Wood also analyzes Obama’s use of references in his election night speech. He discusses how “Behind his speech were the ghosts of Lincoln’s First Inaugural” (610) as well as “the explicit reference to King’s famous phrase about how ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice’” (611). Both discussions of Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. are included to show how Obama believed his election to be a turning point in history as Lincoln and King’s speeches were a turning point in their time period as well. It was imperative for Safire and Wood to discuss the allusions to others’ speeches in both of their analysis as without the references to others’ speeches both Lincoln and Obama’s speeches would not have had the impact and power that they did. Through the course
Why did the visions of Martin Luther King Jr feature in Barack Obama’s 2008 election campaign and inauguration speech in 2009? The Role and significance Martin Luther King Jr in America’s History: Martin Luther King Jr was a leader; he gave a voice to the African American citizens who could not express their own needs and opinions. His role was to lead the civil rights movement, and speak for justice, peace and equality in the lives of every American man, woman and child. King struggled with the laws and politics of his time and worked to eradicate segregation and discrimination from the American way of life. Martin Luther King Jr’s writings, teachings and speech’s are timeless; they left people rethinking their attitudes towards African Americans and racism.
Wendell Phillips uses several strategies to praise African American, Toussaint Louverture and persuade his audience. These techniques include comparison, description with word choice, and personification. Phillips compares and contrasts Toussaint with others repeatedly in this speech. First, he compares his mark on the country’s history to that of George Washington. He then contrasts his worthiness of status with that of General Cromwell.
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
Knowing the background information of the speaker(s) and audience(s) will help us to understand how the speaker tailors a message in order to effectively reach their audience(s). One influential leader among African Americans was Booker T. Washington. In his autobiography, Up From Slavery, he describes his life as a slave; his education after freedom from slavery; and discusses people who helped him succeed in life. Mr. Washington was a race leader who saw himself “lifting as he rose.” As he succeeded, he wanted to help others succeed. The highlight of Mr. Washington’s autobiography was in his speech entitled “The Atlanta Exposition Address.” In this speech he was not only representing himself, but he represented the
Racism Nowadays, many people are talking about racism whether it still exist in the society. Racism is a term that represents the race of discrimination, unequal treatment, or violence. In fact, a country cannot totally avoid these natural phenomenons, but it can be controlled by the public of the country. In Harlon L. Dalton’s essay “Horatio Alger” in rereading America by Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle and Barack Obama’s essay “Origins” in Dreams from my father prove that racism is a part of my life when I was living in a foreign country. These two essays from Harlon L. Dalton and Barack Obama both are about the racism between people.
1. Ludwig van Wittgenstein once said, “ Language is the limit of thought.” What cannot be said cannot be thought without falling into disorder. Douglass’ vocabulary allowed for a more comprehensive analysis of the nature of slavery and the human conditions surrounding it. With his immense and comprehensive vocabulary Douglass constructed a novel indispensable in our country’s history. Language also enabled Douglass to construct imagery and passages that far more accurately reflected the true horrors of the events Douglass witnessed during the time he served as a slave.
Benjamin Banneker Rhetorical Analysis In his sentimental, yet candid letter, Banneker reminds the reader of their past with the British Crown and his oppression in order to relate the reader to the struggles faced by a hopeless slave. In lines 1-25, Banneker makes strong use of past experiences faced by colonists in order to connect his reader to slavery. Banneker starts off with reminding the reader of when, “the British Crown exerted every powerful effort in order to reduce you to a state of servitude.” The use of this concrete detail leads the reader to remember a time when they suffered a form of slavery in order to help the reader understand the struggles faced by slaves. The reader is then brought to remember when, “every human aid appeared unavailable.” Although this may be a hyperbole, it is successful in emotionally attaching the reader to the hardships of slavery. The hyperbole doesn’t come off as over- dramatization, but rather shows the negative significance of slavery.
Azubike Monte African American Studies 09/27/12 Abraham Lincoln Paper The question is asking me to study about how Abraham Lincoln truly felt about blacks and if he should be remembered as “The Great Emancipator”. In this paper I will give facts and my personal opinion on what the book says and what I believe about him being a “Great Emancipator”. If you read through the book and get a deeper understanding on why the American Civil War started you would realize that Abraham Lincoln wanted to preserve the North’s power. The book gives credit to Lincoln by implying that he was a moral and political enigma but also saying how in a letter he wrote that if he could save the Union without freeing the slaves he would have done it implying
Now, when he would communicate, as an alternative to having communication for Afro-Americans, he brought a message for all races (The Black Scholar, 2011). After he changed his attitude he would go onto meet with Martin Luther King, Jr. and collaborates with civil rights groups like Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Congress of Racial Equality. He also rallies in Africa and the Middle East with world leaders. At the end of his life, Malcolm X became a worldwide figure, welcomed by foreign leaders and dedicated to Islam as a religion that can lessen the racial difficulties of the United States. On February 21, 1965 at the age of 39, while speaking at an engagement in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom, Malcolm X was shot 15 times and was pronounced dead at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital (Simon et al 2005).