Rhetorical Analysis: Interfaith Prayer Vigil Address

Devin Plemons

English 1010

Dr. K. Rivers

16 October 2014

Gun Control: To Save A Life

Writers use rhetoric to communicate their specific point of view or argument in a speech or text. A reader analyzes the writer’s use of rhetoric to evaluate the effectiveness of the given argument or point of view. In his “Interfaith Prayer Vigil Address,” President Barack Obama argues the need for more restricted gun control by using emotional appeals to compassion and paternalism, collective diction, and structure, which reflect the influence of a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

In his speech given on December 16, 2012, President Barack Obama addresses the massacre that happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. During the

massacre, the elementary school was invaded by a gunman who shot and killed twenty-six people – twenty children and six adults. Two days later, victims of the families and the local community gathered at a prayer vigil in Newtown, Connecticut where President Obama offered his condolences and spoke to not only that community, but the nation as a whole in efforts to bring everyone together to change gun control policies and to protect the safety of all children.
President Obama argues the need for a more restricted gun control policy to protect children from similar situations like that of Sandy Hook Elementary. After the school shooting that killed numerous children and adults, he recalled four other shootings that had taken place in his term as president that had taken the lives of too many. The tragedies needed to end, and “the time had come to take meaningful action against gun violence in America” (Now).
President Barack Obama uses an emotional appeal to paternalism in his address following the Newtown shooting. An emotional appeal is a way of grasping the attention of the audience through an emotional reaction. “Someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the time, walking around. With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves, our child, is suddenly exposed to the world…they will suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments...[but] can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm” (President). Following the massacre, lives were affected by the loss of children in not only the lives of the victims, but the nation as well. His appeal to paternalism strikes close to the hearts of the audience and makes them question the safety of all children. It supports his point for tighter gun control because parents, like himself, want to protect their children and hinder similar situations from happening that put their children at risk.
Along with his emotional appeal to paternalism, President Barack Obama uses an appeal to compassion to support his argument of more restricted gun control. “You must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. Whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. Newtown, you are not alone” (President). President Obama presents a compassionate image by offering his condolences which supports his argument by showing sympathy to the suffering community and by letting Newtown know that they are not experiencing this tragedy alone.
President Barack Obama also uses collective diction to support his argument for tighter gun control. Diction is a certain set of words or the way a writer uses language in a text. “We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change” (President). The usage of “we” in his speech is the example of collective diction. By using “we” throughout the address to the Newtown community, President Obama includes everyone. Everyone who gathered in Newtown following the shooting was there for a specific purpose - to offer condolences to the families who were affected by the tragedy that occurred and in hopes to find a resolution to future massacres like that of Sandy Hook Elementary School. As President Obama addresses the nation, his use of “we” catches the audience’s attention because they are looking for answers and he is offering a proposition to restrict gun control policies. The use of collective diction supports his argument for tighter gun control because he has more supporters of the idea by including everyone and by not using exclusive diction where he limits who he is speaking to.
The structure of a speech affects how a writer supports their argument or point of view as well.

The structure of a speech is how it is organized. In President Barack Obama’s address to the nation, the structure of his speech is organized into three parts: a sincere opening, the main point, and then a sincere closing. In the opening of his speech, President Obama offers condolences and is sincere to the situation at hand. As he progresses in his speech, he reaches his main point of the need for a more restricted gun control policy. In the body of his speech, he loses some sincerity and focuses on the present situation and how to resolve the issue. Then, he closes his speech the way he began it, by being sincere and reaching out to the ones who were suffering. This particular way of organizing his speech was effective in supporting his argument. By opening his speech in a sincere way, he caught the attention of anyone listening because of his kind words. After he had their attention, he addressed the need to come together as a nation and end the awful violence. Then he ended by offering comfort to families. This specific structure buries the more controversial topic of gun control which causes people to feel more sympathetic making them more willing to listen to his message even if they support the right to bear

arms.
A writer’s use of rhetorical appeals and strategies is an effective way to clearly communicate a point.

President Barack Obama was successful in reaching his intended audience by his use of rhetorical elements. Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, President Obama addressed the need to reduce gun violence with the help of the nation and later began proposals to do just that. “Keeping with President Obama’s commitment to engage the American people in the process, the Vice President solicited input from citizens and organizations… [and] spoke with many groups about their ideas on curbing gun violence in the United States” (Now). After speaking to many people and a number of propositions, Obama set forth a plan on January 16, 2013, just a month after his address in Newtown, Connecticut, to protect children and communities from gun violence. “No single law – or even set of laws – can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can’t be an excuse for inaction. If there’s even one step we can take to save another child or another parent or another town then surely we have an obligation to try”

(President).

Works Cited
"Now Is the Time." The White House. The White House, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
"President Obama's Speech at Prayer Vigil for Newtown Shooting Victims (Full Transcript)." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2012. Web. 2 Oct. 2014.