Rhetorical Analysis Of Barack Obama's Election Night Remarks '

The purpose of Barack Obama's "Election Night Remarks" is to show how a better America is possible and how good changes will come if all Americans pull together and work for it. To improve his speech, Obama uses many literary devices to reinforce his purpose. To start, he uses anecdotes, which are brief, revealing stories about others told to further a writer's point, to help prove his point. For example, he tells a story about a 106 year old woman who went out and voted and describes what she has lived through. He says, "She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin" (Obama 2008). This anecdote

In addition, he uses collective language, which is including himself as part of the country and making others feel like they are all a group, by using words such as "we, us, our." For instance, he says, "We have come so far. We have seen so much" (Obama 2008). The use of these show that he is trying to display that he is not alone; he will work with them to achieve their goal. It is clear that he is trying to show that if they pull together and work for it, they can achieve it and he is proving it by speaking to them as if they are equals. Furthermore, the President-Elect uses historical allusions, a reference to a famous historical person or event, to further his point. For example, Obama referenced a famous and very successful US President, Abraham Lincoln, by saying, “As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours” (Obama 2008). The use of this device shows that he is trying to remind Americans of a worse time that America got through because they believed and worked for