Our argument is that Vice President Joe Biden's 2012 commemorative speech at the Flight 93 National Memorial at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, is a significant rhetorical achievement that has not received sufficient attention. The speech is grounded in the speaker’s ethos and is personal rather than political. We suggest that the speech has some faint similarities to The Gettysburg Address. Following a review of the events of September 11, 2001, we do a close textual analysis, including a study of the language devices that aid in conversational framing and, thus, in enhancing the "Joe" ethos. We conclude by offering suggestions for further research on commemoration, including research located at the intersection of epideictic speaking and visual memorializing.
Key words: Shanksville, Joe Biden, ethos, epideictic, United Flight 93, Gettysburg
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