Pathos

When Ronnie took the stage at the convention of the National Association of Evangelists in 1983, his metaphorical gloves came off, and he was ready to get down and dirty talking about the state of the country, and the state of the world in the midst of nuclear arms negotiations with the Soviet Union.

In discussing such "lighthearted topics" (they said sarcastically), Reagan knew the key to packing a punch began with tugging on the heartstrings of his audience, which he does from the very beginning by highlighting a bunch of patriotic quotes that make you wanna stand up and wave the stars and stripes while eating a slice of apple pie.

Reagan's appeal to the patriot inside us all kindles an emotional response from the audience, called pathos, and he continues to feed the flames throughout his speech. By reminding everyone of their love of country, they become way more invested in the problems he's talking about, because they're everyone's problems, and everyone needs to be part of the solution.

First, he takes the time to address the ever-rising rates of abortion in the United States, particularly that young women are able to just walk into a clinic and undergo the procedure without parental permission.

And isn't it the parents' right to give counsel and advice to keep their children from making mistakes that may affect their entire lives? (54)

It's a powerful line, and the use of pathos here is stellar. He's appealing to every parents' desire to protect their children, and in using the word "promiscuous" to describe the girls having the abortions, he is almost shaming both parties for not preventing this from happening. And shame is a really powerful emotion.

He goes on to talk about other issues in American society, including infanticide and mercy killings, saying they "lead to a decline in respect for human life" (80). And as leaders in the fight to contain communism and protect oppressed populations around the world, the U.S. cannot condone anything that disrespects human life.

Reagan is a master with pathos all throughout his Evil Empire speech. He detailed all the bad things happening in America, followed by some information on the nuclear arms negotiations that are not going super well. By the time he's halfway through, the audience is about ready to go grab a pint—of Ben and Jerry's, of course—and wallow like Rory Gilmore.

…and a Pinch of Logos

But, instead of kicking everyone while they're down, Reagan flashes that award-winning smile and tells them not to worry—Americans have the solutions to all these problems, and they'll be found in the basic traditions and principles that define the ol' US of A.

In line 89, he says,

There's a great spiritual awakening in America, a renewal of the traditional values that have been the bedrock of America's goodness and greatness.

At this point, Reagan brings the logos, the logic, to the front of his argument. He offers statistics on the value of family in America, as well as the number of people who wholeheartedly disapprove of "adultery, teenage sex, pornography, abortion, and hard drugs" (91).

He's using a combination of reason and emotion to assure his audience that while America still has her problems, the average person does have the power to make some real change. And it's super important that people understand this, because Reagan's speech is intended to inspire the world to fight the Soviet Union with words, instead of on the battlefield. If the audience doesn't believe they can solve the national problems, they're not even going to try and touch the international ones.