Analysis Essay on Zelenskyy's speech to the US Congress

President’s Zelenskyy’s speech to the American Congress to provide aid to the citizens of Ukraine using various rhetorical devices such as emotional connection and as well as logical acknowledgment of needs for preventing destruction is very impactful and straightforward. He uses pathos and logos  to enhance his main purpose and convey his message along with many other Ukraine citizens to the American Congress and the people of America. He wants to prevent the destruction caused by Russia in Ukraine. He seeks help  from the American Congress and the American citizens by presenting a speech using Logos and pathos throughout.

Zelenskyy’s way of presenting this speech is very formal and to the point. He uses the pathos to build a bridge between the hearts of the people who are listening to his speech. He talks about how people have been drained from this Russian attack on Ukraine. People have lost their beloved sons and daughters in order to prevent this disaster. In his speech he mentions'' those who give their best sons and daughters to stop this full-scale Russian invasion. It threw tanks and planes against our freedom, against our right to live freely in the country, choosing our own future against our desire for happiness, against our national dreams just like the same dreams you have, you Americans''(Zelenskyy 1). Russia didn’t only attack Ukraine but it caused damage to basic human rights and values. Zelenskyy tries his best to explain the terror in the eyes of Ukrainian people as they see those beautiful memories in the Ukrainian walls destroyed in front of their eyes. The darkness in the sky of Ukraine as he mentions in his speech that '' Russia has turned The Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people.They use drones to kill us with precision”(Zelenskyy 2). The little phrases used by Zelenskyy make his speech more powerful and impactful. The mention of how drones were used to kill Ukraninans and how freedom was snattched from the people of Ukraine.The spiritual connection using pathos towards the Congress and the people of America comes out as very trustful and emotional.

The logical part of his speech by using logos is very impressive and unique. He is putting up his wants and needs on a very clean platter. He casually talks his way into not being a part of NATO but he wants to create a bigger alliance to stop  Putin. He thinks big and is trying to work with other countries, not just America to make an alliance come into action. In his speech he talks about how “The wars in the past have prompted our predecessors to create institutions that should protect us from war but they, unfortunately, don't work. We see it. You see it. So we need new ones, new institutions, new alliances and we offer them.”(Zelenskyy 5) .Creating peace and having strong countries by his side to stop this conflict portrays his main reason for his speech. Zelenskyy’s this way of using logos to introduce his requirements drives attention and creates a clearer point of view. Keeping in mind about creating new alliances he also mentions his need for war equipment such as weapons that he knows America has. He mentions in his speech about defense systems like S-300 and other similar systems.You know what kind of defense systems we need, S300 and other similar systems. Zelenskyy also talks about the U-24 as a human power weapon to stop this conflict within 24 hours. Zelenskyy discusses this situation in his speech and he says that”The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine which began on February 24th it would be fair if it ended in a day,24 hours the evil would be punished immediately” (Zelenskyy 3) . Zelenskyy uses his known knowledge about the weapons that can be used against the Russains. Zelenskyy's power of speech using rhetorical speech such as logos, provides a highlight of the future and the acknowledgment of his willingness to peace.

Zelenskyy’s way of representing emotions  using pathos as a reminder  of events is very unique and heart-touching. He talks about the losses of people’s lives due to the Russian invasion but he also uses pathos to make America remember its historical events and how they are similar and have a connection about how innocent lives have been lost. Throughout the speech, he mentions various tragic events that had left America in a big shock, he states that “Remember Pearl Harbor--terrible meaning of December 7, 1941, when your sky was black from the planes attacking you. Remember September 11, 2001, when evil tried to turn your cities, independent territories on the battlefield when innocent people were attacked, attacked from air” (Zelenskyy 2). Reminding America of these horrific events makes them see how Ukrainian are getting attacked the same way from the air as once America did. These continuous reminders throughout Zelenskyy’s speech draw the attention of the Congress to the emotion and the main aspect for helping Ukraine in this tough time. These connections brings out that inner emotion and sadness seeing how they went through this and have seen these horrific events happen .Zelenskyy also thanked America for the contributions they had made for Ukraine so far he says,” I am grateful to president Biden for his personal involvement for his sincere commitment to the defense of Ukraine and democracy all over the world” (Zelenskyy 3). He is thankful for the things  President Biden has done for Ukraine hence reminding how thankful they are for the good things AMerica has done for Ukraine and the citizens of Ukraine. Using pathos to remind America how strong and  valuable it is creates a huge impact on the overall aspect of Zelenskyy's main point for this speech.

This use of rhetorical devices such as logos and pathos throughout Zelenskyy's speech had a great impact on Congress and the citizens of America. His need for help for his loving citizens of Ukraine, the same citizens who have tears in their eyes seeing their country getting dark and turned into something they never wanted to see. The use of logos and that emotional connection made the purpose of his speech clear. Zelenskyy needs help to stop Russia from destroying Ukraine and he can only do it with the help of strong and powerful countries like America and  more. Overall it comes to the fact how he presented the speech and how it created an impact on the listeners. Zelenskyy's overall argument was direct, emotional, and effective.