Rosa Cruz Professor Dominguez English 103 17 September 2015 Rhetorical Analysis Many would argue that President Obama is one of the most effective speakers in the decade. With his amazing speeches, he captivates his audience with his emotion and official tone. One of his most emotionally driven speeches is his eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney. Obama appeals to his audience which happens to be the loved ones of the victims of the Charleston shooting. Obama eulogy is very effective since he uses rhetorical appeals to honor Reverend Clementa Pinckney and the victims of the Charleston shooting as well as bring to the light the struggles faced by African Americans. With his unique style of speaking, Obama makes it easy for his …show more content…
audience to connect with him and enjoy his speeches. Obama has a very interesting way of using ethos to build his credibility which makes speeches very enticing. He doesn’t really have to build credibility since he is the President of the United States and also apart of the African American community. The style of his whole speech has a lot of repetition which makes it his audience listen closely. When opening up his eulogy he goes on to say “ We are here today to remember a man of god who lived by faith. A man who believed in things not seen. A man who believed there were better days ahead, off in the distance.” Obama’s anaphora, “A man who believe” creates a emphasis on what he believes is important. Which allows his audience to have a clear idea of what his motives are. The repetition of words in his speech also create a trustworthy tone which engages his audience to listen. Obama has a different way of using ethos in speech but it still allows him to create a sense of trustworthiness and credibility. In his eulogy his expresses a lot of his emotion which captivates his audience and makes them listen to what he has to say.
In his speech, Obama uses terms like “Us”, “We”, and “Our” which let him connect with his audience by allowing him to identify with them. In a way it lets him connect with his audience’s mourning . Obama also allows his audience to use their imagination to remember Reverend Clementa Pinckney during his speech. He uses imagery like “ He would not grow discouraged. After a full day at the capitol, He’d climb into his car and head to the church to draw sustenance from his family, from his ministry,from the community that loved and needed him.” With this Obama paints a picture of Reverend Clementa and uses emotion to captivate the audience’s attention. In efforts to personalize his speech,Obama uses bit of humor. When referring to the time he met Reverend Clementa Pinckney he states, “Back when I didn’t have visible grey hair.” With this bit of added humor, Obama attempts to ease his audience into the eulogy. He lets his audience have a laugh and connect with him. Obama also uses a lot of passion in his eulogy. Halfway through his speech, Obama makes a bold statement which makes his audience roar with applause. With a strong and passionate tone he states “Oh, but God works in mysterious ways. God has different ideas.” Obama’s tone and statement makes his audience feel his compassion which creates a memorable and unforgettable speech for his audience. Obama use for pathos in his eulogy is very effective since he is able to target the of his audience and use emotion to connect with
them. Obama not only uses emotion to evoke his audience but he uses logical appeals to bring attention to the everyday fight African Americans face and the gun violence that surrounds the nation. Obama may not have hard facts but he uses cultural assumptions and constructed arguments. Obama starts off by introducing the relationship between African American culture and religion. He beginings by stating, “Over the course of centuries, black churches served as “hush harbors” where slaves could worship in safety; praise houses where their free descendants could gather and shout hallelujah-rest stops for the weary along the Underground Railroad; bunkers for the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement.” This may not be a hard fact but it is a cultural assumption; it states the facts that aren’t mention in history books but are stories that have been passed from one generation to another. With this quote Obama has made it very clear how the church has been a sacred place for African Americans during their hardships in history. As he continues with his speech Obama introduces the current issues that surround gun violence in the United States. With an authoritative tone he states, “For too long, we’ve been blind to the unique mayhem that gun violence inflicts upon this nation. Sporadically, our eyes are open: When eight of our brothers and sisters are cut down in a church basement, 12 in a movie theater, 26 in an elementary school.” With this he persuades his audience to not turn a blind eye to the situation but instead to pay attention to consequences that arise from neglected gun control. Overall Obama uses logos and pathos hand in hand to persuade his audience to not overlook the Charleston tragedy and its significance for change. Obama is a very effect speaker since he uses rhetorical appeals to convey his condolences to the family members of the victims as well as honor Reverend Clementa and express his stance on the social issues that arose from the tragedy. He has a unique style of speaking, he used Work Cited Remarks by the President in Eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney." The White House. The White House, 26 June 2015. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
Forty-fourth president Barack Obama on August 29, 2009 presents a eulogy for Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy a few days after his passing. Obama’s purpose is to pay tribute to Ted and all of the good he has done. While employing pathos, altruism, and some anger, he adopts a respectful tone in order to look back with the Kennedy family and treasure him one more time.
The purpose of an “inaugural address” is to inform the people of his or her intentions as a leader. Two of the most prominent inaugural addresses throughout history are Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s and Barack Obama’s. Franklin Roosevelt’s inaugural address stands the test of time because it gave the American people hope that they may overcome the terrible Great Depression. Similarly, Barack Obama’s address is well known because it inspired millions that we will be lifted out of economic crisis, but it was also remembered as the first inaugural address from an African American president. The inauguration speeches of Franklin Roosevelt and Barack Obama use the rhetorical devices parallelism, allusions, and emotive language to convey their messages
He verbalizes in lines 35-37 this by making known that “[Pinckney] conducted himself quietly, and kindly, and diligently. [Pinckney] encouraged progress not by pushing his ideas alone, but by seeking out your ideas partnering with you to make things happen.” This exemplifies how we must move with grace and move with the power to achieve a common goal. He does this to signal the ones who knew Pinckney to continue in his ideologies to discover another side of the world that is ridden of hatred. A second way Obama uses rhetorical appeal towards ethos is when he states in lines 54-55 the names of the people who have passed in this horrific event “Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethal Lance, DePayne Middleton Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel L. Simmons Sr., Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson” He does this to remind the people viewing the eulogy that these people have been lost and this eulogy is about all of them not just Reverend Clamenta Pinckney. We must abide for a better and renewed the US that will stand united to show the people of hatred that we are not scared to unite and we will no longer discriminate based on any physical differences. Furthermore, Obama states in lines 6-7 how the Reverend was “ A man who believed in things not seen. A man who believed there were better days ahead, off in the distance. A man of service who preserved, knowing
John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered one of the most important American speeches after being sworn in as president on January 20, 1961. His inauguration speech was so influential that it seized the nation’s attention, and quotes from it are still clearly remembered by people today. It is considered one of the best speeches ever written and ever delivered. It presents a strong appeal to pathos, ethos, and logos and accomplishes what any speaker strives for – it speaks straight to the heart of the audience and inspires people.
From the beginning, and throughout his speech he used in the most effective way rhetorical tools to support his beliefs. The rhetoric tool such as ethos, pathos and logos. He used ethos used to gives his audience a better understanding of who his character is. For him to establish an effective speech of ethos, Obama had to present himself in a way that will make the audience believe in his beliefs as well. In this speech Obama creates his ethos in many different ways that gives his speech not only credibility but, validity also. Obama does
In this paper I am going to discuss the rhetorical appeals, as well as the argumentative structure, audience and purpose set forth by George W. Bush in his September 27 speech in Flagstaff, Arizona. More specifically I will refer to the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos and logos, and explain how they are used to gain the support and attention of the audience and further the further the purpose of the speech. As I explain these appeals I will also give an insight into the argumentative structure and why it is apparent in this particular speech.
President Obama’s memorial speech following the Tuscan shooting carefully utilized the Aristotelian appeal of pathos, or emotional appeals through his word choice, which aligned him with the American people while still conveying a sense of authority, and his use of biblical allusions, which drew his audience together on the basis of shared ideologies.
From his extremely vivid imagery at the beginning to his conclusion that America plans to seek a solution with Russia and other nations, the president’s flow from using pathos to logos to ethos made his speech very effective and compelling. His argument was backed up and supported all through out his speech, which helped his audience believe that what he was saying is true and important. However, his speech would have been nothing without the implication and opinion that America is the strongest nation in the world. Although this point is debatable, it is our duty to help other nations. We definitely do an excellent job at helping other nations and always having their best interests at heart. I believe this was the main goal for Obama’s speech; a plan to protect the United States. The use of logos, ethos and pathos just helped his speech to be more persuasive and
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 President Barack Obama’s eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney and others who died in the Charleston Church Shooting, delivered on June 26, 2015 at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, he commemorates Reverend Pinckney and at the same time advocates for his own political agenda. President Obama shifts between black and presidential registers, weaves the ideas of grace, sight, and blindness throughout the speech, and cultivates his ethos to better connect with his audience, the American people, not only African Americans or Christians. President Obama addresses the American public during this racially charged time in order to remember the lives lost during the shooting, to promote his political views, and to unify the all Americans.
In the beginning of the speech Barack Obama reflects back to where his parents and grandparents came from and what they did as their occupation. Obama shows pathos, logos and ethos many times throughout his 2004 keynote speech. He also spoke on why his mother and father gave him the name that they gave him. By doing so, Barack Obama showed pathos throughout the speech and got his audience to know him a bit before pursuing the Democratic Party to vote for John Kerry. He appeals to his audience by mentioning that his parents are both passed away, and from the look of things that did not stop him from standing where he was that day with pride and sadness:
“The majority of those who died today were children -- beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own” (“Barack Obama”). This would instantly make parents and older kids upset. Who would not be upset about five to ten years olds not getting to live their lives for any reason? However, even if Obama had not put pathos into his speech, people would still be saddened at the fact that someone that little would never get to grow up because a man wanted to shoot up a school.
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.
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.
President Obama’s Address to the nation was presented on January 5, 2016. His speech was shown on all of the major network stations. The main goal of his speech was to get the point across to the nation about the increasing problem of gun use. His speech really focused on the issue of gun control and if it would benefit the country. Overall, the biggest idea of his Address was that gun control is a large issue in the United States. The way to prevent deaths caused by firearms can be prevented in other ways than taking peoples guns away. The examples brought up in this Address really stood out to me. The use of personal, national, and global examples really made his speech stronger on the topic of effectiveness.