"Yes We Can" Rhetorical Analysis Of Obama's Victory Presidential Speech In 2008. Ahmed Negmeldin Abdeltawwab University Of Science And Technology, Zewail City. "Our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand."(EternalMedia, 2008) Those words are from Obama's aspiring, and emotional speech. Following the victory establishing trust and gathering all the factions of the citizens around the president was a necessity. In his home city Chicago Obama gave his victory speech that was a great sign to express his loyalty to his people and to the Americans as a metaphor. (240,000 pack Grant Park for election rally, 2008 ) Winning the election was the big event and the main reason His goal was to stimulate the feeling of loving the country in order to let people unite and act according to Obama's vision of change. He established strong feeling of honor of being American through telling short stories about troubles that United States managed to overcome. His language was specific and served the pathos appeal. For instance using "thriving" and "suffering" as two opposite words to describe the last financial crisis. Obama also used the story of Ann Nixon Cooper to create an image of the changing history that can touch people's heart. He started with detailed description of the obstacles she faced through her life. Actually he used the term "color of her skin" instead of "black" that show how carful Obama was to choose his words. Speaking about the history that Ann lived through "The heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can." He used again opposites to correlate between hard times and the need of change. The story of Ann inspired him to talk about his daughter and the new generation; he used every small detail to push the audience emotionally towards believing in his There were 21 months for Obama to convince Americans and he succeeded at that night. The victory night was absolutely not the right time to give a speech that appeal to logos and that what Obama done. The only claim he made came in the beginning and he even didn't support it with evidences "we know the government can't solve every problem." When did the public agree on that? However, Obama was clever to hide that claim in the next sentence by expressing his intention to be honest and share the challenges with the public. Obama mentioned some historical facts for the sake of gaining people sympathy then he could state his vision. For instance the Lincoln quote that Obama used he didn’t build an argument based on it. He wanted to prove that United States could change so he told the anecdote of Ann Nixon. Obama used that anecdote without falling into the cherry picking fallacy as he told by relating to the case of all Americans at that time. The whole speech was almost empty of any rational thinking triggers and that was the perfect case for a victory
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
Roy Peter Clark, author of “A More Perfect Union”: Why It Worked, takes a stance on President Barack Obama’s speech while analyzing it. President Barack Obama delivered a speech titled “A More Perfect Union.” His speech focused on the prominent issue of racism in America. In this article, Clark talks about President Obama’s known power and brilliance. Clark makes references and comparisons to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and W.EB. DuBois. “A More Perfect Union” features writing techniques that makes the message more defined and effective. President Obama utilizes four closely related rhetorical strategies. Clark broadly explains the purpose of the rhetorical strategies. Allusion, parallelism, two-ness, and autobiography helped to shape President Obama’s speech that that was meant to create
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
Remarks by President Obama at the eulogy for the honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney; A man who was killed when an another man rushed into a church in South Carolina and killed 9 people while they were immersed in an afternoon mass. President Obama created different appeals and feelings through the use of different Rhetorical Devices such as Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. The use of logos ethos and pathos help the president convey his central idea which is to ensure the people of South Carolina and the people of the United States that not only are they safe, but they will unite to take this opportunity to create a more united U.S. This will happen through the establishment of new gun reforms.
Other rhetorical strategies Obama uses are an anecdote, with Ashley’s story; and imagery, “Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. " The use of imagery contributes to the purpose by showing that blaming race will not solve any of the major problems the country is facing. He further established his pathos by talking about a section in his first book, Dreams From My Father, and how his first service at Trinity, the church he knows, was pastor Wright.
When Barack Obama ran for presidency, there were a lot of questions about his race, color, and whether he was born in the U.S.. The comments from his pastor Jeremiah Wright put him in an awkward situation, so he decided to give this speech to prove the point that we are all the same and live in the same country, so there shouldn’t be any discrimination among anyone. In his speech, Obama uses rhetorical devices to explain how race discrimination is affecting our country and us in every way possible. The use of rhetorical devices in this speech has strong effects on the audience. The use of allusion, symbolism, optimistic tone, and repetition of words gives the speech a strong argumentative tone. He argues the fact that to be able to achieve such big goals and how out country was supposed to be from the beginning, we need to stay united and rely on younger
He reviled both his personal and family history stating, “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas, “I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slave-owners”, and, I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents”. As Obama is telling his family background, He shows how and why he has an authority to speak on race issues. It then supports the remarks he later makes about the race issues that are affecting America. By Him revealing his own personal history it allows him to gain ethos by creating a personal connection with his audience. This allows his audience to be a lot more inclined to trust him, and support him if they can make a connection to his speech on a more personal
On November 2, 2004, President George W. Bush was nominated and elected for his second and final term of presidency. Throughout the course of his term, a vast amount of controversy revolved around the actions of President Bush. Some of the main matters that were significant during his first presidency were the issues of abortion, pro-choice versus pro-life, and AIDS, which led to a fluctuation in his popularity with the masses. However, even with these issues, the unforgettable tragedy of September 11, 2001, and the start of the Iraq War, Bush was reelected to President of the United States despite everything he had going against him.
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 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:
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 goes on to say “We cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together.” He believes that this is the time to change, and a new generation governed by racial minorities. Obama support these claims by reiterating his own beliefs and those of the American nation. “I would not be running for President...
Let’s take a step back to 2008 in Philadelphia. Neither the city nor year suggests that history is going to be made. On March 18, 2008, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Barack Obama took the stage and delivered a speech that would portray the racial landscape of his presidency. In his speech, Obama points out rhetorical tactics to support his argument that we as Americans in this country need to be united for racial equality to exist. He begins his speech with a back story to highlight the kairotic moment present, then appeals to pathos through lots of examples of racial injustice to signify the need for such change, and then uses his appeals to ethos to suggest ways of change for Americans, both black and white. The speech was very successful: people from both sides praised his bravery, and later the same year, Obama demolished McCain in a close victory to secure his presidency.
..., had left the business world to teach in an inner-city Chicago school. But Ryan was forced to drop out of the race when scandalous details about his divorce were made public. On July 7, 2004 The Democratic National Convention chased Barack Obama to deliver the keynote speech. During his speech Obama stated there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America," he declared. "There's a United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America. There's a United States of America. Obama enclose his speech with phrases such like “the audacity of hope”. This phrase was later used for his second book titled The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006) which was a best seller. On January 4, 2005, Barack Obama was back as a U.S. senator, and his first law was passed with Republican Tom Coburn.