T-Dawg
11th Gifted
Fireside Chat 19: Syntactical and Diction Seek and Find
For each of the sentence types listed below, find an example from Roosevelt’s Fireside Chat 19 and explain the effect of
the structural choice.
Purpose (of the speech as a whole): justify the war, rally public support for the war effort, prepare the American people
for the hardships of war, delineate a specific enemy, alleviate and assuage the fear of the population,
Anaphora (the repetition of words of phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences)
“In 1931… In 1941”
through the use of anaphora, Roosevelt compiles a sequential list of events that portray patterns in which enemies have
used military force to attack other nations without provocation. By listing multiple offenses on the part of countries such
as japan, Germany, and Italy, Roosevelt delineates a specific enemy and justifies why the American people must begin to
prepare for war.
Cumulative Sentence (a sentence in which the main independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of
modifying clauses or phrases)
“But there will be a clear and definite shortage ... we shall have to give up many things entirely”
FDR outlines the different elements that add up to a central idea/theme- that hardship is inevitable and necessary to win
the war. The clauses work together to add up to the central theme. By overwhelming the audience with multiple long
clauses, he forces the audience to be unable to argue against and process what FDR is saying, so the audience is more
likely to believe what FDR is saying is true.
Parallelism (repetition of grammatical structure)
“Our Government will not be caught in this obvious trap -- and neither will the people of the United States. “
Through the utilization of parallel structure, Roosevelt establishes a subconscious link between the contexts of the two
phrases that reflect each other. “Our government” and “the people of the united states” are parallel to each other,
and therefore connected in a manner that places them on the same level of importance and power. This serves as
justification of entrance into the war and support for such, because what “our government” is compelled to do is
what the people are also compelled to do.
Simple Sentence (a sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clauses)
“I was about to add that ahead there lies sacrifice for all of us.”
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Preparing the American people for the hardships of war
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Gets to the point and is noticed surrounded by more, syntactically complex sentences.
States one strong point
Repetition (repeating the same word of phrase to emphasize it)
“Without warning”… Roosevelt uses repetition of the phrase “without warning” to make the enemy seem more evil, as if
they are preying on weaker countries. Repetition drives in this point by continually offering examples putting the enemies
in a negative light.
Juxtaposition (here long and short sentences)
It is not a sacrifice for the industrialist or the wage earner, the farmer or the shopkeeper, the trainmen or the
doctor, to pay more taxes, to buy more bonds, to forego extra profits, to work longer or harder at the task for
which he is best fitted. Rather it is a privilege.
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“not a sacrifice” requires justification and an argument. Privilege does not.
Roosevelt says it enough so that the people must believe it.
Reframes sacrifice as righteous privilege, making it something desirable and voluntary, garnering extra support
for war effort.
Purpose : To garner support for the war effort.
For each of the diction types listed below, find an example from Roosevelt’s Fireside Chat 19 and explain the effect of the
choice in relation to the overall purpose of the speech.
Purpose (of the speech as a whole): justify the war, rally public support for the war effort, prepare the American people
for the hardships of war, delineate a specific enemy, alleviate and assuage the fear of the population,
Use of pronouns:
Through the use of the word “we” Roosevelt makes the public feel as if they are equal to government. This makes them
feel more inclined to work with and trust the government.
“We Americans are not destroyers—we are builders.”
-UNITY-Togetherness is strength.
- creates a sense of togetherness in the nation- United
“We,” “us,” and “our” connotate togetherness and unity. The whole point of the fireside chat is to comfort people as well
as unite and prepare them for war, and Roosevelt accomplishes the feeling of unity through the use of those pronouns.
This also displays that no one should be alone in the war and everyone needs to help out.
Hyperbolic diction:
“depend upon the manner in which each and every one of us fulfills his obligation to our country”
Using hyperbolic diction helps to manipulate the audience into thinking that their contributions are bigger than they really
are. Because the audience feels that the result of the war and the future solely lies in their hands, the become more
motivated to help out the country.
“We are all in it – all the way” “Every single man, woman, and child… most tremendous undertaking of American
history.”

Achieves winning the support of the people by setting up a false dichotomy in which you either support the
“tremendous undertaking” that is “American,” or you are against being American.
Negatively connoted diction:
Roosevelt calls the actions of his enemies as acts of “gangsterism.” This gives the public the idea that the enemies of the
government are underhanded and cruel which makes the public want to unite against this threat.
“Invaded”, “attacked”, “occupied” are used to describe the actions of the enemies. By using these words, the enemies are
seen as the aggressors and the US is seen as the victim of a devious plan. In other words, it exaggerates how terrible the
enemy and how great the US is.
“Suffered,” “attacked,” and “desperate” connotate pain and disaster, and Roosevelt uses these words to show the United
States as the victim against this horrible attack that has taken place. These words cause an emotional response, which
triggers people to want to get involved and fight against the enemy in unity.
Positively connoted diction:
“We are now in the midst of war…. Will be safe for our children”
“We are going to win the war and we are going to win the peace that follows.”
-Paints the war as a righteous mission. Motivates the public on moral grounds and promises peace through war….
“So we are going to win the war and we are going to win the peace that follows.”

Brings the sense of confidence and hope
“We are builders”

Achieves justification of the war through portraying Americans as having the qualities of builders: creative,
promoting growth, being the foundation of society, being strong in mind and body.