Analysis Of Joe Biden's Speech, Vice Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech

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The common man has his words over thought, analyzed and interpreted by dozens of people every day, but being on television, radio stations, every magazine and newspaper in sight, is exponentially different than presenting a paper in front of peers. It creates an even greater span of what one’s words can mean. And Joe Biden does not have it easy, he has a country full of people dissecting his words on a daily. The press, will always look for the flaws to plaster on every magazine possible. The antagonists, will always search for the faults to break him down. The fans, will always seek for encouragement and enlightenment from his words. In short, Joe Biden cannot simply say hello to someone without hundreds of people trying to interpret different In fact, most, if not all, of the greatest ranked speeches have astute parallel structure, and Biden follows that trend as well. It can be seen throughout all of Joe Biden’s speeches given. For example, in the speech “Democratic Vice Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech”, Biden uses repetition of the phrase “because Barack Obama” and also the phrase “and when he came to Washington”. Biden uses this during his V.P. acceptance speech to cause the audience to hone in on his focal point of that part of his speech, Obama. He later in the speech diverts the focal point on himself. As an example, he uses the phrase “I am truly honored” repeated to show the audience of how grateful he was to be in the position he was granted. Biden can be seen favoriting parallel structure in other speeches as well. With the same concept in mind of fixating on a specific point Biden repeats the phrase “to being personal”, in the speech “Address at the Public Memorial for John Glenn”. He repeats this phrase throughout three paragraphs in his speech saying, “And it all comes down to being personal. The President always kids me...It all comes down to being personal -- to being there for family, and being there for friends… It's all about being personal”(“Address at the Public Memorial for John Glenn”). For this speech he used this repetition to have the audience With personal stories like, “I said, it's no big deal, Mr. President. He said, I'll give you the money. We'll give you the money. Promise me, promise me you won't sell that house” (“Presidential Medal of Freedom Acceptance Address”). And “My dad -- My dad, who fell on hard times, always told me, though, "Champ, when you get knocked down, get up. Get up." I was taught -- I was taught that by my dad”. (“Democratic Vice Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech”). Biden connects with his audiences through pathos, not only is he showing how vulnerable he is, but also the parallels he shares with the majority of his audience, the middle class. The press tends to call Biden “Middle-Class Joe”, and this is due to the fact that he is able to not appeal to the middle-class audience, but also connect with them as well through sharing his similar hardships. Such as not being able to afford to keep his house, the loss of a son, the same poor economic upbringings of most American citizens. He illustrates how everyone goes through hard times, but the important part is the people who are the for one to lean

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