Rhetorical Analysis Of Address At Brandenburg Gate

Rhetorical Analysis of â€Å"Address at Brandenburg Gate† In President Reagan’s speech regarding the Berlin wall entitled â€Å"Address at Brandenburg Gate† delivered on June 12th, 1987, Reagan takes the position as the rhetor with the sole purpose of convincing the city of Berlin to unite and get rid of the wall separating the city in two. The wall is described by Reagan multiple times and is described to be both a physical and non-physical wall. Most of the city is separated by the physical wall and those that aren’t are heavily guarded and prevent travel to the other side. The discourse was intended to not only be heard by the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, but by most of Europe and North America. The exigency in Reagan’s†¦show more content†¦Intended audiences and actual audiences in speeches and other discourses provide the rhetor the opportunity to create a solid persuasive argument. Reagan mainly was directing his spe ech to the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He wanted to persuade Gorbachev to remove the wall and travel ban that was in place to benefit east Germany’s economy and society. A very clear example of how the speech was directed to Gorbachev was when Reagan stated, â€Å"and I invite Mr. Gorbachev: Let us work to bring the Eastern and Western parts of the city closer together† (233) This is directed to Gorbachev because in the end, he was the one in charge and he got to make the decision. President Reagan was speaking to many other people as well. Despite them not having much of a say in if the wall was removed, civilians could still make a change if they were persuaded enough. Reagan does not directly speak to the people as much as he does to Gorbachev, however, he is clear that he wants others to hear the message. This is specified by President Reagan when he said â€Å"Our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe and North America. I understand th at it is being seen and heard as well in the East.† (230) This statement defines the actual audience as Western and Eastern Europeans as well as North Americans. Creating Kairos with the intended audience and the actual audiences gave the speech a stronger effect by