A More Perfect Union “A More Perfect Union” was delivered by Barack Obama on March 18, 2008. At the time her gave the speech he was senator and running in the president election. Obama responded to his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, and also discussed the issue with race in America. This problem is important to us as a whole, because we went through plenty of racism in the past. He wants the prevent those incidents from according again. He did an excellent job using rhetoric tools to support his beliefs, which led to a successful election. 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 …show more content…
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
In October 2012 President Obama was reelected as President of the United States of America. Famous for his exceptional speeches in his first term as president there was some pressure on Obama to deliver a notable acceptance speech after such a nail biting election. By using rhetorical strategies in his speech Obama had to reach every audience member whether they were democratic or republican. President Barack Obama grasps every member of his audience by using ethos pathos and even some logos in his 2012 acceptance speech, his very first speech in his second term as president.
Obama is able to gain his listeners’ ears because of his clear and effective writing. In Obama’s writing various elements of rhetorical framework create a strong and persuasive argument that Obama is able to present in grabbing his audience’s attention and consideration. Seen through his writing, Obama’s use of rhetorical appeals, devices, and context create an in-depth look into the problem of the racial divide which still exist today. In writing an effective argument, Obama employ’s through rhetoric’s personal experience, historical events, religion, and the current state of things, which he asks his audience think more about. By noting that the problems of America as a whole is a problem that every citizen shares and not a problem that exist individually for different races. Obama is able to have his audience focus on the real issues Americans face moving forward. Ultimately, as it is seen prior before the speech was published and given, Obama’s intent on the direction and how his speech would be formed, along with writing techniques that were used to craft the speech, all reveal his personal knowledge of rhetoric’s and ability to write a persuasive argument. Through his speech Obama is easily able to dismisses his critics and do what he intended to do, being that he wants his audience to focus their attention on to the more serious problems that remain unsolved for American
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
Many people believed Senator Obama won the presidential nomination because he gives a speech that changed the political, religion issues about the race. President Barack Obama is the 44th president and the first African American to serve as U.S president. He was elected second terms over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. On March 18, 2008, president Obama gave a famous speech about the political, religion issues of race in the United States speaking at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. This speech brings more hopes to the black people, and opposed to former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s view. The speech encourages the black people to fight for their freedom, to overcome the difficulties to create more strong union
By using a combination of ethos and pathos, Obama successfully instills in his audience the importance that education, technology, job creation and being environmentally conscious have to our economic future.
President Obama’s Inaugural Speech: Rhetorical Analysis. Barrack Obama’s inauguration speech successfully accomplished his goal by using rhetoric to ensure our nation that we will be in safe hands. The speech is similar to ideas obtained from the founding documents and Martin Luther King’s speech to establish ‘our’ goal to get together and take some action on the problems our country is now facing. As President Barack Obama starts his speech, he keeps himself from using ‘me’, ‘myself’, and ‘I’ and replacing it with ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘together’ to achieve his ethos.
President Barack H. Obama has always used rhetorical strategies in his political speeches. He used these strategies to present important points and views of his in front of the public. Delivering points and views properly and logically got him to be the president in the first place. President Obama used mostly ethos and pathos, yet some logos, to deliver his inaugural and the state of union speeches. Being that, he was able to reach the audience emotionally and make the speech flow efficiently while preserving his credibility.
In “A More Perfect Union”, Obama asked the audience to view themselves through the eyes of the others (Terrill 371). Instead of imposing a moral superiority of one side of the audience like Lincoln did or telling the audience to ignore the diversity, Obama asked the people to embrace their differences and acknowledge the others. In referring to the perspective of black people, he said, “A lack of economic opportunity among black men and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family contributed to the erosion of black families...” Meanwhile, to show how some white people might feel, he narrated, “...when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudice, resentment builds over time.” By juxtaposing two different perspectives, Obama tried to ask for agreement that people’s anxiety over racial problems is
Barack Obama’s campaign speech, “A More Perfect Union,” not only is it one of the best campaign speeches ever given, but also a great outline for the needs of America and what to do to create a more perfect union. He outlines that we can take care of all the races of America who do not have health care as long as we take it on together, that the real problem isn’t someone taking your job, it’s the corporation sending it overseas for a profit, and that we’ll show our patriotism by caring for the men and women of every color who serve and fight together by giving them the benefits they have earned. However, this campaign speech is almost eight years old and the question is did Barack Obama and we the people do
Obama gave the speech, according to his opening in a shorter, meaning in a few words as possible. Although he did so his speech was clear and easy to comprehend. The conclusion was also memorable. He spoke of Dr. King and showed pictures of important people who influenced us in one way or another. Obama talked about how he sees our future unfolding in workers on the assembly line, students, soldiers, and elderly women making him hopeful about our future. We need to face the future with confidence is basically what Obama was saying and that our future depends on us, the citizens and we need to take advantage of the many opportunities.
That had to be done in order to get everyone to come together as one whole as peace and respect. Obama opened this significant speech by including words from the Constitution “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union” (Obama). From these words it means that the union was in critical conditions and there had to be an escape from the misunderstanding that was creating so much chaos. Obama decided to run for president at that time, because he believed that the issues that the country was going through had to solved together (Obama). Solving all the issues together was the goal in order to better the lives of Americans and gave them hope. Race back in the past and in the present is a topic that cannot be ignored and left unfixed. ‘If we simply retreat into our respective corners we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like healthcare, or education or the need to find good jobs for every American” (Obama). If these challenges never came to an end, then what would the American dream be? There were many things to think about to control these unexpected hardships that many people were dealing with. Finding a job was very difficult, many were criticized of their skin color, they were told that they did not have the capacity to handle a job and someone else who is at a different social status
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:
Obama emotionally influences the nation to move forward from the issues of race that is hindering America. Without dwelling on his family tree, Obama reminds us that his father was black and his mother white, that he came from Kenya, but she came from Kansas: “I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slave and slave owners — an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
He then appealed to pathos by bringing light to his audience with examples of racial corruption and inequality to highlight the huge need for unity and change. And finally, he capitalized on these sentiments by appealing to the ethos of advocating methods of change. With the great success of this historic and rhetorical speech, Obama assumed a new podium in November of that same exact year, but this time, to accept his election as the President of the United States.
In the autobiography, Obama entails on the beginning journey of his life from early childhood to young adulthood. The novel begins with him finding out from his aunt that his father has passed away in Nairobi. Obama’s father left him and his mother when he was only 2 years old. Obama then talks about the family he grew up with, his mother and grandparents, and the racism they dealt with at a time when few accepted interracial relations and even more so marriages. He recalls being made fun of as a young child when other kids would make monkey noises when it was discovered his father was from Kenya. He then moves to Indonesia when his mother remarries, but then at 10 years old moves back to Hawaii where he spent his early childhood. It was with his grandparents that he developed much of his character and learned how strongly education was emphasized in his family. Obama also talks about how fascinated he was with by his father. As he grows a bit older into adolescence, Obama learns more about race relations and reads the book Heart of Darkness. This book helps him to see how white people look at black people, as a white man wrote the book talking about black people. He also delves into his marijuana use, which he used to help him during this confusing and rough period in his life. Obama’s story then ...