Summary Of Woodrow Wilson's War Message

No Other Option: An Analysis of War Message
Woodrow Wilson’s incorporation of loaded language into his speech, War Message, creates different appeals that strengthen his claim that the war with Nazi Germany is unavoidable.
First, Wilson appeals to the audience’s logic by citing the fruitlessness of neutrality: “Armed neutrality is ineffectual at best...in the face of such pretensions it is worse than ineffectual...without the rights of… belligerents.” Here, Wilson describes what neutrality has done for them as Americans, or rather, what it hasn’t. It hasn’t stopped the war for them; it hasn’t protected their citizens from the incoming danger. It has done the opposite, for if America remains neutral, Germany will attack it on the principle of America not being an ally. Wilson also incorporates …show more content…
With the use of repetition, he adds a sense of urgency. He also implies that Germany had done similar things to other countries and their helpless, innocent people. This extends Wilson’s argument further and incorporates an element of conscience. Furthermore, Wilson seeks to arouse sympathy from the Congressmen and uses their ethics to do it. He tells them, “I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved… but only of… the destruction of the lives of… men, women, and children… deemed innocent,” which suggests that they ought to be doing the same as him, that they should think about the lives of other people and not merely of themselves and their own country. Again, Wilson uses foreshadowing and creates the horrifying implication that the same will eventually happen to them and that some other country would deny them aid, just as they have done to others. Whenever he used emotionally charged language, Wilson always used some sort of combination of

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