Essay

On December 8, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt addressed the nation and asked the Congress to declare war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His speech was very emotional, and it highlighted the thoughts of the nation in an eloquent manner, while also highlighting the feelings of sadness and betrayal caused by the attack. 

 
This essay uses the speech and the way in which President Roosevelt addressed the nation to bring out the details that made the speech effective. The essay is set up like a story almost, and refers to different details of the speech while still maintaining a fluid and coherent format. By highlighting the emotions and the details in the speech, it paints a picture to portray Roosevelt while he was addressing the nation, and why it was effective.

Before I revised this piece, there were moments where the word choice made the sentence rather ambiguous, and where I left out some words that changed the meaning. For example, I revised the part where I had previously said that the President declared war on Japan (which he can't-- he has to make a request to Congress) to clarify that he asked Congress to declare war since that power rests with them. I also changed things that were grammatically incorrect, and things that detracted from the coherence and flow of the essay.