1. If the referred speech is the “Challenger Disaster” I could state that he pursued two purposes:
• Uplift a shocked nation
• Acknowledge Challenger crew as heroes, who sacrificed themselves doing their jobg
2. Both objectives were achieved by the use of persuasive statement in his speach, by appealing people´s emotions. In this order of ideas, the first purpose was to help people make sense of how they felt with the tragedy.
The following excerpt will help illustrate the above: For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, “Give me a challenge, and I’ll meet it with joy.” They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.
This shows how he drew interest and demonstrated the reasons to support the families, by the use of key expressions such as “daring,” “brave,” and "special grace".
The second purpose, was not an easy task, since Reagan brought to present the fact that they were doing their job, as part of the advancements of the space program. Take a look at the fragment: We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and, perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.
By saying this, crew members were placed in history as trascendent.
