Obama’s A More Perfect
Union speech needed to achieve a sense of desire for unity and for all to
prosper, he was successful in doing so by using the tools discussed in Means of Persuasion. To begin he starts
by introducing the history over his topic of inequality and racism in America,
this is an example of logos – he is using historical facts and information to
strengthen his argument against the current inequality in the states. Once he
has informed us of what has happened he begins to switch to somewhat of a pathos
approach in an attempt to provoke emotions. This is accomplished by key
phrases, topics, and words with certain connotations to influence use to side
with his stance. The topic of slavery is one of the biggest tools he uses when
using pathos, since we all have the common belief that slavery is bad, relating
it to current situations has also created this belief for those – causing us to
become angry. Lastly, Obama’s speech as a whole builds his ethos. We know Obama
now as a generally good president, but at the time of his speech he needed to
gain the trust of the American people. Telling us a part of his life story that
directly relates to his personal struggle as a minority in the U.S. not only
lets us know that his knowledge over his speech is creditable but has also
created a sense of emotion or personal connection between himself and the
people, another appeal to our emotions. A
More Perfect Union speech is an excellent follow of the common practices to
pathos, logos, and ethos; Means of
Persuasion explains to us what each of these tools should accomplish and
Obama’s speech exemplifies how one would do so successfully.
Obama’s speech on race uses his credibility in a form of ethos because his choice of words are understood by the reader. It is hard for a writer to try to write intelligently without using huge words that a common reader does not understand. The reader relates more when the article is written how someone speaks. Obama is also a senator at the time, which helps his credibility because we know he is educated and very knowledgeable about the subject and he is about to educate the reader. He also relates to the reader because it appears to look like an average joe’s point of view instead of a higher educated, above us, point of view. He builds common ground by acknowledging race as an issue, and as he runs for presidency, he wants to further the acknowledgement and try to change it. He focuses on that people may all look different and come from different families, but we all have a common goal to make a “better future for our children and our grandchildren.” This makes the reader believe he is speaking directly to them about their concerns and this helps him build common ground in the ethos appeal.
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