The Decision ’08 is what the entire electoral race had been titled. The United States had seen a monumental trail of campaigns for the title of President of the United States of America. Factors in this election were completely different than before. From the nominees of the election right on down to the way the campaigns for these potential leaders of our nation were being run. It was during this time we were introduced to a new wave of change in America. It was also the quest for change that seemed to be the theme for this Decision ’08 race. Candidate’s included a known former first lady by the name of Hilary Clinton, a popular comedian named Stephen Colbert and other popular political heavyweights. During the nomination process, it came …show more content…
This speech contained several themes and topics, all of these themes and topics however, fell under the one umbrella of Hope and Change in our country. Obama’s spoke of plenty different types of people those who helped fight for this dream, supporters of this dream and even his opponents in the race for President of The United States. In calling out these several different types of people and places, Obama was able to personify his speech on levels, that would felt personal to all those mentioned. Giving out titles, he was congratulating, this melting pot country. Titles and places like, “Doubters, schools, churches, anyone who waited three or four hours, first timers, young, old, rich, poor, democrat, republican, black, white, native American, Mexican American, gay, straight, disabled, not disabled”, this collection of individuals is what makes up our great nation as he went on to imply. His appreciation to this collection of individuals was a huge part of this speech; it was because of these individuals that the change he fought so hard far was finalizing at that very …show more content…
He used a three-part list many times during the speech to make points, describe situations and even characterized and personifies people whom he spoke of in the course of the speech. At the very start he used three contrasting groups of people using, race, orientation and disability status as ways of grouping the people of the United States. He uses his power of three again when he talks about the topic of change and the occurrences of this change. Those occurrences according to Obama included, “this day”, “this election” and “this moment”, he uses those three particular moments and the biggest moment’s right then when that hopeful sense of change seemed the strongest to him personally. When showing appreciation to his running mate Joe Biden, Obama once again stayed with his theme of the three-lists and characterized his personality with the following list of three things Biden has done that spoke volumes to Obama about Biden’s character, he said Biden “campaigned from his heart”, “spoke for the men and women he grew up with”, and “rode on that train home to Delaware”. In using the power of three Obama’s listing tropes were clearly depicted and painted the picture for the audience whenever needed. In action he also uses the listing of three when presenting his wife Michelle and Vice President Biden to the crowd, what I noticed Obama did was identify the said person, praise them and then
Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/la_riot/article/0,28804,1614117_1614084_1614831,00.html. Levy, W. (2013). The 'Standard'. United States presidential election of 2000.
He implements this emotional appeal into his speech to involve all Americans—people living in the United States of America, regardless of their ethnicity, race, or culture, and to acknowledge that the American people have endured this together, and that they will continue to advance after this event with stronger resolve, stronger than ever. In addition, he implements personification to motivate and empower the American people. “Our nation, this generation, will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future” (Bush, 2001). “This generation”, again a synonym for the American people, with its unwavering resolve, will fight for its freedom persistently. He intimates that the future of America and of democratic freedom is in the hands of the American people; that the American people have the power to control their fate.
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”.
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
It was a brief speech that captivated a lot of matters that concern the American citizens exclusively and the world inclusively. He divided his speech into different sectors which are citizens’ sacrifice, the idea of service, adopting changes, promise of wealth, government harmony and dignity. The language used in the speech was flawless and applicable to the audience, who was the public, since he was using every day vocabulary. Therefore, the speech has a strong structure that can be easily understood by the majority of people. The audience typically will and was the American citizens, but since the United States has many international relationships, President Obama was trying to reach beyond the nationwide concerns and meet a mutual background....
The fear he brings on by talking about Ebola spreading, the grief brought on by talking of the many murders and awful acts by ISIL terrorists, to the hope he projects be calling for the nations to come together to drive his argument. While some arguments use emotion to deceive readers and keep them from paying attention to the argument, but Obama’s speech does just the opposite. The emotions that are felt bring you closer to his argument and facilitate understanding of what he is saying. Since unfortunately not a great deal of people pay attention to politics, they are not knowledgeable on the issues that have taken place. With the use of emotion, Obama is able to help those understand without them having to know the situation entirely. For example, regarding the ISIL terrorists, Obama states the, “mother, sisters, and daughters have been subjected to rape as a weapon of war. Innocent children have been gunned down.” Now while one may not know the ins and out of all the acts of ISIL, this makes people understand that they are bad and need to be
Shugart, Matthew. "Elections: The American Process of Selecting a President: A Comparative Perspective." Presidential Studies, 34, 3 (September 2004): 632-656.
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,
The election of President Barrack Hussein Obama was one of the greatest movements in history for the United States of America. This election brought to America a symbol of change, and with that change came hope. However, were the Americans blinded by their own hopes of this change? The campaign of Obama was so focused on ‘change’, because that is what the people wanted to hear. Many people claim that Barrack Obama is a great president, who is helping the poor, and has made a monumental impact for the black communities. Yet, there seem to be more people who see past the show that Obama presents. Yes, there has been change, but in what forms has it come? When one looks at the political and non-political agenda of this president, a new light is shed. Maybe the change isn’t about being a black president; maybe it is about changing the direction of the United States government.
During President Obama’s run for presidency, he has given many speeches. One in particular stood out, March 18, 2008 to the understanding of society today and society then. His speech targeted race, within this speech,he gives examples to why our society today could never be as the Gilead. Obama has high hopes, faith and wants better for our future society. Whereas Gilead is the bad outcome of after The United States of America.
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 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...
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
Much of Obama’s speech applies repetition devices, principally anaphora and epistrophe, which imply emphasis on certain socially