Brandon Klinetobe Donna Robertson English 101 16 October 2011 Speechwriters throughout history have considered their word choice, imagery and what others have said before them when creating their own speeches. William Safire in “A Spirit Reborn” analyzes the use of reading “The Gettysburg Address” at the first anniversary of September 11 and James Wood in “Victory Speech” analyses Barack Obama’s November 2008 speech on election night. Safire and Wood analyze similar key factors in their discussion of the power and impact of Lincoln and Obama’s speeches. Both articles analyze the diction in the speeches of Obama and Lincoln. In “A Spirit Reborn,” William Safire chooses to point out the word choices of Lincoln’s speech that continue
He would also establish his own ethos by including his support for dignified persons that would validate his argument. In the beginning of his article, Gatto immediately establishes his credibility by stating in the first paragraph that he is " an award-winning educator and ardent libertarian…and has taught in New York public schools for more than two decades" (148). By stating his credibility, it would be easier for the audience to trust and believe Gatto's personal opinions about public education - that the lives of American civilians are manipulated by higher authorities in order to make sure that American citizens are dependent to the system and not independent thinkers. In order to further be seen as credible, Gatto uses expertise generalizations and figures that support his overall claim about public education. Gatto would use names such as James Bryant Conant, "the reason for how modern public schools are today," and the opinions of Alexander Inglis that “compulsory schooling was intended to be like the Prussia schooling system: divide children by subject, age, grading, and test scores in order to keep
John F. Kennedy addressed the country as President for the first time on January 20, 1961, keeping the audience thinking about the future of the United States, but the future of other countries as well. In this Inaugural Address, Kennedy uses antithesis to set up a way of thinking that has to be broken down in order to fully understand what the point is, which is bettering our country as well as others. John F. Kennedy appeals the country through antithesis in his Inaugural Address by engaging the U.S. citizens to think about branching out to help other countries as well as improving the United States. Kennedy has many valid points on branching out of the United States to help those in other countries. Although, Kennedy gets his audience, Americans, engaged through antithesis, “Support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” Kennedy switched up the words in his speech to get the audience thinking positively about supporting those who want the help of the United States.
Some of the techniques I noticed were syntax, repetition, logos, and finally, pathos. Eisenhower’s Inaugural Speech of 1953 was very successful in connecting to his listeners. He was able to get his penultimate purpose across, which was that the country needed to band together once more to stay strong against the flare up of communism, but I believe his ultimate purpose was to keep the country moral high, and keep the people together, so they could overcome anything, whether it be communism or aliens. The United States of America will forever be banded together after this
A More Perfect Union Critique “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” These are the same words that were presented in the Constitution as well as used in Barack Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union” during his presidential primary campaign in 2008. His speech addresses the racism and inequality that still exist in America that is dividing American society instead of uniting it. Obama uses his own experiences to reach out to readers as well as using allusions from history and the patriotic meaning behind the history to incorporate pathos and ethos in his speech. Obama is successful in his writing because he is able to persuade the audience by appealing to their emotions, while using specific details to create more credibility
His use of ethos, pathos and logos in this speech and others, made it effective enough to land him a spot as Commander in Chief. He used ethos in a way that gained the respect of his audience in that he took on the role of being one of them. By using logos he made them realize what they as the Republican Party stand for. With his use of pathos he appeals to their emotional side but making them believe that change is for the sake of their children’s livelihood. Ronald Reagan’s speech “A Time For Choosing” was intended to persuade his audience to believe the wrong-doings of the government, and persuade he did.
For example, after “Let the word…passed to a new generation”, Clarke adds that his words actually appeared to be going forth into the exhilarating air. Thus allowing the reader to create a stronger image of the actual speech, and President Kennedy himself. Throughout his writing Clarke, intelligently, quotes Kennedy at least once on every other paragraph, not giving too many quotes but suffices to feed the reader with enough information on Kennedy’s manner of speech. To top it all off, Clarke also quotes other presidents that try to quote Kennedy in their own way. Bush’s translation of Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country”(Brooks 299) into “What you do is as important as anything government does.
President elects Barack Obama uses a variety of techniques to address and unify his audience. Obamas use of second person, directly making reference of his audience, tonight is your answer...it belongs to you...it cannot happen without you, is cleverly employed to demonstrate the importance of the individual and how his victory and future effort to change America will rely on the efforts of the collective. In the mind of his audience, it is used to make people feel a sense of belonging, having their presence acknowledged. In his speech, Obama makes several intersexual references to inspirational orators of the past. One such example is Martin Luther King, the road ahead will be long...we will get there where Obama creates the sense that it will be a tough, arduous journey ahead of America in undoing the damage done by past leadership.
I will focus on the use of deixis employed in the speech which, I will argue, creates an effect of unity on one side and “outsiders” on the other. The use of person deixis in the speech, in these circumstances, is worth investigating. Unlike his previous public performances, where Obama aimed to convince the audience that he was the right candidate for the position of a congressman or, later, a president, here he is a victor and addressing his message from a position of Head of State. He, probably, does not need to put his personality in focus any longer, but rather needs the support for his future challenges. In this case the pronoun I, which was used generously in Obama’s previous speeches, emerges only three times in his
President Obama started his speech with a catch by naming one of his heroes, the civil rights leader John Lewis. This created a satisfactory level of personalization that was strengthened when he linked the Selma Marches to his “way to the Oval Office.” Since Obama was addressing millions of Americans across the country, he tried to maintain a level of formality as president. He also achieved a good level of simplicity and directness that made his message easier to be understood by ordinary citizens from different backgrounds. In addition, he influenced a wide range of audience by using a narrative approach telling the story of America in general and Selma in particular. The speech’s significance is apparent in the good choice of place (Edmund Pettus Bridge) and time (50th anniversary).