Speech by Clare Boothe Luce: A Rhetorical Analysis

In this work "Speech by Clare Boothe Luce: Rhetorical Analysis Essay" we will talk about the speech of justice in journalistic. The recognized and acclaimed American journalist and politician, Clare Boothe Luce, gave a speech to the Women’s National Press Club in 1960 criticizing the tendency of the American press to sacrifice journalistic integrity in favor of the perceived public demand for sensational stories. During her opening of the speech, Luce attempts to prepare the audience for her message through the usage of various rhetorical strategies such as tone, diction, and appeal to the audience. These different methods collaborated to capture and maintain the audience’s attention and interest.

In the development of her speech, Clare Boothe Luce utilizes a critical tone to capture the attention of the audience. The author’s critical tone can be noticed in the following extract: “For the plain fact is that U. S. daily press today is not inspiringly good…” In this extract, Luce expresses her opinion, which she denominates as a “plain fact, ” that the American press is not admirable or satisfactory, which demonstrates the kind of criticism that American journalism will receive during her speech. Another excerpt that corroborates with Luce’s critic tone throughout her speech is from lines 18 to 23, in which she notifies that the journalist audience is not the most attentive when a speaker “fawn on it, butter it up, exaggerate its virtues, play down its faults. . . ” This example provides the audience Luce’s true intention, an honest and not sugar-coated critic regarding journalism during that time.

Luce’s superlative usage of diction throughout the entirety of the speech was evident. She cleverly selected the words or phrases used and exceptionally placed them in an order that the audience will understand her purpose and not be completely offended or flattered of what she is stating in her speech. This is obvious in her first paragraph since she stated the following: “I am happy and flattered to be a guest of honor on this always exciting and challenging occasion. But looking over this audience tonight, I am less happy than you might think and more challenged than you could know. ” In this excerpt of the speech, Luce made an outstanding impact in the audience because she started out with a choice of optimistic diction, but then proceeded to contradict this by utilizing a completely opposite choices of words. Luce’s usage of this technique is also noticeable in the conclusion of her opening, where she said that: “For the plain fact is that the U. S. daily press today is not inspiringly good; it is just far and away the best press in the world. ” In this extract, the contradiction of a positive and a negative view towards the topic at hand creates an atmosphere of compensation in her speech by the reason of the portrayal of the negative, or positive since the order doesn’t matter, side of her point and then continuing to demonstrate the positive, or negative, side. This causes the audience to maintain their attention in her speech in view of the, in lack of a better term, suspense created whenever she states a point of view.

During the transcourse of Luce’s speech, she notably appeals to the audience, consequently, gaining their attention in order to prepare them for her speech’s message. This rhetorical strategy can be observable in the beginning of the fifth (5th) paragraph, where it says “No audience knows better than an audience of journalists that the pursuit of the truth, and the articulation of it, is the most delicate, hazardous, exacting and ‘inexact’ of tasks. ” In this passage, Luce expresses the admiration that she possesses towards the American journalists, therefore, creating a sense of satisfaction in the audience. Her appeal to the audience is also present in the continuity of the speech, such as stated in the seventh (7th) paragraph: “I know, then, that you will bear with me, much as it may go against your professional grain, if I ask you to accept some of the good with the bad — even though it may not make such good copy for your newspapers. ” In this extract, Luce causes the audience to perceive the speech differently; to regard the speech not as satisfactory, critical, or buoyant, but as an informative and understanding — this is cooperated by the fact that she also is a recognized journalist — speech which can be used to improve the production and the veracity of the stories published for the public. The author’s appeal to the audience creates an ambiance of trust and comfortability regarding the speaker and the audience.

In Clare Boothe Luce’s opening in her speech given in 1960 to the Women’s National Press Club, she utilizes various rhetorical methods to be portrayed as an introduction to prepare the audience for her message. The rhetorical strategies used were a critical tone, a compensating diction, and her appeal to the audience. These techniques generated different effects in the audience, such as the emanation of various emotions as suspense, comfort and honesty. Consequently, theses consequences of the rhetorical methods were proven to be effective in the audience for the reason that the audience became more receptive and attentive to Luce’s criticism, which was her intend throughout the speech’s opening.

ng the tendency of the American press to sacrifice journalistic integrity in favor of the perceived public demand for sensational stories. During her opening of the speech, Luce attempts to prepare the audience for her message through the usage of various rhetorical strategies such as tone, diction, and her appeal to the audience. These different methods collaborated to capture and maintain the audience’s attention and interest.

In the development of her speech, Clare Boothe Luce utilizes a critical tone in order to capture the attention of the audience. The author’s critical tone can be noticed in the following extract: “For the plain fact is that U.S. daily press today is not inspiringly good…” In this extract, Luce expresses her opinion, which she denominates as a “plain fact,” that the American press is not admirable or satisfactory, which demonstrates the kind of criticism that the American journalism will receive during her speech. Another excerpt that corroborates with Luce’s critic tone throughout her speech is from lines 18 to 23, in which she notifies that the journalist audience is not the most attentive when a speaker “fawn on it, butter it up, exaggerate its virtues, play down its faults...” This example provides the audience Luce’s true intention, an honest and not sugar-coated critic regarding journalism during that time.

Luce’s superlative usage of diction throughout the entirety of the speech was evident. She cleverly selected the words or phrases used and exceptionally placed them in an order that the audience will understand her purpose and not be completely offended or flattered of what she is stating in her speech. This is obvious in her first paragraph since she stated the following: “I am happy and flattered to be a guest of honor on this always exciting and challenging occasion. But looking over this audience tonight, I am less happy than you might think and more challenged than you could know.” In this excerpt of the speech, Luce made an outstanding impact in the audience considering the fact that she started out with a choice of optimistic diction, but then proceeded to contradict this by utilizing a completely opposite choices of words. Luce’s usage of this technique is also noticeable in the conclusion of her opening, where she said that: “For the plain fact is that the U.S. daily press today is not inspiringly good; it is just far and away the best press in the world.” In this extract, the contradiction of a positive and a negative view towards the topic at hand creates an atmosphere of compensation in her speech by the reason of the portrayal of the negative, or positive since the order doesn’t matter, side of her point and then continuing to demonstrate the positive, or negative, side. This causes the audience to maintain their attention in her speech in view of the, in lack of a better term, suspense created whenever she states a point of view.

During the transcourse of Luce’s speech, she notably appeals to the audience, consequently, gaining their attention in order to prepare them for her speech’s message. This rhetorical strategy can be observable in the beginning of the fifth (5th) paragraph, where it says “No audience knows better than an audience of journalists that the pursuit of the truth, and the articulation of it, is the most delicate, hazardous, exacting and ‘inexact’ of tasks.” In this passage, Luce expresses the admiration that she posses towards the American journalists, therefore, creating a sense of satisfaction in the audience. Her appeal to the audience is also present in the continuity of the speech, such as stated in the seventh (7th) paragraph: “I know, then, that you will bear with me, much as it may go against your professional grain, if I ask you to accept some of the good with the bad — even though it may not make such good copy for your newspapers.” In this extract, Luce causes the audience to perceive the speech in a different way; to regard the speech not as satisfactory, critical, or buoyant, but as an informative and understanding — this is cooperated by the fact that she also is a recognized journalist — speech which can be used to improve the production and the veracity of the stories published for the public. The author’s appeal to the audience creates an ambience of trust and comfortability regarding the speaker and the audience.

In Clare Boothe Luce’s opening in her speech given in 1960 to the Women’s National Press Club, she utilizes various rhetorical methods in order to be portrayed as an introduction to prepare the audience for her message. The rhetorical strategies used were a critical tone, a compensating diction, and her appeal to the audience. These techniques generated different effects in the audience, such as the emanation of various emotions as suspense, comfortability and honesty. Consequently, theses consequences of the rhetorical methods were proven to be effective in the audience for the reason that the audience became more receptive and attentive to Luce’s criticism, which was her intend throughout the speech’s opening.