Monday, January 26, 2015

Obama's State of the Union Speech

Obama gave an incredible State of the Union Speech. I am not one for politics just because I don't really understand it, and that's what I was expecting when I began watching his speech. But that isn't what I got. Obama gave a speech that really had nothing to do with politics, and was very interesting. He made it very easy to listen to, and somewhat enjoyable. Maybe some of this is due to the rhetoric he used.

One thing I noticed that Obama did quite often was repetition in his sentences. When he would begin to finish a point he was talking about, he would wrap it up with repetition. In two cases, I saw this to be true. He would say "Or will we..." and also "I believe..." These were used so effectively that I even found myself agreeing with whatever he was saying. It was a very powerful rhetorical device.

Another rhetorical device he used was logos. Logos is one of the most persuasive device. If someone isn't convinced by feeling, the have to be convinced by the numbers. President Obama's use of logos included talking about the increase in jobs across the nation. Obama said over eleven millions jobs have been created, and America's economy is the best its been since 1999. By saying these little facts, as an American, I feel that something we are doing as a nation has been working.

Obama used repetition and logos, but in my opinion, the most moving device he used was pathos. When Obama introduced Rebecca and her husband, I immediately knew what he was going for. He gave us insight in the struggles they went through, which gave us a sense of sadness, but then he hit us with their success story, which gave us a sense of pride. Obama even said that Rebecca and her family wasn't alone, and that most of America is Rebecca and her family. It was a very personal thing to consider myself similar to Rebecca. Obama made us feel that what he has been doing for our Union was the best that could be done, and I believed it.

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