President Obama's Speech
Taylor Goff Goff ---- 1
ENG 105
Hitzel
Writing Project #1
1/27/13
We The People In order for America to be the great country it is today, many crucial measures had to be taken. In his second Inaugural speech President Barack Obama addresses the events that shaped America into the country it is today and outlines the reasons why Americans should take pride in their country. In his speech, Obama uses the rhetorical appeals of pathos and logos interchangeably. He also makes use of ethos, but not as much as he uses the other two appeals. He uses all three of these appeals to convince citizens that America is a country to admire. In his Inaugural speech, President Obama uses pathos that is heavily tied in with logos to convince his audience, the American public, and more specifically voters, that even though there have been hardships in the past, Americans should be proud of their country and its progress. He utilizes the words 'we', 'us', 'our' and 'together' to make a connection to his audience. By using these words he makes his audience feel that he is not only some politician that they voted for several months before, but rather one of them, an American. He also utilizes historical events, which rhetorically speaking is logos, to remind the audience of events in America's history that make them feel proud to call themselves American. By using these aspects Obama successfully makes his audience feel proud about the country they live in and its many accomplishments. While the majority of his speech uses pathos, President Obama is able to weave logos into his speech to serve his purpose. Throughout his speech, Obama uses historical events to convince Goff ---- 2 the American public to take pride in the progress of America. He starts his use of logos by reminding Americans of “the patriots of 1776” and “their fight to replace the
ENG 105
Hitzel
Writing Project #1
1/27/13
We The People In order for America to be the great country it is today, many crucial measures had to be taken. In his second Inaugural speech President Barack Obama addresses the events that shaped America into the country it is today and outlines the reasons why Americans should take pride in their country. In his speech, Obama uses the rhetorical appeals of pathos and logos interchangeably. He also makes use of ethos, but not as much as he uses the other two appeals. He uses all three of these appeals to convince citizens that America is a country to admire. In his Inaugural speech, President Obama uses pathos that is heavily tied in with logos to convince his audience, the American public, and more specifically voters, that even though there have been hardships in the past, Americans should be proud of their country and its progress. He utilizes the words 'we', 'us', 'our' and 'together' to make a connection to his audience. By using these words he makes his audience feel that he is not only some politician that they voted for several months before, but rather one of them, an American. He also utilizes historical events, which rhetorically speaking is logos, to remind the audience of events in America's history that make them feel proud to call themselves American. By using these aspects Obama successfully makes his audience feel proud about the country they live in and its many accomplishments. While the majority of his speech uses pathos, President Obama is able to weave logos into his speech to serve his purpose. Throughout his speech, Obama uses historical events to convince Goff ---- 2 the American public to take pride in the progress of America. He starts his use of logos by reminding Americans of “the patriots of 1776” and “their fight to replace the