Happy Australia Day! (1-26-05) with love, Major General Jeffery.

Major General Jeffery uses the ideas set up by Bitzer in his Australia Day address on the 26th of January of this year. Australia Day is the biggest holiday of the year for Australians; they celebrate everything that is great about their Country. It is also a day of re-committment to the betterment of Australia as a whole. Major General Jeffery is the Covernor General of the Commonwealth of Australia.
In his address, Mr. Jeffery starts out speaking epideicticaly praising the people of Australia for their committment to excellence. He celebrates the construction of the Royal Exhibition Building and discussed the new benchmarks set by the Australian parliament. He illustrates Bitzer's argument that "a work of rhetoric is pragmatic; it comes into existence for the sake of something beyond itself; it functions ultimately to produce action or change in the world; it performs some task" (Bitzer, 219). Jeffery's address does not necessarily take a side in an issue, but instead challenges and encourages a people who are not against him, they simply need a motivational spark to get the ball rolling. He challenges Australians to learn about the democracy in their country along with studying the Australian Constitution because he believes that this document is taken for granted. He brings forth the issue that younger Australians are not taking an active interest in politics and maintains that "if we cannot find ways to spark their interest and involvement, we risk the consequences of more young Australians simply turning away. This can also give support to Bitzer's idea of exigence, audience and constraints. His address is marked by urgency, there is something waiting to be done, namely getting the younger generation involved in political thinking. He is most definitely speaking to a particular audience and a supportive one. His message was not very controversial. He also used the constraints of young people and the constitution to show his belief in the country he works for. Mr. Jeffrey also asserts that the public needs to learn about voting and that "we do need to understand our past and how our democracy has developed, for without that, our nation won't be fully prepared to assemble its future" I completely agree with this man especially when he speaks of the need of community volunteers and that everyone needs to be involved in their community. All in all this was a very calm, nice speech for the Australian "4th of July." It is important to spread this kind of message all over the world and to celebrate the individual triumphs of every country. Happy Australian Day!