Yessenia Garcia

English 1010-Rhetorical Essay

Jolynne Berrett
March 5, 2014

What is an American Boy?

The American Boy is a speech delivered by Theodore Roosevelt. This speech is about
what the American boy is supposed to be like. There are many aspects that are viewed as
positive. But if you over-indulge they become negative. Theodore Roosevelt believes that a great
American man comes from a good deal of a boy. He must have a balance in life of working hard
and playing hard. In this speech, Theodore Roosevelt uses the rhetorical triangle to
communicate his thoughts about American boys.
There are various examples of ethos used in this speech. For example, his first sentence,
Of course, what we have a right to expect of the American boy is that he shall turn out
to be a good American man. He is showing the credibility of being an American boy. Another
example, is when he talks about what is expected of boys nowadays. He believes that boys are
forced by the opinions of other boys their age to participate in manly exercises and rough sports
that test endurance. This is ethos because it is what we see and know happens in this century. It
seems that boys are to be manly and into getting down and dirty. The ethos I was able to derive
from this speech, in a sense has something to do with gender socialization. So, he implied that
we know about gender socialization. Theodore Roosevelt brings up the Civil War in his speech.
He uses it as an example of showing that soldiers that came from the prairie were better suited
than the school athletes. Once again, he uses the Civil war because he is speculating that we
know about the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt also knows that the Civil war is a big part of
American history.
The logos in his speech are apparent. He mostly did use logos from the rhetorical
triangle. For example, he says a soldier needs to know how to shoot and take cover, not to play
around with things to pass time. He uses plenty of examples to show how some things that
people expect an American boy to do can also be a bad thing. Its like deviance in the eye of the
beholder. Meaning that some people will see things as the logically thing to do because of what
is expected of them but if you focus only on playing football or any sport you miss out on other
things you could also do. Which some would consider as deviance because you could lose focus
on your studying. When Theodore Roosevelt states in his speech that forty or fifty years ago you
would be able to depict the morals of rich American boys. I believe he said this because the
morals of all American boys has changed. There have been other interests that take priority.
Everything is great in moderation, like Roosevelt said. The best example of logos he used was
his last sentence, In short, in life, as in a foot-ball game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line
hard; don't foul and don't shirk, but hit the line hard! What I believe he means by this statement
is that if you do something do it to your best ability but dont neglect any other duty or
responsibility you have.
Pathos was hard to derive from this speech. One of the emotions I did get though was
concern. Concern over the boys neglecting their work. Work meaning their studying or other
priorities. Theodore Roosevelt wants there to be a balance between playing and work. Theodore
Roosevelt also showed a role as an advisor. For example, Work while you work; Play while you
play. He is showing that he is concerned over the over-indulgence of playing. Theodore
Roosevelt believes that slackness or indifference in studying means inability to walk in other
parts of life. To have the best life you want, there must always be a strict equilibrium between
work and play.
Theodore Roosevelt used the rhetorical triangle to communicate what it means to be an
American boy. He explains how different situations can prepare you for certain situations. But if
you dont evenly distribute your characteristics, work, school, and extracurricular activities you
will not be at advantage. Especially being an American boy because to be a good American man,
you need to be clean-lived and able to hold your own in any circumstance.















Works-Cited

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/images/research/speeches/trab.pdf

http://www.foundationsmag.com/americanboy-com.html
- Published in 1900 in St. Nicholas.
- Theodore Roosevelt