Starter 9.13: How should the United States have responded to the terrorists attacks of 9-11? Had you been a member of Bush's administration, how would you have advised him?
Rhetorical Analysis of President Bush's Response
Be a critical consumer of rhetoric! Annotate the speech for the principles of rhetoric that we have learned about so far.
Rhetorical Analysis Questions: You may work together with your peers, but each person should do and submit their own assignment.
"The Bush Doctrine"
In his book "Decision Points" (Crown Publishers, 2010), President Bush articulates his discrete concept of the Bush Doctrine. According to the President, his doctrine consisted of four "prongs," three of them practical, and one idealistic. They are the following: (In his words)
1. "Make no distinction between terrorists and the nations that harbor them--and hold both to account."
2. "Take the fight to the enemy overseas before they can attack us again here at home."
3. "Confront threats before they fully materialize."
4. "Advance liberty and hope as an alternative to the enemy's ideology of repression and fear."
Key Points:
Unilateralism
With us or with the terrorists
Discuss:
What are the advantages of this viewpoint? What good points does the Bush doctrine have?
What drawbacks are there to this strategy?
The Rhetoric of the Enemy: Osama bin Laden’s open letter to America (November, 2002)
2. Read and annotate Osama bin Laden's "Open Letter to America"
3. Be prepared to analyze his both his rhetoric and his ideology!
HOMEWORK: Read/annotate Bin Laden’s letter as a work of rhetoric.