Comparing Obama's Narrative And Myth

In 2004, Obama walked up to the podium at the Democratic National Convention as a political novelty. The speech he delivered established Obama as a natural leader and transformed him into a future presidential candidate. Rich in demonstrative rhetoric, its purpose was to unite the American people through nationalism. The exploration of his rhetoric and style throughout this paper will cement why the speech was beneficially identity transforming for Obama's political career.

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.

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.

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.

It is ambiguous as to how President Barrack Obama shapes our politics in terms of our political regime, but it can be determined through the present outcomes of his leadership today. In The Politics Presidents Make, by Stephen Skowronek, describes that there is a life-cycle of inaugurated presidents through the history of the United States. A political regime is defined as a full cycle of presidents that induce change in our politics until it is repeated again. Through this, it is possible to determine where President Obama would stand in our political time. Skowronek also mentions four leadership categories in which past presidents are placed in: politics of reconstruction, politics of disjunction, politics of

. “Tonight”, he focuses on this precious moment during which he was talking. Plus, the use of “This year, in this election…” showing the urgency of the situation. “More work to do”, he seemed to be less confrontational, as he used the word “more work” rather than insulting the “Democrats, Republicans, and Independents”’s abilities. Obama made the general theme of his keynote address the American Dream. He also criticized poor black youths in America who believe that reading a book is “acting white”. He exclaims as a proud American “In no other country on Earth is my story possible” and this lets all listeners feel that their country is one of a kind irreplaceable. Obama said, “A skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too” trying to point to himself by this statement. Moreover he showed a rallying cry of togetherness and unity in simple but powerful way when he mentioned, “there’s a United States of America”. By stating this he does not simply mean that there is a USA. He means a united country, united as one as the United States of

The hypothesis of this essay will focus on the use of metaphors in speech by state leaders to mobilise public opinion. In this instance, how does the metaphor and imagery of the word ‘evil’, used by George W. Bush, mobilised the public opinion of the American people towards policies for the ‘War on Terror’. Also, this essay will argue that that using this term improved the domestic opinion of President Bush, at the expense of relations between USA and Iran. This is not a new phenomenon; it can be argued that the idea of using such emotive terminology to categorise states together is one that has existed prior to Bush Jr. This essay will elaborate and analyse examples of this. The hypothesis will

In 2008, Barack Obama delivered his speech “A More Perfect Union” in hopes of addressing the racial segregation in America. His goal was to connect with the American people on a topic that was close to home for most. By doing so, he gained a sense of trust among the American people and appealed to many potential voters. Senator Barack Obama’s trustworthy and relatable character; followed by logically explaining America’s calling for change; and a final emotional connection to the reader and their everyday struggles, demonstrated his passion for America and his desire to build an emotional connection with every single citizen.

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

Winning the election as a man of color was a huge accomplishment for Obama and the United States as a whole. In a world of unjustified bias and racism, it was an exciting moment in history to elect an African-American to be the 44th commander-in-chief of the United States. This accomplishment provoked many different reactions from Americans that range from skepticism and hope. Obama’s speech shared his objective as a president and served as a platform to present his plan to revolutionize America. In order to deliver his message, Obama focuses on one pivotal social group: the new generation of prejudice-free Americans.

Senator Barack Obama had many issues throughout his campaign. Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union”, delivered on March 18, 2008, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, conveyed many issues concerning racism throughout the United States, but it starts out stating how the founders of this nation constructed the Declaration of Independence, creating all men equal. Obama then begins to talk about his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and his racial remarks against America and Israel, as it is “divisive at a time when we need unity”, referring to the “ two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis” going on at the time. (Obama 2) Obama remarks “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas,” (Obama 1) because there is much criticism in his campaign due to his race. Obama argues that race is paralyzing our nation, and that it is still a major issue due to white privilege, and racial inequality. In the end, Obama hopes to move past the “racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years,” (Obama 6) and wishes to improve health care, jobs, schools, and other social issues for the United States.

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

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. He went to Harvard Law School. After his graduation, continued his legal work as a civil rights lawyer and a professor teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996. He served there for three terms (1996-2004). Later on, he started his campaign in 2007 for the presidential election in 2008. He won the presidential election against John McCain, his Republican opponent and started serving in the office in January 20, 2009. He became the 44th President of The United States of America. He is more well-known for being the first African-American who ever served in The White House.

He then declares that the first story is our everyday life, and the second story is what happens in the life of our country. He says this because this makes people think that the second story is beyond their power to control. However, Obama debunks this by stating that people from many generations have lived to say that the two stories are not separate, but shared. And they have served the country in manners that augmented

Introduction: Barack Obama was re-elected as President of the U.S on November 6th, 2012. Barack Obama held his Victory Speech on the following day. This essay will analyze and comment on an excerpt of that exacting Victory Speech and the solution focus of the criticism will be on the Rhetorical belongings of the Speech. By using numerous forms of Rhetorical apparatus like Anaphora or Tautology, Barack Obama controls to offer a Speech that is full of American thoughts of life, similar to the American promise, the American Dream and the outlook. The Speech is very alike to the one he did in 2008 at the Democratic meeting, and contains numerous forms of replication and between the outline political views.