Rhetorical Analysis of Obama Speech Essay

In his speech, he uses a lot of Logical appeals to get his point across. “We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so of the disparities that exist in the African American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passes on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow” (Obama 465).“But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away; to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races” (Obama 466). “We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America-to simplify and stereotype

Despite making history as the first African-American to be nominated for the presidency by a major party, let alone be elected as president, Obama did not emphasize his race, as many black politicians had in order to appeal to areas of white majority. He did, however, address race and civil rights—although not directly—through the comprehensive theme of unity, recognizing the shared goals and dreams of all Americans regardless of one's differences to another. The collective aspiration of solidarity was felt as Obama gave his First Inaugural Address; his application of references to the founders and influential leaders of America, history, biblical scripture, and its relevance to today—including a statement acknowledging all religions, instead

Ethos means credibility. In this speech there are a lot of things Martin Luther King Jr. used to make it credible and trustworthy. He uses the Bible, the Gettysburg Address, and

He uses this opportunity to show his character to the audience, which doesn’t reflect his former pastors controversial words. What’s important is that he never bashed his former pastor but instead apologized for the controversial and pain it caused people. But how he truly showed his character was explaining to his audience the good pastor Wright has done for him. Obama says, “The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another, to care for the sick and lift up the poor.” This was to share with his audience that he is a man of faith, and that has a heart for those in need of help. He is showing that it’s his Christian duty to care for others and make a change in this

In Barack Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union”, he addresses the remarks of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Obama was heavily criticised for what Wright had said in his sermon. Obama's purpose for his speech was not only to address his pastors outburst, but also to speak about racial relations and the intricacies revolving around race. He accomplishes this through means of dynamic diction, the use of we instead of I, and by establishing his own credibility as well as Wright's.

Furthermore, I suppose there are two critical ideas behind Obama’s encouragement of a cosmopolitan civil religion that Frank should explicate. First, the address’s theme can be succinctly expressed as harnessing strength from America’s common history. Beyond simply an advocacy for unity, Obama has the intention to motivate a collective call-to-action in response to the detrimental 2008 Global Financial Crisis (Allen and Carletti, 2009), and to preserve social stability by mitigating prevailing distrust against Muslims due to September 11 attacks (Mcmorris, 2010). Calling for unity is in fact a springboard to motivate a collective call-to-action. Obama mentions, “we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task”. Next, bringing citizens together has a role at the inaugural ceremony itself. As Campbell argues, “Once the audience has been united, it can perform its role in the inaugural ceremony. Inaugural addresses themselves attest to the witnessing

Senator Obama is a Christian whose religious views developed in his adult life. He wrote in The Audacity of Hope that he "was not raised in a religious household"(241). Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand "the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change." With this in mind, I believe chapters 6 and 7 are perfect examples of ethos in this novel, describing racial heritage, racial equality, and faith. In chapter 6, Obama attacks the issue of religious faith, mainly focusing on roots and influence of the Democrats growing uneasiness with the displays of religious faith. Because this is such a controversial topic, I must say, I was a little skeptical as to how he would present his arguments, to a group of readers with such a variety of opinions. I was intrigued when Obama recounted his own journey from atheism to faith, contending that the structure of religion has invigorated and expanded his moral beliefs. Due to the high degree of religiosity reported in polls of Americans, he contends that regaining a sense of ease with religion is the only way that the Democrats will be able to connect with a majority of the public. By using this cause/consequence approach to how we should handle religion, he makes people understand that we should only respect each other’s

Reverend Wright 's sermon went viral due to the fact he says, "Goddamn America." In the short clips of his sermon, Reverend Wright was riling up the members of his church as he talks about the inequalities African Americans have to face in the country. The statements made in the short clip anger and may even have sparked some fear in people. How dare Wright to have insulted his own country and states that it was in the Bible and did Obama share the same views as his minister? How will these radical views effect Obama 's decision as President if he wins the election? In Obama 's speech, he ultimately disagrees with Reverend Wright 's statements and explains Wright 's background to give some context of the sermon and also reassures the country of his qualifications as a nominee for the Presidential Election. I agree with Obama

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union”1 - On March the 18th 2008 Barack Obama opened his speech on race, in Philadelphia, with this sentence. From the open sentence you can see that this speech isn’t any speech, perform by any orator. It’s a speech with a main message, performed for the people, to creates a brighter future for all the American people and to change history.

Obama emphasizes the black community a lot more than any other community, along with, his speech was written after his former Reverend made racist comments. I, probably along with many others, may have taken this speech as a way for him not to look bad in the public eye.

At the time of the speech, Reverend Wright, Obama’s pastor, has brought up racial issues in his church. In the speech, Obama is trying to honor Reverend Wright but also makes it clear that he does not agree with everything he says. First, he uses an emotional appeal by stating that Reverend Wright “strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children.” This works because it shows a

Barack Obama the presidential candidate made a speech to potential voters and the American people. His speech was made about the racial divide in America and he made this speech because of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Jeremiah had made some contradicting statements about America. The main point of his speech was that we need to stop ignoring the racial tensions and that there is still good and bad in everyone.

Furthermore, Obama’s keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention 2004 was not only discussed in the areas of politics and media but also in the academic field. One example for the reception of Obama’s address in the academic area is an essay published by the Michigan State University Press and written by two professors who offer two different views of the keynote speech. David A. Frank of the University of Oregon called his part of the article “In Celebration of Obama’s Rhetoric of Consilience” and praises “the power of Obama’s speech as a prophetic multiracial narrative” (Frank 574). The academic especially emphasizes how Obama includes all classes and races in his narrative (cf. 576). In this context, Frank compares Obama’s address to the speech by civil rights activist Al Sharpton, which was also delivered at the Democratic National Convention 2004. Frank criticizes that Sharpton’s address centered around “the failure of America to live up to its promise to black America” but failed to include the “whites in the

In the beginning of his speech, Obama discusses his family and their past, how his grandfather served the United States and was a veteran of World War II. He speaks about the name that was given to him, Obama, as being African and how his parents felt that it isnt your name that takes you places and makes you who you are, it your character, strength, and personality. He also descibes his encounters with that he

In President Barack Obama’s A More Perfect Union speech, he addressed racial tension among the nation on March 18, 2008 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His speech was a response to his former pastor, Jeremiah. Wright, the pastor Emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ, in Chicago, on the controversial comments he made about racial segregation in America. Obama used various rhetorical strategies while applying historical facts and logical reasoning to support his argument. His use of personal experiences held a sympathetic form of ethos, which helped establish himself as an authority to reach the diverse perspectives on race within the members of his audience. Obama took advantage of this situation not