The Audacity of Hope was given on July 27, 2004, as the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. Throughout the speech, Barack Obama’s purpose is made clear by the description of the positive attributes of presidential candidate John Kerry. The Audacity of Hope made Obama further known in the world of politics, and a star among the Democratic Party. The strength and persuasive qualities of Barack Obama’s speech are created by repetition devices, various sentence structures, and abstract language.
The usage of repetition devices in The Audacity of Hope is well done and make up the majority of the rhetorical devices. Barack Obama’s utilization of anaphora is especially powerful as the repetition of points creates strength in the
speech and highlights the importance of those ideas to the audience. For example, “It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.” In this passage, the repetition of “the hope” prompts the audience pay greater attention and truly understand that The United States of America is a country based off of hope, and that Americans need to have hope for a brighter future. His application of epistrophe creates a similar effect as it pinpoints the principle words in the speech, and creates clearer ideas: “John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope.” Once again, Obama repeats the word “hope” to create a strong subject in his speech. Along with the repetition of words, Obama also uses very abstract words that add to the power of his speech. Words including “hope,” “liberty,” “freedom,” and “peace,” have no one specific meaning. Instead, they are terms where the meaning and value of them changes depending on where one is in their life and what their situation is. Still, the idea of them is special and something that all people desire. Freedom could be freedom from a harmful relationship, freedom from responsibilities, freedom to have opportunities; any type of freedom. The key is that these are all subjects that have meaning to each person in a different way, and all people yearns for some type of freedom. This abstract language assists Obama to connect with a large audience of Americans all over the country, since they each can find meaning in his words in their own way. Sentence structure makes Obama’s ideas stronger and clearer to the audience. The repeated utility of segregating style causes The Audacity of Hope to be easily comprehended and understood. In passages such as “Let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued. And they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this,” the segregating style creates sentences that are very direct and straight to the point. The style makes it simple for the audience to understand that there is urgent work to be done for the country, and that John Kerry realizes that. The choppy sentences also add a sort of rhythm to the speech, that creates a serious, informative tone. Convoluted, periodic, and loose sentences are also used to provide descriptive detail. For convoluted, in “They would give me an African name, Barack, or ”blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined -- They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential,” both sentences have extra detail in between the main clause. This gives the audience additional information regarding Obama’s backstory. “He was a good-looking kid -- six two, six three, clear eyed, with an easy smile,” is an example of a loose sentence in the speech. Obama could have left it as “He was a good-looking kid,” yet instead he describes him, and this improves the audience’s connection with the person he is speaking about. Periodic sentences such as “And as I listened to him explain why he’d enlisted, the absolute faith he had in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all that any of us might ever hope for in a child,” employ the same principle. Instead of just saying that he thought that this man was a great person, Obama told us why. And the why, the description that is there, develops pathos and pulls on the audience’s heartstrings, and lets them understand that these people truly exist, and that they need the aid of an improved government. Barack Obama’s repetition, abstract words, direct focus, and detail, are woven together to create The Audacity of Hope. These creates a speech that is clear to the audience, relatable to a wide variety of peoples, and develops a strong aspect of pathos. It is owing to the fact of the abundance of rhetoric that caused this speech to turn Obama into an Illinois Senator into a rising star with a presidential future.
The tone during the whole plot of in Brave New World changes when advancing throughout the plot, but it often contains a dark and satiric aspect. Since the novel was originally planned to be written as a satire, the tone is ironic and sarcastic. Huxley's sarcastic tone is most noticeable in the conversations between characters. For instance, when the director was educating the students about the past history, he states that "most facts about the past do sound incredible (Huxley 45)." Through the exaggeration of words in the statement of the director, Huxley's sarcastic tone obviously is portrayed. As a result of this, the satirical tone puts the mood to be carefree.
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
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.
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
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
Barack Obama came on to the political stage in 2004 when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. Before this momentous occasion very few people had heard of the Junior Senator from Illinois – he had only been in the Senate for eight months. He titled the speech “The Audacity of Hope” to highlight the strength and resilience of the country and to encourage people struggling to rise out of poverty and despair and help them believe in a better future for themselves, their children, their families and their country.
Hope, by definition means to look forward to something with reasonable desire and confidence. Hope also means a person or thing in which expectations are centered. When discussing the word hope, one must consider the core values by which the word works around. You could hope for financial success, world peace, or simply hope for some good out of your day. In 2006, Barack Obama wrote the political biography The Audacity of Hope to outline his core political and spiritual beliefs, as well as his opinions on different aspects of American culture. The Illinois senator divided the book into nine chapters, each concentrating on both his own and the United States’ successes and failures in local and state politics. While revealing great leadership attributes, life experiences, personal qualities and hard facts, largely in anecdotal method, Barack Obama offers realistic, wide and thoughtful responses to today’s current domestic controversies using artistic appeals, such as ethos, pathos and logos. Senator Obama also gives the audience an in-depth analysis of the key policies that need to be changed for both Democrats and Republicans, and delivers an inherent message to offer hope to anyone, regardless of background or experiences. In the prologue, he discusses in great detail virtually every major political issue facing the American electorate today, offering his opinions and possible strategies for reform. “My motivation in entering politics was to cut through decades of polarizing partisanship and develop a moderate, effective approach to our government.” (Barackopedia.org). Obama notes that this same impulse, an impulse of a secure, functional and sustainable administration, prompted him to write The Audacity of Hope.
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 a quotation by Barack Obama on November 4, 2008, he says “That is the true genius of America-that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow”. Obama's inauguration speech mirrors the ideas expressed by that quote. Barack Obama's message in his speech is that through hope and change, we can pull the country out of recession, out of turmoil, and out of any difficult tasks we'll have ahead of us. What we have achieved shows that we can achieve it again, and the only reason these feats were achieved was because we were one nation working together. Obama successfully incorporate rhetoric into his speech to make it emotional, believable, and logical. His speech is a great representation of a well written rhetorical essay.
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
Summary The title of the book is “The Audacity of Hope;” and it is written by current president Barack Obama. In 2004, he was only a young U.S. Senator from Illinois, who was driven into the national eye at the 2004 Democratic Convention when he delivered a speech called “The Audacity of Hope. ”After less than twenty minutes of speaking, Obama’s name was known all over the country, with many political examiners predicting that he was well qualified to enter the next presidential race. Before this, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School.
Former President of the United States, Barack Obama, in his 2009 Inaugural Address, urges the people in the audience to a call to action. Obama’s purpose is to persuade the audience that he will help the people of America survive its current crisis. He takes on a passionate and empowering tone in an attempt to give citizens the push they need. Obama distinctly articulates and calls the audience to action through the use of allusions, repetition, and metaphors to bring people together in their time of need.
..., 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.