Explanation:
Albert Einstein remarked, “Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them” (Einstein). In the United States, the early 1960’s called for pushing the limits of imagination to win the Space Race with archrival Soviet Union. As the Cold War intensified, the Soviets boasted a clear advantage; they were first to put a satellite in orbit and first to send man to space. The United States sorely needed a first of their own--to reach the moon before the Soviets. Recognizing the political and scientific significance of a man on the moon, President John F. Kennedy echoed Einstein’s wise words by urging Americans to work together, extend the limits of their capabilities, and achieve this momentous event. In his “We choose to go to the moon” speech at Rice Stadium, President Kennedy calls upon the three rhetorical appeals: he develops ethos through his humility and references to revered personages, like Isaac Newton, logos from his employment of scientific reasoning and historical facts, and pathos by connecting to his audience’s innate desire to strive for heroism. By seamlessly integrating these three appeals, Kennedy inspires his audience, the American people, to share his dream of putting man on the moon, and binds them into a community that makes it its civic duty to invest its best skills, efforts, and sacrifices to achieve this heroic dream.
To bolster his ethos, President Kennedy introduces himself as a humble leader who values the expertise of others; this approach enhances his appeal to both his immediate academic audience and the wider American public, persuading them to join him in his quest to send astronauts to the moon. Kennedy opens his speech by directly addressing his distinguished audience at Rice University: “President Pitzer, Mr. Vice President, Governor, Congressman Thomas, Senator Wiley, and Congressman Miller, Mr. Webb, Mr. Bell, scientists, distinguished guests...I appreciate your president having made me an honorary visiting professor...” (Kennedy). Acknowledging the individual members of his audience and their roles in bringing him to Rice Stadium to speak, Kennedy chooses to present himself, the speaker, not as the President of the United States, but more humbly as “an honorary visiting professor.” By doing so, Kennedy underscores his respect for science and education and portrays himself as a disseminator of an idea backed by scientists and distinguished guests rather than as a self-interested politician trying to sell a new initiative to go to the moon. This rhetorical approach not only makes Kennedy a more trustworthy speaker, but also makes the dream of reaching the moon seem more attainable to the audience. Later, Kennedy supplements his ethos through the same approach of backing his appeal with the expertise of others. As he describes the rapid scientific progress that has brought mankind to the threshold of space, Kennedy alludes to Sir Isaac Newton: “Newton explored the meaning of gravity” (Kennedy). Associating his mission with Newton, Kennedy reaches beyond his immediate audience at Rice Stadium to the general American public, who would be more familiar with Newton’s accomplishments than those of the Rice faculty. Linking Newton to the missions to space and the moon effectively leads the public to view the moon project as continuing in his path, and to foresee the contributions of space exploration as being as significant as Newton’s. .
