Speech by Clare Boothe Luce - Rhetorical Essay

Introduction

This essay will discuss the speech of justice in journalistic. Clare Boothe Luce was an American politician and journalist who gave a speech in 1960 to the Women's National Press Club. She criticized the American press's tendency to compromise journalistic integrity to satisfy the public's desire for sensational stories. Luce's opening speech attempts to prepare her audience by using various rhetorical strategies, such as tone and diction, and appeals to the audience. The audience was captivated and kept interested by these different approaches.

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Clare Boothe Luce uses a critical tone to grab the attention of her audience when developing her speech. This extract shows the author's critical tone. Lines 18 through 23 are another example of Luce's critical tone. In this excerpt, she notes that journalists don't pay attention when speakers "fawn upon it, butter them up, exaggerate their virtues, and play down its flaws." . . " "This example reveals Luce's true intent, an honest critic of journalism in that period.

Luce displayed an extraordinary use of diction throughout her speech. She chose the right words and phrases and placed them in a way that made the audience understand what she was saying and not get offended. In her first paragraph, she said that she was happy to be the guest of honor at this exciting and challenging event. Looking at the audience tonight, however, I see that I am more difficult than you may think. Luce's speech was a remarkable success because she used a positive diction to begin with, and then switched to a completely different style of words. Luce's use of this technique is evident in her closing remarks. She stated that "For the simple fact is that the U.S. daily press today, while not inspiringly great, is just about the best in the world." This extract shows how the contradiction between a positive and negative view of the topic creates an atmosphere for compensation. She portrays the negative side, or positive because the order doesn’t matter, and then continues to show the positive or negative side. Because she is expressing a point, this creates suspense and keeps the audience's attention.

Luce appeals to her audience during the speech's transgression. This is to get their attention and prepare them for the speech's message. The beginning of the fifth paragraph (the 5th), is a clear example of this rhetorical strategy. It states that "No audience understands better than a group of journalists that the pursuit and presentation of truth is the most difficult, dangerous, exacting, and tedious of tasks." Luce shows admiration for American journalists in this passage. This creates a feeling of satisfaction within the audience. The continuity of the speech also reflects Luce's appeal to the audience. As stated in the seventh paragraph, "I know that you will bear me with me, even though it may go against the grain of your professional career, if you ask for some of the good with bad -- even if it might not make such great copy for your newspapers. Luce's extract causes the audience to see the speech differently. They will view it as informative and understanding, rather than as a satisfactory, critical or buoyant speech. This is due to the fact that she is also a respected journalist, which can help improve the production and veracity of stories published for the general public. The author's appeal creates trust and comfortability in the audience.

Conclusion

Clare Boothe Luce's 1960 speech to the Women's National Press Club's opening featured a variety of rhetorical techniques to help her prepare her audience for her message. Her rhetorical strategies included a critical tone, compensating diction, as well as appeals to the audience. These techniques had different effects on the audience. They emitted various emotions such as suspense and comfortability, honesty, and even vulnerability. These rhetorical effects were proved to have an effect on the audience because they became more open to Luce’s criticisms, which was her intention throughout the speech's opening.