Arnold Schwarzenegger's speech given at the 2004 Republican National Convention was clearly of persuasive intent supporting the current President, George W. Bush and the Republican Party. His rhetorical purposes throughout the speech involve not only the encouragement to vote for Bush in the 2004 Presidential election but also to support him in his past leadership choices and possible future decisions. Schwarzenegger also clearly states his intentions to give other immigrants and Americans the same opportunities that he was given and will do this by believing in and supporting the Republican Party. We see here that he focuses his speech on an audience which he addresses as "my fellow Americans". Although he seems to be speaking to all …show more content…

His speak is extremely pragmatic as he makes it well known that we have trusted this man to run our country in the last four years and therefore it is likely that we will trust him for another four years. As I discussed before in how Schwarzenegger created virtual experience, his use of emotional appeal and vivid language accomplish the poetic aspect of rhetoric. He incites pride, encouragement, and hope in his audience through his aesthetic and dramatic examples. Lastly, this speech is quite powerful in that it certainly prompts the participation of the audience in voting for President Bush on Election Day and rallying them to continue in their Republican beliefs. It is successful in reinforcing those beliefs of the strong Republicans and persuading those who may not completely agree.
The structure of Schwarzenegger's speech is almost identical to the structure we have been studying and using in our own communications class. He begins with a joke as an attention getter to set the mood for the audience as well as present himself as someone they can identify with. He continually builds his credibility as he speaks, talking about his own experiences living in other countries, seeing communism as a child and visiting our American troops during times of war and deployment. This derived credibility strengthens his effect on the audience as they begin to trust his opinions and beliefs based on first-hand experiences. These examples and