The structure of the speech is organized in a specific sequence. First, the speaker discussed what happened and then he stated his opinion on the matter. Then, Bush followed with examples, such as the hospital and the firefighter, which were personal experiences. These personal experiences showed that these people were still willing to work together in aiding others less fortunate. For example, Steve Scott, a firefighter that lost everything due to the hurricane, but yet still remained full of faith. Going further, he began by discussing the issues and what would be done to restore the nation. Later, he gave his complete sense of gratitude and sympathy to America, “To all who carry a burden of loss, I extend the deepest sympathy of our country.” Lastly, former President Bush reassured the audience of hope, by drawing their attention to former issues. For example, the terrible winters at Jamestown and Plymouth, the rebuilding of Chicago after a great fire and the earthquake in San Francisco. All of which George claimed to say, that we’ve “...never left out destiny to the whims of nature, and we will not start now.” This also refers back to the idea of unity, which is elaborated on immensely in the speech, that we Americans have survived these disasters as well, therefore it will be hard but there will be a brighter future.
In this speech there was no direct use of imagery in the text, however it is not needed because ironically the live audience was standing in the midst of the destruction. Though language features in this speech were few and far between. This was clearly intended, as the former president wanted to directly address the situation at hand. Though when they are used, for example, in the last line of the second paragraph “...grieving for the dead and looking for meaning in a tragedy that seems so blind and random.”, they are very effective. This was an example of personification as Bush gives the tragedy a human characteristic of being blind.
Ironically, throughout the speech there was a large use of descriptive words. This is considered a writing style, because for every description, George would use two descriptive words per sentence. For example, “...a cruel and wasteful storm.”, “...fellow citizens left stunned and uprooted,”, “ in the tragedy that seems so blind and random.” etc. Bush used two descriptive words in everything that he was describing to make the situation clearer and more understandable for the nation. Also, throughout this speech, Bush never really used any difficult words that could possibly be misunderstood by the public. This shows that he wanted his speech to be understood and comprehended by all of the nation, and also for everyone to understand the seriousness of the disaster at hand.
In conclusion, Bush’s speech was very motivational to all of America. His main objective was to assess the disaster, and approach the things that needed to be done as a whole. He delivered it with a rather simple vocabulary so that all of his audience could easily understand the problem and what had to be done to bring the nation back together. Bush wanted to unify all, be sure to have Americans come together as one, and to get everyone through the horrible catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina.
