Rhetorical Analysis Of A More Perfect Union

In Barack Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union,” Obama made an effort to educate the American people on the history and importance of race in America. He explained how our nations founding fathers developed our Constitution based on the idea that all men are created equal, without actually practicing this idea themselves. He used the words of the Constitution to discuss the current racial issues and to state his concern of our imperfect nation. This was all in response to the very controversial remarks Barack Obama’s pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright had previously stated, which created much unease among Americans. Obama felt the need to address our nation about this specific problem, since he identifies as a black man himself, and offer a solution to end this built up anger and discrimination between the American people. In his speech, “A More Perfect Union,” Obama is able to clearly convey the specific racial problem at hand that created the exigency for this speech, as well as effectively share his own personal connection with this issue, in order to help fix our country and work together to find a beneficial solution.

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.

Throughout this speech, each form of rhetoric is used. The first obvious rhetorical appeal would be Ethos. A prestigious sports figure like Lou Gehrig definitely has ethos appeal. Lou Gehrig got the attention of thousands maybe millions of people when he gave his

I. The basis of all rhetoric is Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. Logos, used to insert logic into a speech; Pathos, used to add an emotional effect; and Ethos, used to convince someone of credibility and character with ethics. In President Donald Trump's inaugural speech, Logos, Ethos, and Pathos is varied but, is not always used in a strong, effective manner.

‘A More Perfect Union’ is a speech that was delivered by the then US Senator for Chicago, Barack Hussein Obama, in response to criticism and condemnation that was hurled at him due to his association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright in March of 2008. Videos had surfaced earlier that month of Obama’s (now former) pastor in Chicago making “racially inflammatory remarks” that criticized the American government and accused it of discrimination against people of color (Yahoo News, 2015). Reverend Wright had come under attack from many corners of American society due to what people termed as ‘anti-American’ sentiments that Reverend Wright shared with his congregants, the most prominent of them being Senator Obama.

Plato, a great philosopher, once said “rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men” (Plato). He accentuates the importance of rhetoric in persuading the audience to support a cause or take action. In his speech addressed at the 50th anniversary of Selma march, President Barack Obama uses rhetoric to persuade his audience, Americans as a whole, to discourage racism in the United States. President Obama appeals to the rhetorical strategies, uses rhetorical devices, and applies a presentation style; which make his speech effective in terms of rhetoric.

Within his speech, Barack Obama admits that the United States is in the "midst of a crisis" but he believes that it can change, but he also makes it clear that the change cannot happen overnight. Obama's inspirational tone stirs up the nation with phrases such as “dust ourselves off” and “bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions.” Barack Obama's message persuades his audience because the message is believable and delivered by an honest man. In his previous speeches, Obama spoke of race and prejudice, an economic crisis and his hopes and fears with such intelligence that when

In Obama’s speech “A More Perfect Union”, he emphasizes the importance of unity among Americans. He wants people to overlook their ethnic backgrounds and join together as one. This speech brought out many points that Americans should take into consideration. That even though we are all from different backgrounds, we should overlook our differences to make us a stronger nation. Obama’s speech was inspiring in some aspects, but in a way his speech also is controversial.

Obama’s speech on race was a part of his campaign while he was running for the presidential election in 2009. He speaks to the American people with the purpose to gather them and with spirit of fellowship to creates a unity and patriotism. A unity where everyone stands together and in jointly could make the world a better place for everyone, no matter

In 2003, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, President Barack Obama 's former pastor, gave a sermon that seemingly condemned America. Snippets of the reverend 's speech sparked controversy in 2008 due to the fact that President Obama was still running for the democratic nominee for the Presidential Election. Doubts about Obama began to form due to his association with Wright. Can the country trust a man who associates with a person that hate the country? As a response to the reverend 's statement, Obama gave his speech "A More Perfect Union" to address the controversy, strongly putting Wright 's speech in perspective and settling the controversies about himself.

He first characterized his family in detail and thoroughly described their racial make up. His father is a black man from Kenya; and his mother is a white woman from Kansa. He was raised by a black grandfather who served in World War II, and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line. President Obama has also seen both ends of the spectrum as he was raised in one of the world’s poorest nations; but later went on to attend some of America’s most prestigious schools. He talked about his wife and how she is a black American woman with the blood of slaves as well as slave owners. This information about his life was a vital piece to include in his speech because it connected him with other African American’s. It gave credibility to his speech and made his message more valid. It showed America that him and his family have overcome many difficulties in life, similar to what many American’s are trying to, commonly referred to as “the American dream.” His own “American story” was very beneficial to include because it brought forth a great deal of emotion from voters, especially African American voters. By incorporating details that raised emotions, he was able to connect

He acknowledges that the resentments of the black and white communities “aren’t always expressed in polite company,” but these resentments are manifested within our society in destructive ways, like racism (Obama, par. 31). The audience feels that he is knowledgeable and credible on the immediate topics affecting our future and our daily lives.

Obama uses historical context at the beginning of his speech to engulf his audience into an emotional understanding of his political campaign. Obama speaks of how he is “the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas”(377) and he is talking about the racial differences in his family and how nowhere else on earth this is possible therefore making him not the most “conventional” or candidates. But he believes he is a prime example of the true America, of freedom and diversity and he does so by using historical context of his own past. Obama uses a bit of cultural context as well in his speech when he talks of “South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies”(378) and how they have “built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans”(378). He is referring to the U.S.’s past, during the civil war era, when blacks and whites came together and worked together to build a better nation. He believes the U.S. should strive for that once more to overcome our common enemies such as poverty, terrorism, and other U.S. crises.

The election of President Obama marks the most noteworthy political accomplishment for African Americans in the United States during the post-civil rights revolution, thus bringing about a change in the country’s social and political landscape that was steeped in racial discrimination since the founding of this great nation. Because social and political conditions are subject to constant change, President Obama’s

On the fiftieth anniversary of the events on “Bloody Sunday”, Obama gave a speech filled with encouraging words about how far American has come. Throughout his speech he included various pathos examples. For instance, he states, “[…] All of us need to recognize, as they did, that change depends on our actions, our attitudes, the things we teach our children. And if we make such effort, no matter how hard it may seem, laws can be passed, and consciences can be stirred, and consensus can be built” (Obama). He addresses the people as one, as if each and every one of us has as much responsibility as the next, and rightfully so. Ethos is another rhetoric analysis, it defines someone’s character or identity and Obama does just that when he says, “[…] who serve in elected office from small towns to big cities; from Congressional Black Caucus to the Oval office” (Obama). Obama refers to himself when speaking about the oval office because he was the first African American to be elected president, which is him talking about his own credentials.