Mary Elizabeth Buckingham WRD 103 Professor Lane Rhetorical Analysis January 7 2011 Rhetorical Analysis In President Obamas

Inaugural Address, his main two forms of rhetoric entail: pat hos, and inflated language. The main way in which President Obama uses pathos is through providing moving anecdotes that pull on the audiences heartstrings, mak ing him look like he is authentically connected with his audience. Another rhet orical skill he uses frequently in his speeches is inflated language in which he u ses a constant slew of impressive vocabulary that ensures trust, support and pos itive reinforcement from the audience. In President Obamas inaugural speech he begins with an act of common courtesy. He acknowledges the audience and President Bush. The purpose of the speech is to l et the country know that with him, everything will be alright. As his first spe ech as President, that is being watched broadcasted, as well as live, it is of t he utmost importance that he display a strong front and give the country no doub t that they made a good decision in electing him. Obama starts off with a friendly welcome to his speech. He begins th e entire speech with my fellow citizens this immediately makes people feel a part of his speech, and adds a personal level to what he is saying to the country. As his speech goes on he uses inflated language to embellish simple ideas to make the speech seem more intelligent and strong, so the public knows that they have a smart ruler of their nation. In the second paragraph of the speech instead of stating it in a more stripped down, obvious manner like so: There have been many presidents before me, and many of them have come in at a difficult time. After he tells the public what they already know, he flatters them by saying that its n ot only the government who gets through these hard times it is the citizens as w ell. Though this may not be the truest fact, he puts it out there to fill the ci tizens of the United States with pride. This works two ways, he makes himself lo ok good, smart and caring, and he also makes the public feel strong and like the y will be involved in this presidency. By involving the public in his first spee ch as president, saying things like we will get through this together they are alr eady feeling more involved going into this new stage of life under Obamas preside ncy. He includes his audience in his first speech because he knows very well tha t being popular with the public will make his presidency go more swimmingly, bec ause people will be more satisfied if they think they are involved. Already wit hin his first two paragraphs of a long inaugural speech he has been slowly manip ulating the audiences mind into thinking he is great, and that they are too. His voters and non-voters are hooked into what hes saying because not only does he lo ok great so far, he is also involving them straight off the bat. This shows he k nows how to get his audiences immediate attending and admiration during his speec hes. By appealing to the audiences emotion, he is using pathos. In his coming paragraphs he has the chance to bring up the unfortuna te ways the country is struggling by talking about the war, the economic crisis, and health care (now that he has the trust from his audience, and feels it appr opriate to move to more pressing matters) by essentially listing all the things he finds wrong with the country. He slyly blames the former presidency for the e conomy crisis by saying a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part o f some. In being frank with what is going on in the country by letting them know what they already do, one can already tell where his speech is going. After shar ing the bad news, he will soon go on to saying how he is going to change everyth ing and make the country incredible again. By having the leader of the country providing America with hope and promises of change through a group effort approach, he is now providing more uni ty through tricky rhetoric tactics, twisting his speech to make the public belie ve him in superficial ways. In reality, no one can tell the future, no one can s ay completely confidently that they can right the wrong. No one knows what is to come in any aspect of life, not just political. When one doesnt know today if th

ey will be here tomorrow, how is one supposed to put all of their trust in one i ndividual to change the world? Obama is aware that not everyone is his number on e fan, however he moves past that and in speeches and presidential events puts o n his presidential face showing them that regardless of their opinions of him, h e cares for everyone and is setting out to do what he and his administration fin ds best for the country and the citizens. A president can never show fear because in doing that, the public will be afraid and extremely wary of their leader. In his speech there is never a moment where he shows fear or uncertainty because, especially in an inaugural address, he ne eds to show that no matter what he is going to do his very best to make sure and keep making the country stronger. His biggest selling part of his presidential campaign was his coined term change. It was smart move by the president, to promis e something as vague as change. No matter what, having a new president always m eans change in some way, so why not cleverly choose a simple word that whether t he presidency works out or not will remain truthful. The public of course bought into the word and interpreted it in a daydream like manner, that magically, som ehow this one person could change all of the nations problems. Using change as his presidential slogan was a smart move. In his speech he mentions change, but rel ies mostly on hope for his coming duties as commander in chief. He also talks ab out the history of the United States, how much weve suffered and how far weve com e and that we still have more to do. He says We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. (Obama).By t elling his audience that even though weve come so far, that doesnt mean that the n ation can grow. Obama throws in a lot of history that people already know and ex pect to hear, but he disguises them by decorating them with impressive vocabular y to make simple phrases sound more important. He uses somewhat clichd blanket st atements like For everywhere we look, there is work to be done, and then he procee ds to go into detail about what he plans to do about it. Though he may give too much empty hope, people will buy into it cheering with enthusiasm and compliance . President Obama tries to relate to other people, and show his support for differ ent religions, socioeconomic classes and people in need. By letting people know he is on their side, the public will most likely feel a good sense of comfort in stead of alienation. At one point in his speech he talks strongly about ending t he war. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people.(Obama) The way he w rote this was incredibly intelligent because it made him seem like he wants what is best for both sides of the war, to get the United States out and to give Iraq back to its people. However, later his tone completely changes and becomes dark when he says We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and sl aughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot b e broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.(Obama) This is a dramati c point in his speech that the crowd will go wild for. It gives a sense of were g oing to get out of this and theres nothing you can do about it. This makes the pu blic throw a large amount of hope and pride and excitement at Obama, making him seem like a true hero. In his speech he caters to what he knows the people want. He lifts up peoples sp irits to make himself look better and shows confidence in his abilities. He succ essfully gets points across on what he intends to do to improve the country. Works Cited Obama, Barack. Barack Obamas Inaugural Address. Speech Transcription. New York, New York Janurary 20, 2009.