A Rhetorical Analysis of Barack Obama's "Interfaith Prayer Vigil"

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 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

When certain people make speeches, don’t you just feel inspired by their words? For these certain people, they all put it into the delivery of their speeches to be as influential as possible. They use many forms of rhetoric to achieve their goals and gain support. This is the case for Obama’s Speech on the death of Osama Bin Laden. The goal of Obama’s speech is to unite the American people and support the war on terrorism. Obama’s creative choice of words are used as tools to persuade people.

The president appeals primarily to pathos by listing ordinary people who fell victim to “deadly terrorist attacks.” He draws upon the audience’s feelings of anger and sorrow by including “moms and dads, friends and neighbors” among the murdered. President Bush details the efforts of different parts of the government to guarantee safety and stability. He guarantees his audience that everything possible is being done to find the terrorists who were responsible for the attacks. Also, the president shows pathos by saying this “Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened.”

When people think of a time where all of America was under attack they think of 9/11. 9/11 was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in American history. After this deadly attack, President George W. Bush went on national television to talk to the shaken American population. In his speech, he addressed how this issue was to be dealt and his condolences for the lives lost. President Bush used multiple effective ways including ethos, pathos, and logos to comfort and inform his people in his 9/11 speech.

Another powerful technique that Burke uses to persuade his audience is he uses quotes. Burke uses quotes from people who were at the scene of 9/11 themselves. Burke quotes a woman who was descending from the 89th floor who said “When I saw the firemen I knew we would be all right.” By using quotes like this, Burke shows the emotional reinsurance that the first responders gave to the people involved in the attack. By showing the emotional response to the first responders, it makes the reader clearly see the importance of the presence of first responders on the scene and the impact they had on the victims.The first responders altered the emotional atmosphere of the scene. This shows the significant of the first responders at the scene and how discluding them from the memorial is “atrocious”. Quotes worked hand

Former President Barack Obama performed a speech in response to a mass shooting that happened in a community college in Oregon. This speech included other gun related incidents which occurred during his time in office in 2015 regarding Umpqua Community College and Roseburg. After giving his condolences and love to those who felt loss in their hearts, Obama gave a powerful argument regarding gun control and how we, as Americans, should fight and strive for better gun laws. While Obama gave a moving speech, I could not help but feel it fell short in its argument while conducting a thorough critique. Obama appealed to his audience utilizing pathos and ethos with ease but fell short for those in the audience looking for logos or specific facts within his performance. I will be taking this opportunity to delve further into an analysis of this speech and both its heights and pitfalls.

During every presidential term, the standing president is confronted with a tough speech that he must learn to relate to, even if it is impossible too. On December 14, 2012, twenty-six lives, twenty preschool students, and six adults were taken away from their loved ones in Newtown, Connecticut. Within two days, President Obama presented his interfaith prayer vigil speech to those attending at Newtown High School. Obama gave his condolence to those affected by the tragedy. Obama could have easily chosen to pick and choose which route he wanted to make this speech head. Obama had the opportunity to turn away from the matter at hand and lead the speech towards gun control and security at schools, but relating to his audience he knew that

Bush opens and closes his speech with the theme of unity. He uses a commoratio to dwell on and emphasize the tragedy the nation had just faced. He opens his speech with, “These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our Nation into chaos and retreat, but they have failed. Our country is strong.” He thus continuously works to empathize with the audience and to feel for the loss of thousands of families by using charged diction such as “unyielding anger,” “despicable acts,” and “terrible sadness.” After backing up his opening statement with several reasons and emotional examples, he reiterates the same theme of unity by ending with, “This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace.” Unity, nation, and America are the three themes that Bush works to engrave in each American. He tries to assure us that no attack can be so detrimental to break apart the nation for good.

President Obama’s speech entitled Barack Obama in Fort Wayne, IN he is extremely articulated. President Obama shows the highlights of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. President Obama speaks that through Dr. Martin Luther King’s faith, courage, and wisdom, and he moved an entire nation. President Obama addresses that Dr. King preached the gospel of brotherhood, of equality, and justice; therefore, that is the cause for which he lived and for which he died 40 years ago today. President Obama engaged his audience in moment of silence for Dr. King, this extraordinary American. However, President Obama’s audience dropped their heads in a moment of silence. Thus, President Obama’s speech is powerful for that he talks about Dr. King’s life and legacy

After the events at Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech, two of the most fatal massacre’s ever to happen in the history of this nation, two great leaders, renowned poet and professor Nikki Giovanni and the president of the United States Barack Obama rose up using speeches as their outlets to try and make efforts to uplift and inspire spectators that were saddened and confused. While both audiences were different they were also similar. The many viewers of President Obama’s were families of the little children and staff members that tragically lost their lives. The audience was very saddened and distraught just like observers of Nikki Giovanni’s speech. However Giovanni’s speech was more of an uplifting speech to inspire the audience.

In his speech at the Interfaith Service after the Boston Marathon bombings, President Obama effectively used language to describe the tragedy that had occurred, reference people who were affected by the events, and to encourage the nation to stand up and stay strong. This use of language allowed him to capture the attention of the audience and clearly make his point known. President Obama’s use of language painted a picture of Boston, both before and after the bombings, and brought forward emotions from those who heard his speech.

Obama opens his statement by revealing the nation has experienced a mass shooting once again. The mood of his national address was set automatically by his earnest tone. Furthermore, Obama expressed his condolences to the families and the community affected by these senseless killings, as well as ridiculing the routine nature of and response to mass shootings in America. He emphasizes that Americans are slowly becoming desensitized to shooting sprees, and eventually move on without taking action, or preventive measures so incidents like the Roseburg shooting can’t happen time and time again. To illustrate, the growing concern, Obama goes on to say, “But as I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months

While reading the New York Times I came across an article titled Save These Lives and Let These People Grow Up by Gardiner Harris and Michael Shear dated October 2, 2015 informing the nation about President Obama’s moving press conference following the Oregon Community College shooting. Moving as it was, I was left, much like President Obama, feeling outraged and fatigued from this event. I have lived through too many days where I waited to see what the President had to say. I have seen too many weeping families and too many pictures of the fallen and the lost as this grows into an epidemic. Yet as a nation, we are left time and time again wondering what’s next? And how do we prevent this from happening again?

In the year 2009, Barack Obama shares with us his first inauguration for him becoming the forty-fourth president. As Obama begins his presidency, it is a tradition to write an appealing speech that is professional for his audience. Obama writes this speech to let people know that we will not take for granted the acts people did for us to live together equally. During President Obama’s inaugural speech, he remarked, “On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for too long have strangled our politicians”. His use of “strangled our politics” is an example of using Argument is War metaphor which on a basic level asserts that there is a win or a loss, in case he refers to the past administration’s politicians “fighting” against each other’s political party as the winner, and the resulting “strangled politics” or influential political system being the loser. Obama’s speech was hopeful towards his audience by his word choice being professional, shows emotional appeal, and demonstrates ethos logos, and pathos throughout his inaugural speech.