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- Yesterday, December 7th, 1941
27.Roosevelt’s speech
Roosevelt’s speech is an exception to all other speeches in terms of length, severity and occasion, and yet, there will be later speeches dealing with seemingly similar occasions, but in a very different way. Roosevelt’s speech contains 521 words, 21 sentences with an average of 19 words per sentence, using a wide range of tenses, including present, past, future and also passive voice, all used within average means. Given the shortness of the speech, it is not syntax, but rather semantics, discussed later, which is crucial for its effectiveness. That said, there are some powerful, short sentences with reversed word order, using the adverbial of time (in bold in the sentence below) at the beginning rather than in the end of the sentence, like in the example below: Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. To make this feature more powerful, Roosevelt chose to repeat it several times, and also combined it with an apposition (the following sentence, underlined), achieving a dramatic effect. Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. As for topicalization, it is surprising that Roosevelt was able to fit a majority of the topics into just 521 words, skipping only themes of steps that failed and our plan. Chart 8.13 Chart 8.13 demonstrates that Roosevelt spent the most time talking about the issue (36%) and then about criticizing the enemy (23%), in this case, the Japanese Empire. Unlike in previous speeches where the declaration of war comes everywhere but at the very end of the speech, which is reserved for an appeal towards American values or words about the future, Roosevelt uses his last sentence as the declaration of war, without a closing sentence. Combined with a strong beginning with “a date which will live in infamy,” now a legendary sentence, there are no words to spare, making the entire speech dense and compelling.
When only 521 words are used to get across a message, it is the choice of words that matters the most. Indeed, Roosevelt chose wisely as he cut straight to the core of the issue with adverbs like: suddenly or deliberately and with adjectives such as: false, severe, unbounding, unprovoked, dastardly, absolute or inevitable. These adjectives and adverbs are combined with powerful nouns and verbs, functioning as emotive expressions within frames, mainly focused on feelings of awe, disdain, grief but also determination and resolve. Binary conceptualizations occur throughout the speech, as Roosevelt moves back and forth between the American and the Japanese side of the story, juxtaposing them frequently. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. In the above example, Roosevelt’s words evoke emotions of determination when the discourse moves from the deceptive attack to not just victory, but absolute victory. There are several examples of such linguistic extremes in the speech, such as the one above. The top ten nouns listed in table 8.14 confirm the results of topicalization, where Roosevelt spent the most time talking about the issue, thus about the Japanese forces and the Japanese Empire. Not surprisingly, the United States comes in second, as it was the target of the attack. Table 8.14
Nouns like government, nation, peace or congress are the natural content of such a message, not leaving much space for anything else, given the length of the speech. Again, due to the size restrictions, no parallelism or apparent metaphor are employed, presupposition is minimal as Roosevelt is very explicit about what had happened, who did it and where.
Roosevelt acted as a leader and took the responsibility of not just announcing what had been done but also what needed to be done, including the declaration of war. He uses I six times to show his determination and resolve. However, the main tone of the speech is certainly in 1st person plural, with our used 9 times. Consider the following sentence where Roosevelt begins and continues with I, but finishes with us, always including the audience. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. Chart 8.15 also shows that 3rd person plural is used only in 12% of the pronouns and you is used only once. Roosevelt did not employ any rhetorical questions or let us/let’s, perhaps because he thought, given the circumstances, that actions, rather than a discussion, are appropriate. Chart 8.15 The results in chart 8.15 are not surprising given the character of the crisis. By simple use of I (6) and this (4), Roosevelt achieves staying within his time and place, facing the reality. He does use his title of Commander in Chief (below) not in order to hide behind it, but rather to state his authority and capability. As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. Chart 8.16 Repetition has already been mentioned in the syntax section, and occurs in an organized way only with the adverbs of time and occasionally with the adjective deliberately, which is used to describe the character of the attack. The rule of three is used once for dramatic effect:
Roosevelt’s speech aired over the radio, and Roosevelt was an adept radio speaker. He enjoyed speaking to the nation over the radio and also understood the strategies needed to ensure the success of the broadcast. This speech has been praised, referenced and even cited because of the conviction and determination that people seek in terms of crisis, but also because it was well structured and organized and presented a response worthy of a world leader. Download 0.63 Mb. Share with your friends:
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