Barack Obama Rhetorical Analysis Essay

President George W. Bush gave a speech titled “9/11 Address to the Nation,” where he reassures the nation of our country’s strength and even calls it the “brightest beacon for freedom.” This event was a suicide bombing of the World Trade Center where approximately 3,000 people were killed and nearly 6,000 more were injured. Although it was one of the worst attacks in American history, it unified the nation in more ways than one. This speech was made even more important after a tragedy like 9/11 because the nation had been frightened by these acts of terror and was in need of the inspiration of our most powerful leader: the commander-in-chief. Throughout this speech, Bush uses rhetorical devices such as pathos, analogy, epithet, and asyndeton

Intro Growing up, we have all heard the many stories of George Washington. While many recognize him as one of the most important figures in U.S history, others only recognize him by one of his multiple accomplishments; he was the 1st president of the United States. With presidency comes the variety of duties and responsibilities, the main being a president 's inaugural adress. In George Washington 's very 1st inaugural, he uses three rhetorical strategies: personification, amplification, and last but not least, repitition to convey what he truly wants for the States and why a successful Constitution should be in order.

He was faced with the difficult task that evenings of letting the world know what took place that day, and help the American people through a day of shock and disbelief. In a time of unspeakable evil, George W bush addresses that nation using rhetorical appeals; together with the history of American ideas to reassure and untie not only Americans, but the world to stand together and fight back on the war of terrorism.

On January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan gave his “First Inaugural Address” with the United States listening; some people were able to experience firsthand Ronald Reagan’s passion and views for our country, in Front of the Capitol Building, while others tuned in to listen on the momentous occasion. Ronald Reagan sets the stage for his presidency using logos through logical sentences that are meant to bring the audience a better perspective on his point of view. Diction was a key factor in showing Ronald Reagan’s strong sense of nationalism; he chose powerful, hopeful words and phrases that were intended to unify the people. He shows syntax through anaphora, repetition, and parallelism. By using these rhetorical devices, he states key phrases more than once to create an urgency and therefore grab listener’s attention.

President Abraham Lincoln uses a variety of rhetorical strategies in his Second Inaugural Address to pose an argument to the American people regarding the division in the country between the northern states and the southern states. Lincoln gives this address during the American Civil War, when politics were highly debated and there was a lot of disagreement. Lincoln calls for the people of America to overcome their differences to reunite as one whole nation once more. Lincoln begins his Second Inaugural Address by discussing the American Civil War and its ramifications.

The Rhetorical Elements of Barack Obama’s Speech President Obama uses rhetorical appeals throughout his speech. These rhetorical appeals help prove that each an every student should try their best in school. President Obama stated in his 2009 “Address to America’s Schoolchildren” that each student must take responsibility for his or her own education. President Obama uses many examples of ethos, logos, and pathos in his speech. In Obama’s 2009 “Address to America’s Schoolchildren” he has examples of ethos.

Bush addresses the audience and the problem as a catchy first sentence. “Our…fellow citizens, our way of life…our very freedom…” Due to Bush repeating “Our” he utilizes the device of anaphora to hook the reader’s attention. The president starts to tell his audience that the terrorist attack might have threatened their freedom and way of life but will never successfully take it. Bush uses the

During a funeral for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, a Charleston shooting victim, President Obama delivered an influential eulogy. This eulogy turned out to be so powerful that it traveled throughout the internet and became known as one of Obama’s best speeches from the duration of his presidency. The speech resonated so well with many citizens because of its relatable content and connections to passionate issues in today’s society. The delivery of the eulogy played a gigantic part in its effectiveness to Americans as well. President Obama’s eulogy contained beyond relatable content and various connections to the issues racking society’s bones today.

“Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination. And moreover, you have to remember that whatever you 've gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured - and they overcame them.” (Obama 6) In the speech Obama had presented at the graduation class of 2013 at Morehouse College, he wants them to remember their struggles and be able to overcome them to do what is right.

Abe Lincoln, in his second inaugural address, uses language with which the audience can connect and relate. Through inclusive pronouns, parallel sentence structure, pathos, and metaphors, Lincoln does not simply list off what the war has entailed or recommend a certain path the people must take. Lincoln instead consoles the nation as if it was a dear old friend whom is in dire need of advice. The first rhetorical strategy Lincoln used was inclusive pronouns such as “we”, “us”, and “all”. Additionally, the president began the address with the inviting words “Fellow Countrymen”.

He includes anaphora in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth paragraphs, which state: “For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places just like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.” From this repetition of “For us” Obama clues his audience in on the fact that people from earlier generations fought for the generation of today’s Americans to have a better life than them.

Obama says, “My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors” (Barack Obama's Inaugural Address, 2009). This is where he showed how grateful and humbled he is, which emphasizes his credibility. Obama is very well educated in the nation’s history which is shown throughout this speech with all of his references to America’s history. He also thanked President Bush for his help throughout the transition of administrations, and acknowledged their forebears. This showed his respect for the foundation that was laid by his predecessors.

The use of sentenia, repetition and distinctio each add different meanings to President Obama’s inaugural speech. The employment of a sentenia adds connections to the past. Repetition is mainly practiced to emphasize many of Obama’s goals. And distinctio benefits the audience because it adds clarification to an example. All in all, Obama successfully used rhetorical devices to deepen the meaning of his Inaugural

Introduction Hook: I never knew that one day, one idea could have such a big impact. That one thing could change the history, set up the rest of the country to follow suit with this specific topic, and things that need a change in general. Background: Over 50 years ago, on March 7, 1965, now known as bloody Sunday, segregation was still prevalent. At the time it was not allowed for blacks to vote at the time.

Using this quote gave the readers a sense of the main idea, which was about racism. This helped to further improve the quality of Obama’s topic and support the points he was about to make. Then goes to give a brief information about Obama’s speech. He then began with his four rhetorical strategies, starting with allusion.