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Essays on the power of rhetoric
Essays on the power of rhetoric
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Nations mourned over the loss of South African President Nelson Mandela at the official memorial service held at Johannesburg, South Africa, on December 10, 2013. Amongst all the dignitaries was United States President Barack Obama, who gave his respect and praises Nelson Mandela in his memorial service speech. Through the incorporation of rhetorical devices, the passionate delivery and the language styles used, Barack Obama presented a memorable eulogy that inspired many and evoked emotion within all. This essay will discuss Obama's motivation and exigency for this speech, lucidly and persuasively argue the effectiveness of this speech, and critically analyse and evaluate rhetorical models and strategies, language choices and styles, speech structure and the delivery of this tribute. Barack Obama has made no secret that over the past three decades Nelson Mandela has been the greatest influence in his life. Coming from an African ancestry, Obama drew inspiration from Mandela’s life and influenced Obama to take himself upon a journey of self-discovery and find his own voice (Obama, 2004). The repercussions of Mandela’s inspirational work caused Obama to become a part of an anti-apartheid divestment movement in college and to shift to focusing on law and politics (Epstein, 2013). Now that Barack Obama has become President of the United States of America, he has consistently quoted Mandela in all his keynote speeches speaking of freedom and equality and his actions and words are inspired by the desire to emulate Mandela’s powerful actions and movements and the examples that he set, in the 21st century (Killough, 2013). Even within the tribute to Mandela, Obama (2013) says “You can make his life’s work your own…It stirred something ... ... middle of paper ... ...Sisulus and Tambos to show that he knows who his audience is. Barack Obama’s eulogy of Nelson Mandela is a beautiful, passionate speech which uses a range of different techniques: rhetorical, non-verbal, and language styles – to be able to connect and communicate his messaged effectively with his audience. Obama’s ability to combine his strong voice and tone control along with his powerful words create a sense of emotion which cannot be underestimated. Obama understands the means needed to influence others and understands how to execute presentations to benefit his professional and political credibility. It’s unfortunate surrounding the circumstances in which Barack Obama had to present this speech, but it’s a speech that will be known as one of the most powerful, moving, inspiring and passionate tribute to someone who was beloved by millions, and will be missed.
Barack Obama deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Obama establishes credibility by starting off to tell a story about how he got to where he is today. He talks about how his father had a great opportunity to study here in America. His father’s dream of starting a family in the land of opportunity for himself and for his children. Obama developed an emotional connection with his audience by talking about his family dream for him and for his future. When he refers back to his family, he then goes to talk about his experience and how it would not have been possible for his dream to be achieve anywhere else and that has impacted him to make a difference.
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the Lincoln Memorial concerning the Civil Rights movement. His speech resonated throughout the nation as his passionate and commanding voice resounded over the fields that lay before the Lincoln Memorial. Many consider this speech the “epitome of modern Rhetoric.” In his speech, King utilizes the three disciplines of Rhetoric, ethos, pathos, and logos, with finesse and skill.
In a world that is hungry for heroes and leaders to rise and speak up for the weak, there will only be a few people who will step up and take on that role. Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, is an Alan Paton Award winning book that speaks of the struggles of an influential leader who faced adversity in the early 1900’s, while trying to gain freedom from his own demons and for the African people whose voice had been oppressed by their government. The idea expressed throughout the Mandela’s work is that the struggle for freedom is never over. Thus, freedom is not only for the oppressed, but for the oppressors too, and to achieve this, one must take a long walk to freedom just as Nelson Mandela did for his people and South Africa.
...lieve he was a very accomplished man, to creating the first black law all the way to winning the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. I admire his idea and power to take a stance on a unlawful topic, and never willing to give up. I admire his confidence, his dignity, and his hope that he has for all situations to somehow get better. He didn't just fight for himself, as he had stated in his "I am Prepared to Die" speech, but he mostly cared for the other around him. Before I had done this report, I had a relative perspective on who he was, but once I really began researching Mandela and his life, I found that Mandela was a truly respectable man. In the world today, got communities where they never thought they could have been in a time of only years of time. He made outstanding reforms, and his ideas and use of power were phenomenally put to use, to make the world a better place.
Excuse me sir, may I see your pass?" These words mean very little to most Americans; however these words struck fear in the hearts of black South Africans during the times of apartheid. While apartheid was being practiced, blacks were restricted in the jobs they could hold, facilities they could use, as well as the places they could be, and all blacks had to carry passes for identification purposes. If the passes were not in order, the carrier was subject to arrest. Through these terrifying times, one man rose above all the rest in the effort to combat this terrible practice of apartheid. This man was Nelson Mandela; a man who was so dedicated to the overthrow of apartheid that he was willing to spend twenty-seven years of his live in prison for the cause. Mandela's rise to the South African presidency, after his release is well documented, but in order to truly understand Mandela, one must examine his life before his prison term, and rise to the presidency. When analyzing Mandela's life from this point of view, several questions come to the forefront. First of all, what was the extent of the apartheid laws which Mandela and the people of South Africa were facing? Secondly, what tactics did Mandela use to combat this practice of apartheid? Thirdly, what factors played a motivating force in the life of Mandela? And finally, what impact does the life of Nelson Mandela have on the rest of the world? After carefully answering each of these questions, one can easily see that Nelson Mandela was a man shaped by apartheid into a staunch nationalist that served as an example for his people and the world.
Obama’s speech at Mandela memorial (transcript); ‘Mandela taught us the power of action, but also ideas’, Tuesday, December 10, 9:09 AM
On January 20, 2009, President Obama was officially inaugurated and sworn in as the forty-fourth president of the United States of America. The tradition of being inaugurated requires the president to give a speech about the goals they want to reach during their presidency. The president must make a speech that appeals to the audience while being professional. Rhetoric is a useful strategy to utilize in speech making. Obama uses rhetoric to achieve presenting his message of creating hope and change together in America while fixing the economic and social challenges and issues left behind from the previous president. Barack Obama uses syntax, the rhetorical triangle, and diction to portray his message.
To understand Mandela’s role in civil disobedience, one must first have the knowledge of his personal life. Mandela was born in the town of Transkei, South Africa into a royal family on July 18,1918 (Klerk). Even though Mandela was born into a royal family, he still noticed the ugly treatment of people in South Africa based on their racial background. Mr. Mandela was educated at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand. Both of these universities are located in South Africa, though Fort Ware is in Eastern Cape while Witwatersrand is located in the capital (Klerk, F). While a student in college Mandela was sent home for protesting against the strict policies of the university with several other classmates. Like many col...
While this speech helps put voice to the African American community, I will define and indicate how Barack Obama used emotional appeals, logical fallacy, and a deductive argument in this speech. Barack Obama used many strategies for the speech A More Perfect Union; this paper is criticizing and identifying these five emotional appeals, Plain folk, stereotyping, testimonial, earnestness and sincerity. I will lay out the foundation of the speech and justify how the emotional appeals and rhetorical strategies worked best for him.
Nelson Mandela’s life can be seen as a double climax: where he survived events directly related to the Apartheid’s cruel/unjust actions along with enduring medical ailments later on in his life. In a four year span, from 1960 to 1964, Mandela had to find strength and will power to persevere through a rollercoaster of events. Mandela’s affiliation in the African National Congress allowed him to organize supporters and protest against the inequality of whites and blacks in Africa, and bring attention to the abuse blacks have been forced to endure for far too long. The constant back and forth commotion between the apartheid and the freedom protestors caused a snowba...
Nour Ellisy 3/11/14 English 10H Ms.Metrakos Annotated Bibliography Entries. Annotated Bibliography Entry Source #1 Nelson Mandela taught us that the humanity all of us share can help us transcend the sins some of us commit. There is no better example of the transformative power of tolerance and reconciliation than Nelson Mandela and his inspiring work in overthrowing the apartheid government in South Africa. He understood the power of words to change minds and the power of peaceful deeds to open hearts. His life reminds us that justice and tolerance can overcome even the greatest cruelty.
Nelson Mandela was born in Mvezo, a village in the Transkei, on July 18, 1918. The definition of Rolihlahla actually means “pulling the branch of a tree”. After the passing away of Nelson’s father’s in the year 1927, Mandela became the ward of Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the Paramount Chief, to be developed to grasp his place in high office. As a result of listening to the elder’s stories of his ancestor’s valor during the resistance wars, he aspired too of creating his own significant addition to the freedom tribulation of his people. He then enrolled at the University College of Fort Hare; there he was elected onto the Students’ Representative Council. He was suspended from college for being involved in a protest boycott, and it was an action such as this that gave some people the impression that Nelson Mandela was a trouble maker. Mr. Mandela had gotten acquainted with Walter Sisulu in 1941 and it was he, Sisulu, who arranged for Nelson to do articles at Lazar Sidelsky’s law firm. Mandela completed his Bachelor of Arts degree through the University of South Africa in 1942.While studying Nelson made his venture into politics, and joined the African National Congress in 1943.
On July 27, 2004, Barack Obama made arguably his most important speech, “The Audacity of Hope”, at the Democratic National Convention Keynote Address. These conventions are for political parties to announce a winner for nomination. All the way through his piece, Obama focuses on connecting Americans and himself to the audience. In fact, at the time, Barack Obama was a US Senate candidate for the United States president, and in making this speech, was offered a window for raising his popularity. Throughout “The Audacity of Hope” speech, Barack Obama implements three main devices to raise his political popularity: repetition, abstract language, and structure.
In her article " Do You Speak Presidential?" Trester explains how language is a powerful political tool presidents use to project a sense of pity and it 's not always what you say but how you say it (399). This sheds a light on Mandela 's speech with his use of pathos to target emotion and pity from the audience. "That spiritual and physical oneness we all share with this common homeland explains the depth of the pain we all carried in our hearts as we saw our country tear itself apart in a terrible conflict" (419). "Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal" (419). The language and tone Mandela speaks in projects a sense of pity as Trester says. Trester also says how language creates an identity. " Language is and will continue to be an important tool for creating identity" (403). This illuminates on Mandela 's rhetorical use with ethos. Mandela 's image and creditability is well known in South Africa, his past made this a little easier an his connection with the African citizens to be more than just a president but someone they can relate to. Mandela assures the people that he to has gone through the same suffering and long discrimination as well using "we" repetitively in his speech. "We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom" (420). " We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world" (420). William Lutz, a professor of English at Rutgers University speaks on "Doubts About Doublespeak" which I believe also has a take on Mandela 's speech. Lutz 's articles refers to how doublespeak is a language which pretends to communicate but doesn 't (380). The fourth kind of doublespeak is inflated language, makes the ordinary seem
Nelson Mandela (1995) writes, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.” Although, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, he spent his entire lifetime redeeming the freedom of the South African black and colored society from facing misery set by the government. However, after Mandela was freed from prison, he became South Africa’s first president whom all could vote for. Mandela was one of the greatest political rulers of our time, and he was a global hero who devoted to fight against racial injustice in South Africa. Moreover, many viewers claim that Nelson Mandela is a hero for today, yet some critics disagree with that common choice, arguing that he is a terrorist.