Rhetorical Devices In Obama's Inaugural Speech

President Barack Obama spoke his remarks at Howard University commencement ceremony for the class of 2016. This special moment in the speech is honoring people of color, especially African Americans and made history at this University, having the president to present his speech (Donnella). Obama explained how America was different when he graduated college and society is now accepting new cultures and backgrounds within today’s workforce and education. Obama wants the audience to take opportunities and learning new skills to expand their education.

In response to the controversial sermon given by his pastor and the racial remarks that followed him during his 2008 campaign, then Senator Barack Obama, was inherently forced into delivering a speech that would address the comments and prove to the American people that he did in fact shared their “American Dream” and was not an Anti-America charity case. Obama gave his famous “A More Perfect Union” speech in Philadelphia, where he seized the opportunity to address the controversy as an indication of a much larger issue, race relations in America and introduce his mission of moving the country toward “a more perfect union.” His speech often coined, “the Race Speech”, had several factors play into its success, one factor being the way the speech was delivered, his speech incorporated the jeremiad form and constitutive form of rhetoric, the use of those two forms helped Obama address the issue while at the same time creating an identity that would encompass all Americans who would then come together in this identity and work toward the solution of the race issue and providing the “American Dream” for everyone.

In specific, President Obama sought to assert his commitment in supporting economic recovery as well as growing the middle class in the United States. It follows the adverse economic conditions and thus, president Obama promised to offer liberation for the American families. Still, President Obama also used the speech to emphasize on his policies going forward including his foreign policy which

Obama introduced his speech greeted the audience, and since the beginning he identified himself as one more citizen of the America, by refereeing to his broadly audience as “his fellow citizens,” (Klein) which was an effective way to have the people attention. Then he grounded his words on the Constitution of the United States to introduce his thesis about how the patriots of 1776 fought to give us a republic and a government that defended the rights of its people. He also presented the main points of his speech, and concluded his introduction by sharing common past experiences about the economic success achieved and about the importance of protecting the most vulnerable. This way he put his ideas in context and made his address more credible.

In his speech, “Remarks by the President in a National Address to America’s Schoolchildren,” Obama effectively argues his claim, that kids should go to school and try very hard to succeed to schoolchildren around the U.S. He effectively argues his claim because he uses supporting details and stories of students that have undergone tough situations, but still overcame those obstacles to succeed and school. Also, he is trying to tell kids that they should do well in school to get a good job and make a difference. He also uses rhetorical appeals to help with the supporting details. One of supporting evidence that he brought up was that if someone wants to become something such as a doctor, or lawyer you will need a good education to do

In his State of the Union Address for 2016, Barack Obama uses logical and ethical arguments to emphasize shared ground rather than partisan disputes. He also taps into the audience’s desire to feel better about themselves and their country. By using humor and irony, Obama paints his opponents into corners, out of which it would require outrageous extremism to effectively squirm away. At its best, this approach demonstrates how much Americans actually have in common in a culture dominated by ideologically polarized cable-news channels, Facebook, and cultural tribes that increasingly live and socialize apart from one another. The president's technique throughout the speech is to frame issues through a rhetorical jujitsu to persuade his opponents,

Barrack Obama’s inauguration speech successfully executed crafty rhetoric to ensure our country that we will be under safe hands. The speech draws from ideas straight from the founding documents and Martin Luther King’s speech to establish ‘our’ goal to join together and take action on the many problems facing our country. As President Barrack Obama begins his speech, He refrains from using ‘me’, ‘myself’, and ‘I’ but instead ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘together’ to establish ethos. He makes sure his audience feels at his level, and he at theirs. This way he connects to the audience, and in turn, aids his

The inaugural address, spoken by President Barack Obama, was largely written by the 27 year old Jon Favreau. “What is Required: The Price & Promise of Citizenship” captured the audience of the American people, with Obama’s natural ability to achieve praise without really saying anything. The country was told once again that we are in a crisis and that change is the answer. The speech teaches about Obama’s thoughts on common defense, and Americans are then assured that our country’s problems will be fixed, but that’s up to us, the people. The words spoken by Obama bring hope; “Obama’s aides have repeatedly referred to him as his own best speechwriter” through symbolism and

The strongest of Obama’s points reside in his use of pathos, or emotional appeal, to connect with his audience. The audience and appeal are blatant from the beginning of the essay to the final word. Americans. Due to the loss of American lives, the emotional charge within the audience is almost palpable. Obama highlights this when he states:

President Obama, like all Presidents before him, delivered a farewell address to the United States on January 20, 2017. As he stepped down as President he was eloquent and it was as clear as ever that he is a master of oration. Obama will go down in history as the first Black President as well as a strong orator who had the ability to captivate an audience through his use of ethos, pathos and logos amongst other rhetorical devices. His farewell address is a perfect example of Obama’s mastery of discourse as it is chock full of oratorical devices. Obama’s message to the American people and to the rest of the world is that it is essential that we maintain a sense of what it means to have a democracy and that in order to maintain peace and

Barack Obama's powerful diction creates hope for the future of the United States with word choices such as “continue,” “shifted” and “ambitions.” Barack’s shift from informal to formal diction constructs an image of unity through the usage of simple, personal pronouns, such as “we” and “us.” The shifts from informal to formal and back appeal to the emotions of the audience because they feel as if Obama is talking directly to them. His allusions to the Bible are sentimental because when he says "the God given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness" he creates a bond between himself and his audience. His words have a motivating connotation that appeal to both logos and pathos. The way in which Barack Obama presents his ideas allows his audience to have confidence in him and his role as president.

Barrack Obama’s inauguration speech successfully accomplished his goal by using rhetoric to ensure our nation that we will be under safe hands. The speech is similar from 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 Barrack Obama starts his speech, he keeps himself from using ‘me’, ‘myself’, and ‘I’ and replacing it with ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘together’ to achieve ethos. He makes sure his audience connects with him directly by making them feel at his level, and him at theirs. This way he connects to the audience, and in exchange, helps his

Move over, parents and teachers. Someone with even more authority wants to tell kids to work harder in school: the president of the United States of America. In 2009, in the first year of his presidency, Barack Obama opened the school year with a speech to students, asking them to take charge of their own education. His speech, which he filled with many anecdotes meant to establish credibility and create inspiration, sent students an important message about their education. However, Obama could have made his speech stronger if he had avoided several missteps in the content and delivery of his message.

On January 20, 2009, President Obama was officially inaugurated and sworn in as the forty-fourth president of the United States of America. The tradition of being inaugurated requires the president to give a speech about the goals they want to reach during their presidency. The president must make a speech that appeals to the audience while being professional. Rhetoric is a useful strategy to utilize in speech making. Obama uses rhetoric to achieve presenting his message of creating hope and change together in America while fixing the economic and social challenges and issues left behind from the previous president. Barack Obama uses syntax, the rhetorical triangle, and diction to portray his message.

Throughout the speech, Obama uses pathos to produce an emotion-driven response from America, but more specifically, Arizona State University Class of 2009. For instance, he states, “For many of you, these