Blog 5: Beginning Analysis for Major Paper

In Reagan's "Tear Down this Wall" speech, he plays to the listener's pathos using German phrases and speaking to the listeners directly. He also plays to ethos by listing the United States' contributions and successes of the past and present. The following are three, key quotes I pulled from the speech for further exploration:

"To those listening throughout Eastern Europe, a special word: Although I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me. For I join you, as I join your fellow countryment in the West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin. [There is only one Berlin.]"

This quote uses a metaphor to describe the figurative connection Reagan is attempting to fortify between East and West Berlin. He is including the East Berliners by comparing their proximity to him with the West Berliners' proximity to him. He uses this introduction to show a main argument in his speech, "Es gibt nur ein Berlin." This argument is a phrase used during the cold war by protesters fighting the division imposed by the Soviet Union. It is a relatable phrase for his audience. It shows that Reagan understands the Berliners' perspective. Reagan even goes so far as to call it a "firm, [...] unalterable belief."


"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

This quote initially strikes me as a dare. I believe this was the objective of Reagan's word choice. He uses parallelism to demonstrate force. He directly addresses Gorbachev, reiterating the weaknesses of the Soviet Union mentioned earlier in the text. Reagan uses antonomasia by directing his grievances at Gorbachev, rather than the government figureheads of the Soviet Union as a whole.

"Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower's one major flaw, treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere--that sphere that towers over all Berlin--the light makes the sign of the cross. There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed."

Reagan uses hyperbole in this quotation to express the treatments used on the glass. These treatments are intended to represent the efforts made by government officials in the east. However hard they try, the sun still strikes the tower and makes the sign of the cross. Reagan uses the sign of the cross as a metaphor for love and worship. He says these things cannot be suppressed to express hope for the Berliners. This foreshadows a later statement that expresses the one thing keeping Berlin afloat: love. Reagan uses parallellism again here for emphasis. He compares the sign of the cross made from the tower to "the city itself," using metaphor to stir up the people of the west and (more strategically) the people of the east.