Stylistic Analysis of Obama’s Inaugural Speech

Hortative sentence: hortative sentences are clear and direct which is perfect in a Presidential speech.

September 11, 2001, George W. Bush addresses America. After a horrific event caused by unknown terrorists, Bush reassures them. This short, five minute speech was made to help those of America who were drastically affected by the incident and to thank all of those who have sent their condolences. Within President Bush's brief speech, he uses a variety of rhetorical devices to reach his broad audience and make his points clear. Bush also makes good use of the three rhetorical strategies and syntax. The message he gave affected multiple people around the globe.

Ted Sorensen, a former speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, believes “An inaugural address is by definition a defining moment for any new president.” An inaugural address is a stepping stone for each new administration because it creates a first impression; the address marks the time when the president stops trying to win votes and starts taking action. Barack Obama's speech is filled with eloquent language, and it lived up to the expectations of both critics and the public. The speech, as described in the “Think Again” section of the New York Times was

Obama opens his speech with a slogan (refer to footnote 1) and he introduces the audience to the subject by referring to the Emancipation Proclamation with the sentence: “Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street […]”6, which another famous orator, Martin Luther King, also used for the opening of his legendary speech “I Have a Dream”. Martin Luther King started: “Five score years ago, a great American […]”7, but that’s not the only comparing between the two speeches.

In John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, he utilizes numerous complex sentences. These are sentences that contain both a dependent and independent clause. Unlike a simple or compound sentence, many of the complex sentences contain a rhetorical device, and adds depth to make the speech more resound and interesting. It can also be used to apply emphasis to a certain topic. Near the beginning of the speech, Kennedy states, “We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as chance” (Kennedy). Instead of splitting this complex sentence into individual sentences, Kennedy applies depth to his words. If he splits the sentences into separate, independent clauses,

The use of repetition was one of the rhetorical devices used by Barack Obama in his speech, by mentioning some powerful words that advocate for for unity. Obama used phrases like “You and I,” and “Together, we.” He mentioned more than once the first sentence of the constitution of the United States “We, the people,” and declared that “Our Journey is not complete” (Klein) several times. These words reinforced his ideas of unity and evoked an image of that all Americans are equal and should have the same rights.

John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech is certainly one to remember. It’s memorable not for its length, but for the effective content that it beholds. He entices readers by the use of strong rhetoric techniques. His inaugural analyzes style of writing, such as diction, tropes, schemes, and syntax, and applies the concept of it effectively throughout the speech. A reader performs rhetorical analysis to examine how authors attempt to persuade their audiences by looking at the various components that make up the art of persuasion. Moreover, it is most essential to be able to understand the relationship among the speaker, subject, and audience, which President Kennedy adequately exploits in his speech.

President John F. Kennedy was shot in November 22, 1963 which lead to his legacy being different and different to many people. People wondered what truly could’ve happened if he was there for all his four years of presidency and many doubted John F. Kennedy if he was frankly ready to proceed with his leadership. Now seeing his speeches, one can tell what styles he used to persuade the audience to make him where he was that day.(elected President) Using John F, Kennedy’s Inauguration day, shows us how the formats he used were appealing to others when it came to him delivering his speech in front of the audience. By using similarities and differences in each document, they have their own ways of styles in pathos, ethos, and descriptive writing/Visual Images.

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

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

John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech used powerful and emotional words such as freedom, new generation, and devotion to symbolize the new life that was ahead of them and the promises he was proposing. Kennedy also used repetition of his promises to show people that he was passionate about them. Throughout his speech, there was differences in sentence variety. The short sentences portrayed authority and pride, while the longer sentences allowed him to elaborate on his ideas. These longer and more complex sentences helped support his main purpose. Along with using strong words, he used words that helped set a formal tone for his speech. Words such as forebears and asunder help the audience recognize the formality and respect in his tone.

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

Obama’s use of parallelism brings the speech together and implies a sense of power and instruction.

President Barack H. Obama has been always using rhetorical strategies in his political speeches. He used these strategies to present important pointes and views of his in front of public. Delivering points and views properly and logically got him to be the president in the first place. President Obama used mostly ethos and pathos yet some logos to deliver his inaugural and the state of union speeches. Being that, he was able to reach audience emotionally and make the speech flow efficiently while he preserved his credibility. Each speech has own audience that differ from the other. In the inaugural speech the audience was the public and therefor the speech was short and used sort sentences that are easy to understand. On the other hand, the state of union speech audience was mostly the congers members and therefore the language was more specific and filled with political terminology. Both speeches will be discussed upon context and using ethos, pathos and logos consecutively.

The American rhetoric of Presidents like Barack Hussein Obama and John F. Kennedy, who both served the United States of America are found in the corners of history. The inaugural speeches of Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy are given after reciting the oath of office as newly elected leaders of the country in the case of Kennedy and a second inauguration for the current commander-of-chief. The inaugural speeches of John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama are part of world history knowing that the United States of America is still the most powerful and influential nation in the world. Their voices in the inaugural addresses that they both delivered are very influential that even the younger generations could