm, and urgency to encourage the audience to donate to The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

In 1992 at the Republican convention Mary Fisher gave her speech supported the fights against AID’s. She had contracted AID’s her second husband Brian Campbell. During this time in history there was not a lot of information about AID’s. People called AID’s the “gay man’s disease” because many thought only homosexual’s could contract the disease. However, Fisher proved this wrong because she was a pretty, rich, heterosexual white woman who in theory should never have contracted the disease.

On August 19, 1992, Mary Fisher had the country in silence and paying full attention. “…I asked the Republican Party to lift the shroud of silence which has been draped over the issue of HIV and AIDS. I have come tonight to bring our silence to an end.” This analysis of her speech will allow the reader to further understand how the American public politicized the contraction of a virus that can affect anyone and how Mary Fisher was able to help bring an end to this stigma. The way in which Fisher uses rhetoric connects with her audience on a personal ground, allowing them to sympathize with her and her struggles, further allows her to use their support for her cause. By using the feminine style of rhetoric, Fisher’s speech reaches an audience that has up to this point, not paid much attention to the HIV and AIDS crisis in America. Through this style, she is able to relate better with the conservative Republican audience in attendance while also connecting and identifying with the disadvantaged populations that have contracted HIV and AIDS that do not have the

On January 28, 1996, the NASA shuttle orbiter mission STS-51-L and the tenth flight of Space Shuttle Orbiter broke apart 23 seconds after its launch, making it one of the most important events in the history of spaceflight in terms of its aftermath on the audience who witnessed the explosion. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, claiming the lives of seven crew members. It was later found that two rubber O-rings had failed because of the cold temperatures on the morning of the liftoff. Family, friends, and millions of T.V viewers witnessed the explosion, which led president Ronald Reagan to address the accident. Reagan planned to give his State of the Union Address, but after learning of the Space Shuttle disaster he postponed it for a week and addressed the nation at the Oval Office late afternoon. By using rhetorical appeals in his address to the nation, Reagan effectively addresses the nation and crews’ families about the explosion while comforting, inspiring, and honoring the views through the use of rhetoric.

Lastly, Anthony used credibility and emotional appeals to unite her audience and provide a trustworthy and relatable argument for women to deserve the right to vote. Prior to speaking to her audience, Anthony traveled across the United States and spoke with several officials about ending the injustice. She explained to the audience that she had previously, “asked the senator to declare the power of the United States Constitution to protect women in their right to vote” (Anthony 5). This evidence builds a credible argument for Anthony and showed that she cared deeply about the fight for Women’s suffrage. Furthermore, this proved that Anthony had done research and knew a lot about the topic prior to this speech. Because Anthony had been previously

Living in a world full of social perceptions, expectations and limitations make it difficult to survive when everything about a person contradicts those social ideals. Humans are composed and influenced by multiple constituents: they are more than just “gay,” “fat,” or “white.” But because of a society filled with magazines, super models and stereotypes, it’s easy to lose sight of that. Secluded, pushed away and punished, Joe Schwartz lived most of his adolescent life alone, like many others, due to his sexual orientation. From reading his life story, a new perspective can be seen.

Gay liberation throughout the United States had a purpose for lesbians and gay men to have gay lifestyles be normal. Gay liberation affected politics because gay men and lesbians wanted to inform their peers and family, which changed how citizens would view their sexual orientation. The gay liberation took place during the 1960’s through the 1980’s in which changed many cultures. The culture in the United States changed dramatically because during the 1960s through 1980s , there was an AIDS outbreak. AIDS was a sickness after HIV that would cause an individual’s body to weaken, therefore United States citizens would link AIDS to people who were gay or lesbian. For instance, David Rayside compares the United States to Britain, “After World War II, however, Britain once again stood out in the extent to public anxieties about sexuality were fanned and legal regulation of homosexual activity policed”(40) and “British authorities were especially preoccupied with the condemnation and strict containment of homsexuality.”(40). Homosexuality affected politics because authorities would prioritize the gays and lesbians before anything else. There were clear observations that governments from Britain and United States were not in favor for homosexuality, therefore attempting to change people's views on homosexuality so gays and lesbians would not be accepted into the society. Being accepted into a society requires majority of citizens to approve of other’s decisions. For example, citizens viewing gays or lesbians in public without attempting to discriminate their sexuality. The women’s movement was similar to the gay liberation because it affected politics greatly by hierarchies being

The AIDS epidemic has become an impacting plague that has expanded across multiple countries as well as communities. As it continues its identity as a gay mans disease, its stigma generates a negative connotation that has appealed to figures who are seen as second class individuals. In the essay “Gay Latino Histories/ Dying to be remembered: AIDS obituaries, public memory and the queer latino archive”, author Horacio Ramirez provides evidence of the difficult challenges that came across homosexual latinos as they died in silence from AIDS. His argument is established through the ideal subject of the queer latinos, as their lives went unrecognizable concerning the AIDS crisis. With the growing

On August 19th, 1992, Mary Fisher stood in front of the Republican National Convention, a victim of HIV and ready to spread the awareness to America. Her speech, “A Whisper of AIDS”, challenged Americans to let go of their prejudice toward HIV/AIDS in order to prevent the spread of the infection. She cuts away illusions that white, upper-class Americans had about the disease, while vilifying them for not doing their duty as humans to help the sick. Further analysis of Fisher’s speech reveals a clever use of pathos mixed with ethos and logos that make it clear that HIV/AIDS doesn’t care about race,

This further validates what I have been posting for about a month now. Since Trump has refused to work with leaders of his own party to reduce the rhetoric in most of his speeches. Nearly every week Trump insults large groups of people and has even attacked Republican Governors with very dated statistics that in cases were caused by their predecessors. What many party leaders know is that unless Trump changes at least a bit, they'll nearly practically hand the White House back to the Democrats. Trump refuses to listen thinking that he knows best. At what point does he face reality and see that support from many Republican voters is declining.

To further expand, Fisher put forth the situation that people experience but are overshadowed with fear to express it because of the prejudice concerning the matter of AIDS. In addition, she expresses the claim to make the audience realize that the expression of society is only hindered by the prejudice created by it.

The media and the government did not help in alleviating any of these fears and used the Aids panic to broadcast homophobic messages and using the gay community as a scapegoat or ‘folk devil.’

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, society wasn’t the most accepting of places for people who were different from the “social norms”. Now I know, people today still struggle with trying to fit in and be “normal” but it was different. Being a gay man living in San Fransisco at the time, which had a large gay population, Richard Rodriguez had a hard time dealing with the discrimination he faced. Richard Rodriguez was an American journalist who wrote and published a memoir about his life as a gay man. In October of 1990, Rodriguez published his memoir “Late Victorians” in Harper’s Magazine, a critically acclaimed publication of the time. In his memoir, Rodriguez describes what it was like to realize he was gay and watch as the country changed to become a more accepting place. He does this by setting up how things can change and then explaining the actual ways things change for the gay population.

"Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Honorable members of the Congress, dear friends…” so begins Pope Francis’ speech addressing a joint session of Congress. Formally addressing his audience to begin his speech, and acknowledging the “land of the free and the home of the brave,” he received warm applause from the congress-people. The Pope’s intro then calls those listening to our shared responsibility for the common good, therefore setting up the rest of his speech nicely. From this introduction, the rest of the speech will talk about the responsibilities of those who lead our great nations. Throughout the rest of the speech, one can easily analyze the speaker, with plenty of content. Listening to the Pope speak, one can find portions he

Mary Fisher’s speech entitled “A Whisper of Aids,” is an appeal to the emotional and political moods of the Republican National Conference on August 19, 1992. In this speech she talks about her disease, but unlike most people, who become depressed when they learn about contracting the disease, Mary Fisher stands up and fights for everyone who has AIDS as well as bringing the statics of HIV and AIDS to light. Mary Fisher’s speech can be analyzed from three different standpoints: structure, delivery, and appeal.