A Rhetorical Analysis Of Lloyd Bitzer's

To entertain, to persuade and to inform- these are the general goals that any given speech seeks to achieve. Yet, when King George IV gave his infamous broadcast to the people of Britain following the country’s declaration of war against Germany, it consisted of so much more. At a time when Britain had no other choice except to stand firmly against Hitler, Nazism and its spreading power, the speech sought to explain why Great Britain had found themselves once again at war and why they stood in such a peril state. However, this is only a superficial view. Upon close examination, the speech is found to be carefully structured around Lloyd Bitzer’s metatheory of the rhetorical situation. There is a definite parallel between Bitzer’s work and the King’s speech in the sense that they “function ultimately to produce action or change in the world; …perform[s] some task.” (Smith 6) The result is a resonating impact with the audience, consequently setting the tone for Britain’s strength and perseverance displayed during World War II. …show more content…
In terms of constraints, the analysis will explore the credibility of King George through ethos, the appeal to logic through logos, and finally his appeal to the audience’s emotions through pathos.
Rhetoric exists to fulfill a requirement. In Bitzer’s words, there must be an “urgent deficiency, privation, or need” (Smith 6). It matters not if the problem is simple or complex. In both cases, the solution calls for rhetoric and for a speaker to be prompted to translate the message to the

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