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Rhetorical devices in obama speech 2013
Analysis of the Rhetorical Devices in Obama's Public Speeches
Analysis of the Rhetorical Devices in Obama's Public Speeches
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We may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction. Barack Obama’s speech “A More Perfect Union” (Nov. 17, 2008) captivates our nation with its thought out structure of the division and inequality in America. Obama successfully used allusion and repetition. Along with personal anecdotes to identify with the audience.
Opening with "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” conveys an image of the constitution for the purpose of the speech; what comes next is “Two hundred and twenty one years ago,” an opening that places him in the tradition of Lincoln at Gettysburg and Dr. King at the Lincoln Memorial “Five score years ago.” Concentrating on the nation’s misunderstanding and miscommunication connected to racism in America.
Obama emotionally influences the nation to move forward from the issues of race that is hindering America. Without dwelling on his family tree, Obama reminds us that his father was black and his mother white, that he came from Kenya, but she came from Kansas: “I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slave and slave owners — an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
Obama goes on to say “We cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together.” He believes that this is the time to change, and a new generation governed by racial minorities. Obama support these claims by reiterating his own beliefs and those of the American nation. “I would not be running for President...
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...black communities. But also states that to move forward as a nation and be united as one, we must embrace the past and not become victims of it; learn from what has happened and strive to live above it
Works Cited
Perelman, Chaim. From _The Realm of Rhetoric_. In Bizzell and Herzberg. 1379-1384.
Perelman, Chaim. From _The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning_. In Bizzell and Herzberg. 1384-1409.
Toulmin, Stephen. From _The Uses of Argument_. In Bizzell and Herzberg. 1413-1428.
Weaver, Richard. From _Language Is Sermonic_. In Bizzell and Herzberg. 1351-1360.
Obama, Barack. "A More Perfect Union." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 18 March 2008.
King, Martin L., Jr. "I Have a Dream." Archives.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.
Pitney, Nico. "Obama Race Speech: Read The Full Text." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Mar. 2008. Web. 12 Sept. 2013
Roy Peter Clark, author of “A More Perfect Union”: Why It Worked, takes a stance on President Barack Obama’s speech while analyzing it. President Barack Obama delivered a speech titled “A More Perfect Union.” His speech focused on the prominent issue of racism in America. In this article, Clark talks about President Obama’s known power and brilliance. Clark makes references and comparisons to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and W.EB. DuBois. “A More Perfect Union” features writing techniques that makes the message more defined and effective. President Obama utilizes four closely related rhetorical strategies. Clark broadly explains the purpose of the rhetorical strategies. Allusion, parallelism, two-ness, and autobiography helped to shape President Obama’s speech that that was meant to create
I Have a Dream; a speech given by King in front of the Washington Memorial
King, Martin Luther, Jr. “I Have a Dream.” Current Issues and Enduring Questions. Ed. Adam Whitehurst. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. 687-690. Print.
King, Martin Luther. I Have A Dream. I Have A Dream. The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. 8th edition, Ed.
He uses allusion and repetition of words to prove his points about racial discrimination. His main goal is for the country to stay united and put discrimination aside, and continue the path of the ones who came before us. Obama alludes to the civil war by saying,” continue the long march” which illustrates the march that the north did to the south to stop race discrimination, as well as the fact how the north opposed with slavery and wanted to make south stop (1). The other device he uses in his speech was the repetition of words by using the word “more” to express his main goal and focus. Although the country is so called “free” his main goal is still to improve America in every way possible and put race discrimination completely aside. In the speech, he expresses his tone by saying,” more just, more equal, more free, more caring, and more prosperous America.” Which goes to the fact that he is trying to even improve America more in every way possible. If we improve our country even more, then we will not be having any issues in our
“A More Perfect Union” was delivered by Barack Obama on March 18, 2008. At the time her gave the speech he was senator and running in the president election. Obama responded to his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, and also discussed the issue with race in America. This problem is important to us as a whole, because we went through plenty of racism in the past. He wants the prevent those incidents from according again. He did an excellent job using rhetoric tools to support his beliefs, which led to a successful election.
In 2008, democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a speech, now named “A More Perfect Union”, in response to the controversy over his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, making some very racist remarks against whites and accusing the United States of bringing on the September 11 attacks by spreading terrorism. In his speech, Obama uses many rhetorical strategies including repetition, parallelism, allusion, and metaphors in order to make his statement that, regardless of race, the American people need to work together side by side as one in this time of need to achieve the same goal— achieving a better, more perfect union of America.
He is very optimistic about his speech in the first line. However, he bluntly addressed the issues of hardship, which African-Americans endured while America was beginning to become a stronger symbol of hope and freedom. He acknowledged the experience of wealth which his race became accustomed to, the ghetto poverty. He recognized the right of each color and pale man who contains the right to live, liberty, and the pursuit of true happiness. As bluntly as he began his speech, he boldly pointed out the Supreme Law of The Land- the Constitution - and quoted the Declaration of Independence as it was.
In contempt of Obama’s humble giving spirit, vivid personality, and many accomplishments, a debate is always at hand upon hearing the infamous name Barack Hussein Obama. From his place of birth, religion, and ethnicity Obama’s face a fair share of controversy. At the heels of adversity along with sheer determination to help others Obama became a leader that delivers and one of the most influential people of America. Adversity was introduced to Obama at an early age. With a Kenyan father and Caucasian mother residing in Hawaii, Obama has always stood out in numerous ways. In 1959 Barack Obama Senior was selected from a number of candidates to go to school in the US where he attended The University of Hawaii in Honolulu to
King, Martin L. "I Have a Dream. " archives. The. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, "Web." 21 Nov. 2013.
He makes sure his audience connects with him directly by making them feel at his level, and at hiss. This way he connects to the audience, and in exchange, helps his statement of unity. Using various examples of parallelism, anaphora and refrain, Obama brands the theme of equality and togetherness in our country throughout the speech, vital to gaining the respect of his audience. Obama recalls the ‘enduring strength of the constitution’ by delving into the past alluding to America’s allegiance to the Declaration of Independence by quoting “we hold these truths. that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.
In “A More Perfect Union”, Obama asked the audience to view themselves through the eyes of the others (Terrill 371). Instead of imposing a moral superiority of one side of the audience like Lincoln did or telling the audience to ignore the diversity, Obama asked the people to embrace their differences and acknowledge the others. In referring to the perspective of black people, he said, “A lack of economic opportunity among black men and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family contributed to the erosion of black families...” Meanwhile, to show how some white people might feel, he narrated, “...when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudice, resentment builds over time.” By juxtaposing two different perspectives, Obama tried to ask for agreement that people’s anxiety over racial problems is
Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech was given during his 2008 campaign for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. He wrote this speech, not only in response to the disputed remarks made by his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, but also to address the discriminatory injustices minority races still face today. In his speech he spoke about race issues, inequalities
Obamas A More Perfect Union establishes ethos by including past events that have affected America, this really presents the audience with a sense of compassion pertaining pathos,ethos, and logical (logos) arguments to persuade the audience. This speech is so moving because race can be such a difficult topic to talk about, especially when you have a whole nation watching you. In this speech Obama addresses the issues of race and addresses the comments that were made by his pastor Reverend Wright. With combining these appeals so well Obama is able to make a fluent and articulative speech that connects the audience and persuades the people to step away from the problems in the present and think about the solutions in the
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” Martin Luther King Jr. said this in his “I Have A Dream Speech” in 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. said this fifty years ago and today in the twenty first century, African Americans are still fighting for equality. Race relations in the United States is a problem that is constantly arising in communities all over. If nothing is done about the relationships, mainly between African Americans and white people, and Muslims and white people, then nothing will change. The pervasive belief