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Analysis of obamas race speech
Barack Obama’s Speech on Race
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Rhetorical Analysis (Essay #3)
In his speech “A More Perfect Union,” Barack Obama uses different types of rhetorical concepts to emphasize his views on the importance of unity in America in order to eradicate racism. The purpose of the speech was to address Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s (His former pastor) racial comment, and to encourage people to form “A More Perfect Union”. The speech is effective because Obama uses ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the audience to come together as one nation, regardless of any differences, to put an end to racist thinking and racism in America.
Obama‘s speech accentuates the significance of unity in a divisive multi-cultural country in expectancy of his election. He explains that the goals of the founding fathers were to establish unity but that these goals have not been met for generations. Obama uses his own experience to show that he too has been through racism. He states, “At various stages in the
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Pathos is the use emotions to influence the audience. He states, “This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of Black children and White children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children…and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, and every walk of life” (563). By making these problems evident, Obama appeals to the emotions of the audience by making them feel compassionate towards the children of America and the struggles that they face. He intelligently makes no distinction based on race regarding the education of children. Being able to talk about education in this way, influences the audience to believe that Obama will fight for their children’s education, regardless of race. Obama also uses this appeal to the audience’s emotions to create a sense of unity that he hopes would motivate them to change
Pathos: is an approach that appeals to the audience’s emotions. Including specific examples showing how tragedies have been avoided thanks to first responders being trained. Also, included in Pathos are examples on how tragedies have happen due to the misunderstanding
Throughout her speech, Mrs. Obama used a rhetoric device to engage the audience. She used pathos, which is when someone appeals to another person’s emotions. Mrs. Obama uses this often to get her point across. One way that Mrs. Obama uses pathos is when she states, “Fears about safety mean that those afternoons outside have been replaced by afternoons inside with TV, video games, the Internet” (Obama 423). Most of the people in the audience are parents, which means that most of them grew up in a community where you spent more time outside than inside.
Pathos is a quality of an experience in life or a work of art that stirs up emotions of pity, sympathy, and sorrow. She uses this to connect to the people by bringing up her personal experiences in life. As shown in the speech, “My friends, we’ve come to Philadelphia- the birthplace of our nation- because what happened in this city 240 years ago still has something to teach us today” (Line 35-36).. Hillary says “my friends” as referring to the American people, she considers everyone as important and this causes people to feel good about themselves. Also, she uses allusion to show how the past still impacts our world today. Another device uses is point of view, “Teachers who change lives. Entrepreneurs who see possibilities in every problem. Mothers who lost children to violence and are building a movement to keep other kids safe” (Lines 104-106). The point of view is used in third person, and emphasizes her point that she is trying to make. This quotes is also pathos, she is connecting to real people and what they go through in everyday life. Pathos is one appeal that touches the heart of general people.
Achieving Racial Equality On April 12th, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was leading a peaceful protest in the city of Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in him being arrested and jailed. Later that day, eight clergymen responded with the statement “A Call For Unity” in The Birmingham News requesting he ends all of his protests. A few days later, King created a response to the statement in the form of an open letter. In this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. develops a well-proposed argument in response to the eight clergymen who published the statement. Throughout the letter, King uses rhetorical appeal in order to give the viewer a sense of King’s credibility, his emotions, and also his logic on why he does what he does.
In 2008, democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a speech, now named “A More Perfect Union”, in response to the controversy over his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, making some very racist remarks against whites and accusing the United States of bringing on the September 11 attacks by spreading terrorism. In his speech, Obama uses many rhetorical strategies including repetition, parallelism, allusion, and metaphors in order to make his statement that, regardless of race, the American people need to work together side by side as one in this time of need to achieve the same goal— achieving a better, more perfect union of America.
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”.
For example, the emotion is felt when Kozol speaks to a student from a New York, Bronx high school, “Think of it this way,” said a sixteen-year-old girl. “If people in New York woke up one day and learned that we were gone…how would they feel? Then when asking how she thought the people of New York would feel she replied, “I think they’d be relieved” (Kozol 205). By mentioning the thoughts and emotions of individuals involved with the issues of school system segregation and inequality his reader cannot help but develop a feeling of empathy for children that feel as if no one cares about them and their issue. Kozol also uses pathos effectively by reading letters to his reader he received from young elementary school children that are not afforded the same amenities as other children in wealthier school systems, amenities such as toilet paper or the appropriate amount of restrooms. Which causes students to hold the urge to relieve themselves out of fear of being late for class (Kozol 214). With the proper use of pathos, Kozol places the reader in the same situation and assistances the reader with an understanding of his reason for conveying a concern to help children in this unfortunate situation. Another example of Pathos is when he speaks of the letters that came from third-grade children asking for help with getting them better things. He mentions a letter that had the most affected on him that came from a girl named Elizabeth, “It is not fair that other kids have a garden and new things. But we don’t have that.” (Kozol 206). This example being only one example of the few things mentioned in the letter. The tone of the little girl from when Kozol reads gives a pitiful and sad feeling. By stating this, it acts on the reader’s emotional state which creates a sense of wanting to resolve the problem of
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
At the time of this speech, Barack Obama is running for the Democratic Presidential candidate as well as being called into question when his former pastor publicly accused the government of committing hateful acts against black Americans. He addresses the American public then tries to persuade them to recognize that he understands both the white Americans and the black Americans. He uses ‘we’ and ‘us’ to show that he truly views the people as one as opposed to various separate groups, “… we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together, unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction…” He wants to move past the racial segregation and move towards a truly unified country, and he uses pathos by talking about his upbringing. The use of the descriptions of his youth with a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas shows that he can relate to the common person seeing as he had to adjust to both sides of his families as well as the stigmas that both sides had. The urgency in which Obama answered the accusations of being similar to Wright,
Letters Across the Divide is a book detailing the candid conversations between two friends conferring about a very controversial and "hot" topic; racism. This paper will explore the subject of racism and racial reconciliation from the author's perspective. It will ascertain is racism still exists and provide details how the racial divide impact reconciliation. The issue of race and racism in America has been a long standing "bone of contention" for many people, due to the level of sensitivity surrounding the matter. The paper will also highlight barriers caused by racism, solutions to racial reconciliation and provide my "take-away" perspective from the reading assignment. We are called to love and accept everyone; regardless
Darrius Jackson Cavasoa English 101 July 2016 If anyone were to understand what it’s like to go through the difficulties of racial discrimination and the hardships of being colored; it’d be non other than Mr. President Barack Obama himself. Despite being the first African American in history to be elected President of the United States, Obama had his fair share of being discriminated against throughout his long journey to office. On March 18, 2008, Obama delivered the speech “A More Perfect Union” at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In his speech, he responded to the criticisms of his relationship with his Pastor whom was said to have been making inflammatory statements about the U.S government and race relations
He uses allusion and repetition of words to prove his points about racial discrimination. His main goal is for the country to stay united and put discrimination aside, and continue the path of the ones who came before us. Obama alludes to the civil war by saying,” continue the long march” which illustrates the march that the north did to the south to stop race discrimination, as well as the fact how the north opposed with slavery and wanted to make south stop (1). The other device he uses in his speech was the repetition of words by using the word “more” to express his main goal and focus. Although the country is so called “free” his main goal is still to improve America in every way possible and put race discrimination completely aside. In the speech, he expresses his tone by saying,” more just, more equal, more free, more caring, and more prosperous America.” Which goes to the fact that he is trying to even improve America more in every way possible. If we improve our country even more, then we will not be having any issues in our
For example, Yousafzai speaks about girls and boys education because "... they are suffering the most" (Eleven). Using the word "suffering" draws emotion from the listeners or readers. This is using pathos because it is evoking emotion. In addition, Yousafzai shows that “... innocent and poor children are victims of child labor,” (Ten) instead of getting an education. Saying that the children are innocent and poor brings out emotion, evoking pathos. This adds to her claim by making education sound even more important. Pathos is used to evoke emotion from the audience about her claim.
In the beginning when he begins to say, “Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many.(par. 5)” This is an emotional appeal that is calling to a lot grievances that all the Americans have been affected by in one way or the other. Calling attention to how America is in a crisis and being able to use it to have the audience invest in what Obama is saying and connect with him, is a very strategic use of ethos and accomplishes what it needs to. Another use of pathos that peaked my interest in particular was when he stated, “A man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served in a local restaurant can now stand before you to take the most sacred oath (par 31)” This shows how great a change there has been in America in their ideology of how everyone is equal. It appeals since he is the first President to have roots in the African American heritage. I believe that this emits strong emotions because equality was one of the biggest problems in America, and what he stated really shows how America has become a place that has advanced far and fast in terms of equality. Also when he states “The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. (par 8)” Again Obama calls towards equality in America being one of the main calls when it comes to ethos. This is because Obama is personally an example of what this equality has been able to make it possible for him to be the President. It is a very emotional subject as well as the “pursuit of happiness”, something brought back from the constitution of the United States when it was
William Apess then asks his mostly white audience to reexamine their Christian values along with their prejudices. His essay acknowledges that unless the discrimination and prejudices that plague the white man over the other races disappear, then there won’t be peace in the Union.