Barack Obama Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Barack Obama uses the stories of everyday people and their struggles to create a social and emotional connection with his audience in order to highlight the problems in average America that can be fixed with a strong President such as John Kerry. In one example he gives, he says that there is “more [work] to do for the father I met who was losing his job and choking back tears, wondering how he would pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits he counted on” (Obama). Here he touches on the subject of unemployment and affordable healthcare, which he deems to be a national struggle that is fixable with hard work. He speaks specifically of “the workers I met in Galesburg, Illinois, who are losing their union jobs

After talking about all that America had accomplished up until that point, Obama announces to the crowd, “We have more work to do” (Obama). He states this powerful proclamation in a hopeful, yet serious tone to show the audience that their country is not all good; there is still more to progress. Upon the controversial topic of war, Obama uses a shift in tone from prideful to more harsh to convey the weight of his words. When he says that America should “never, ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world,” his already serious tone turns cold and grave, which can be heard in his voice. He speaks as though he is referring to an event that has already occurred, most likely the Afghan and Iraq wars, and is promising to not let such blind recklessness occur again. However, Obama, not wishing to be confused for saying that war is not a choice, he proclaims that “we have real enemies in the world” (Obama), and that “war must be an option, but it should never be the first option” (Obama), and his tone again turns grave and attention-grabbing. Barack Obama uses tone shift to signal to his audience that the topic he is talking about is of serious