Barack Obama Ethos Pathos Logos

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On March 18, 2008, Barack Obama delivered a speech to the nation during his first presidential campaign. Known as the “A More Perfect Union” speech, it addressed race in America. Throughout the speech, Obama skillfully established his ethos and logo in many ways. Obama did an excellent job of establishing his ethos and painting himself in a significantly trustworthy and credible light. Using first-person pronouns such as “us” or “we”, he consistently emphasized the nation working together and making the country a better place. The candidate stated that his belief in forming a perfect nation came from his “unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people”. Obama also passionately commented that the American “people are part of me”. And they are part of America, this …show more content…

Another way he established his ethos was by sharing a detailed description of his biracial background. Obama addressed that his upbringing might be a story that “isn’t the most conventional of candidates”, but it is a story that has seared into Obama’s “genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts -- that out of many, we [the nation] are truly one”. By mentioning this, he put himself in a credible light once again. Obama also made sure to deny the assumption that he was using his racial background for his presidential campaign to his advantage. He not only rejected this assumption but also reminded the audience that his campaign “won victories in the states with some of the whitest populations in the country”. As a result of doing this, Obama made an excellent appeal to the audience’s ethos. Throughout the speech, Obama did an outstanding job establishing an ethos and appealing to the audience’s trust. Obama impressively established his logo by appealing to the audience’s logic and reason throughout the

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