Final answer:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt used evocative rhetoric in his Pearl Harbor Address to convey the severity of the attack and justify a declaration of war against Japan. He used terms like "infamy," evoked a moral stance, and outlined Japan's coordinated attacks to sway both Congress and the public. The speech served to inform, persuade, and rally the nation for the war effort.
Step-by-step explanation:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation was a masterful example of rhetoric aimed at achieving a specific response from Congress and the American public. In his speech, Roosevelt described the Pearl Harbor attack with words like "infamy" and "deliberately," which highlighted the calculated nature of Japan's actions. By doing so, he created a narrative of not only a surprise attack but also underscored Japan's betrayal of trust, thus evoking a sense of injustice and the need for a decisive response.
Additionally, Roosevelt's invocation of God and the unified resolve of the American people provided a moral underpinning to his message, suggesting that the United States was on the right side of history. His speech also unfolded a series of events that detailed not only the attack on Pearl Harbor but also the simultaneous strikes on other American and British territories. This presentation of facts established the idea of a broad and intentional pattern of aggression on the part of Japan, reinforcing his call for declaring war.
The rhythmic cadence of Roosevelt's words, especially when said aloud, contributed to invoking the sense of urgency and imminent danger, effectively persuading his audience of the necessity for immediate action. In this way, the president's address served multiple purposes: informing the nation of the act of war, persuading Congress to declare war, and ensuring public support for the war effort.