Rhetorical Analysis Of Obama's Inaugural Address

44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, in his 2009 Presidential Inaugural Address, prompts the American people to a call to action in the unfolding national economic crisis. Obama’s purpose is to comfort and assure, as well as inspire, the people of this nation. He adopts a passionate and motivational tone to bring everyone together as a country. Obama clearly articulates and effectively calls his audience to make a difference through the use of allusions, anaphora, and imagery in order to empower and influence the American people in their time of detrimental economic crisis. Obama begins his speech by referencing past presidents, such as Bush, as well as the Bible, establishing, not only his credibility, but knowledge of the past. By referencing the Bible, “...The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace...” (2) he automatically begins bringing to light the current war happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. Later on in the speech, he creates an allusion to, “...Our Founding Fathers...” (Obama, pg 3) and how they were faced with similar problems that our country is facing now. At the end of the piece, he references Thomas Paines’ essay titled “The Crisis” to continue to compare the struggles of our country’s past to the

Throughout the text, his use of anaphora is evident. At the beginning, he references that, “...The challenges we face are real...” (Obama, pg 1) and emphasizes the challenges aspect of that statement by continuing to use the word “they” (Obama, pg 1) throughout the paragraph. Later on in his speech he also speaks about, “...The state of the economy…” and how “...We will act...We will build...We will restore...We will harness...We will transform...We will do” (Obama, pg 2). He enumerates and emphasizes that with him as president, we will be able to change and help the economy and better our