Barack Obama Iraq War Speech Analysis Speeches are used to express opinions and ideas to a range of people at once. In October 2002, Barack Obama gave a speech to the nation of America where he opposed president George Bush’s plan to send American troops to Iraq. It was believed that Iraq’s leader had obtained weapons of mass destruction, which would threaten the safety of the United States. Bush believed that sending American troops to fight in Iraq would resolve the issue whereas Obama believed that fighting in Iraq would lead to bigger problems for the Middle East. Obama uses many language techniques, which are found in many memorable speeches. A variety of techniques enable Obama to help convince his audience of his propositions. Obama’s …show more content…
He repeatedly uses words such as ‘Lets,’we,’ to attempt to gather an audience to support his point of view. Obama also uses words such as ‘you’ to speak directly to his audience making him seem ‘down to earth.’ To relate to his audience Obama uses an anecdote of his grandfather to demonstrate to his viewers that he is not anti-war. As many Americans would have had grandfathers who went to war, Obama shares his grandfather’s story to prove that he is not ‘anti-war’ to the patriotic Americans. Demonstrating his commitment Obama states, “I would willingly take up arms myself,” earning himself a lot of respect from patriotic …show more content…
Obama uses a lot of repetition throughout his speech to emphasise his points and ensure that his audience does not forget his points. He continually states, “I don’t oppose all wars,” and “What I am opposed to,” to ensure that his critics understand that he is not the leader of an ‘anti-war’ rally. Obama also continually uses the statement a ‘dumb war’ to remind his audience of his view that fighting in Iraq is unnecessary. The politician also uses many metaphors in his speech, which helps create a descriptive image for the audience. “…An invasion of Iraq…will only fan the flames of the Middle East,” states Obama. The metaphor fanning the flames helps the audience follow Obama’s decision that going to war in Iraq will only make things worse and will not end up putting out the fire. Obama repeatedly asks the same rhetorical question throughout his speech which is directed at President Bush. “You want a fight President Bush?” Obama continually directs this question to Bush to portray to his listeners that Bush is looking for a fight. The rhetorical question is used to create a dichotomy of good and bad, which Obama subtly attempts to make Bush seem like the ‘bad
Franklin Roosevelt’s speech says the following, “Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.” Roosevelt uses words such as “stubbornness”, “incompetence”, and “unscrupulous” to underline the absence of morals in these money changers that have failed the American people. Barack Obama’s speech says the following, “Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.” Obama uses words such as “violence”, “hatred”, and “weakened” to stress the wrongdoing that have been committed by the previous leaders of the country. Both of the presidents use emotive language to illustrate the wrongdoings that have been committed by the previous
Jeffrey, T. P. (2013, August 31). Obama to Congress: I Don't Need Your Authorization for War, But Give It to Me Anyway | CNS News. Retrieved March 20, 2014
Rhetorical analysis assignment: President’s Address to the Nation. Since the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration has been calling on all citizens and all nations to support his Middle East policy. Nonetheless, the U.S. has been involved in the Middle East struggle for more than half of the century, wars were waged and citizens were killed.
Bush opens his speech by acknowledging the events of September 11, and those that lost the lives of loved ones and to those that gave their life trying to save others in the buildings. He appeals to those that remain strong by saying that, “These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong.” His use of pathos helps Bush to calm and control the public in order to keep the country together. This
Throughout the speech, the Former President George W Bush strives to empower Americans by instructing them to remain resolute, but to “go back to [their] lives and routines”. He uses the personal pronoun we and the common pronoun us repeatedly to indicate that the people of the United States, who either saw the event on television or experienced this event firsthand, were and still are involved in this national tragedy. 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. The next sentence leads into America’s “philanthropically” democratic nature: “We will rally the world to this cause, by our efforts and by our courage” (Bush, 2001). This statement has been followed up by action only a few years later, when the United States intervened in the Iraqi War, Libyan Revolution, and even more civil wars to ensure the freedom of citizens from dictatorships, which in Islāmic nations, were militant groups, like the Hamas and Taliban. Lastly, the president utilized anaphora, specifically a tripartite structure, by affirming that the American people “will not tire”, “will not falter”, and “will not fail”. He implies that the American people will relentlessly fight for the worldwide establishment of peace and democratic institutions, a promise which America has kept even in the face of its own national crisis.
He wants safe and secure life for all people living on this great nation. Obama not only uses the strategy of emotional stories of children to persuade his audience, he uses real mass shooting events to capture the audience emotions, as invites all the country to step with him and face this problem that’s threaten our safety. During the speech his reveling many sorrow events to encourage us to take this big move with him. Obama connects to the audience and expresses to them that he is the one that is going to make proper changes to this great
Bush demonstrates that with the use of metaphors, personification, and also repetition. Using metaphor, he compares America to steel, saying that America is like steel, but not pliable. Portraying that whatever dangerous act comes to America, America will stay strong and not move. Personification is to explain the reasoning behind the terrorists’ operations and the motives behind this move. Bush gives feeling and visualization traits to the nation, consequently putting it in the nation’s point of view, highlighting what the nation felt and saw. Repetition is to bring America together and strengthen everyone. It is to show that this heartbreaking event did not just affect the victims, but it affects the entire country. The way Bush uses repetition to get the people of America together makes America stronger because the more a country is together, the more power and strength it will possess. As a final point, President Bush’s usage of these three rhetorical devices grabs the attention of the people and helps Bush express the type of tone he wants to get
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.
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....
Contrasts with the statement Obama makes two sentences after, “This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem.” The juxtaposition signifies how he wants the country to move forward. Together, the people can help fix problems like the health care, the war, and the education system. Furthering his ethos, Obama makes allusions to the O.J. Simpson trial, “We can tackle race as a spectacle as we did in the O.J. trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina, or as a fodder for the nightly news. or we can come together and say "not this time" “ providing an example of how horribly previous presidents had handled the country’s racial problems.
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
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
The repeated use of the phrase, “Yes we can”, draws out contradictory ideas from the audience’s mind. Furthermore, the frequent use of contrasting concepts such as, “…as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights,” leads the audience to subconsciously compare the two, and anticipate the greater. The frequency of the phrase is also spread out, which creates a greater familiarity of the idea, leading to gradual acceptance. In addition, Obama deliberately begins his sentences with the same couple of words, for example: “We will…”, “We’ve been…” or “That’s…” followed by positive ideas about the U.S, Americans or what the future will bring. This effectively makes his statements stand out greater than they are, and easier to remember.
In the 2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote speech, Barack Obama effectively sets the tone for the Democratic platform and outlines the principles of the party. Obama aims to discuss the issues of the country in a bipartisan way that would unite a country that has been divided for so long. Obama’s vision,enabled him to reach across all boundaries that have commonly divided the red states and blue states; and pursue an agenda of unity through supporting John Kerry’s candidacy. The optimistic view of America described by Obama even in light of the War in Iraq and 9/11 appealed to the seemingly foreign sensation for Americans at the time; hope. Obama crafted a deeply emotional oration that spoke to the hearts of not only Democrats or Republicans,but
On July 27, 2004, Barack Obama made arguably his most important speech, “The Audacity of Hope”, at the Democratic National Convention Keynote Address. These conventions are for political parties to announce a winner for nomination. All the way through his piece, Obama focuses on connecting Americans and himself to the audience. In fact, at the time, Barack Obama was a US Senate candidate for the United States president, and in making this speech, was offered a window for raising his popularity. Throughout “The Audacity of Hope” speech, Barack Obama implements three main devices to raise his political popularity: repetition, abstract language, and structure.