Rhetorical Analysis Of Barack Obama And Obama's Gettysburg Address

Whenever tragedy strikes, people often look for someone with the eloquence and the empathy to reassure them and help them seek some form of comfort. This was especially evident when President Barack Obama was to speak on behalf of the victims and loved ones of said victims on the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre on December 14. Obama’s use of rhetoric in relations to sympathizing with those affected by the tragedy is used as he fervently relates to it on being himself a parent and expresses it as such through the speech. Some have related and compared this to Lincoln’s renown Gettysburg Address. Either way, Obama does achieve the purpose that was sought out by Lincoln regarding the attempt to mitigate the despair of the loss

In his speech, Lincoln immediately makes an appeal to people’s patriotism. “ Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”. This preliminary line reminds the audience of their country and their duty to their countrymen. It intuitively eases folks into the idea that their country was a nation founded by liberty, a popular notion, and serves to fill those listening with national pride. Lincoln goes on to address the soldiers who gave their lives towards preserving the country that they love so. “We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” He uses this rhetoric as a way of reminding the American people of these honorable fallen and why they should pay particular respect towards the soldiers. Lincoln also shows a more humble side to his speech. “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember

President Obama’s speech definitely has more of a sorrowful drive to it in terms of the context in which the speech is given. There seems to be a more impactful sense of loss regarding the Sandy Hook tragedy. Although the battle of Gettysburg costed more lives, Obama has the ordeal of giving a speech about dead children in a school, a place that is supposed to be free from danger. When Mr.Obama says things such as “I know that there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do”, it is not profound to declare that he truly did mean these words. The general attitude towards children is very different from that of a soldier. Lincoln gave his speech in the backdrop of a war, a costly war mind you, where soldiers know what they are in for. In the context of war, some on the other side of said war may actually condone the loss of life from their enemy, be it in a cynical, tribalistic, or political manner. But when it comes to children, we have a general sense of wanting to protect children from harm, and when harm goes as far as to be massacred, it takes an emotional toll on the general populace, you would almost have to be a moral imbecile not to feel the same way. So by default, Obama is more effective, credit is of course due for being able to articulate an inoffensive speech that achieves its