Rhetoric - Ideograph in President Obama Speech - Case Study Example

Rhetoric: Ideograph in President Obama Speech Introduction What is the most important tool for achieving political ideology persuasion? American Presidents have been famed for their ability to deliver moving and persuasive speeches that have always caused the American populace to buy into their ideologies. Great speeches have been delivered by Presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Woodrow Wilson amongst others. Similarly, the current President of the USA has been recognized for his speech making capabilities, most especially the acceptance speech of the Democrat nomination in 2008 and the subsequent victory speech after his first election as the USA President in 2009. While those two addresses have remained the hallmark of his public address, the latest ‘drone policy speech’ he made may not pass as the most famous speech of his political career, but undoubtedly passes as one of the most rhetoric addresses. Selling a political ideology does not come easily, especially when the society is feeling dissatisfied with the important aspects of the nation such as unemployment and foreign policies. This calls for the application of both persuasive and powerful language that will instill hope and optimism into a demoralized society. In this respect, while there are numerous contemporary rhetorical perspectives that can be applied to persuade and motivate the public to buy into the political ideology of a leader, there is certainly no powerful contemporary rhetorical perspective for political persuasion than an Ideographic speech presentation. Description of the artifact The 2013 President Obama’s speech on ‘U.S. drone and counterterrorism policy’ that was made at the National Defense University is the selected artifact for this analysis. The address was made on May 23, 2013, where the President’s intention was to defend the drone policy that has been adopted by the USA army as the basis for stepping up the fight against terrorism (Mills, 2013). The address was the major counterterrorism address of President Obama’s second term, which was targeted at announcing the shift in the use of drones by his administration (Mills, 2013). According to President Obama, terrorism has become one of the 21st century security scare globally, starting with the 9/11 attack on the USA by the Al-Qaida. The president opened his speech by observing that Americans have served in uniforms here in Fort McNair since 1791, standing to guard the nation from its earliest days and continuing to contemplate the future of the national security in the 21st century (Mills, 2013). The national security strategy and technology have continued to evolve from the civil war, through to the fascism struggle, the cold war and then current struggle against terrorism. The collapse of the Berlin wall was a pointer to a future of relative peaceful and prosperous 21st century where democracy could thrive. However, on September 11, 2001, America was shaken out of complacency by the terror attack that claimed thousands of life and degraded the status of America in the global eye (Mills, 2013). Consequently, America was forced to go into war against the Al-Qaida, the Taliban and other affiliate terrorist groups in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the world. The war has not been won yet, but Osama bin Laden and his top Lieutenants are no more, and consequently America is safer that it was before (Mills, 2013). However, the need to continue evolving the military strategy and technology for effective fight against terrorism still remains paramount. Thus, the drone policy has been adopted as part of continuing to keep America safe against terrorist attack. Description of the method of analysis Ideographic Criticism is a contemporary rhetorical perspective that is primarily applied in the analysis of verbal/textual, although it can also be applied in analyzing other visual forms of literature such as visual images and also written words (Foss, 2004). Ideological criticism is a rhetoric analysis method that was developed and defined by Sonja Foss, where the primary focus of his ideology is to pronounce and make the dominant ideology in an artifact more visible, while also demonstrating the ideologies that are muted in the artifact (Foss, 2004). Further, Michael McGee defined Ideographic Criticism as a method of rhetorical analysis that only entails the use of words. Thus, he defined this rhetorical analysis method as comprising the application of vocabularies of a public motive, targeted at authorizing and also warranting public action (Foss, 2004). In this respect, Ideographic Criticism is an important tool for political leaders, since it is suitably applicable in addressing an issue of public interest, through applying the authority of the position held, to convince and persuade the public to buy into the ideology and also participate in the defined future action. The Ideographic Criticism applies three major elements that are intertwined to sell the ideology held to the public. The first of the three elements is the element of ‘Discourse’, which refers to the type of language applied, in terms of authoritatively spoken or written words (Foss, 2004). The second element t is the element of ‘Power’ refers to how the language has been applied, in terms of the persuasive and convincing phrases, while the third element is ‘Truth’, which refers to the relative perception of the issues addressed (Foss, 2004). Thus, Ideographic Criticism employs the intertwined elements of discourse, power and truth to address the public and persuade them to buy the ideology of the speaker. Report the findings of the analysis The three elements of the Ideographic Criticism have been effectively and extensively applied in the artifact ‘Obama’s Speech on Drone Policy’, where the elements of discourse, power and truth are highly demonstrated throughout the public address. President Obama applied authoritative language in addressing the issue of terrorism and introducing the new drone use policy, where he stated “So after I took office, we stepped up the war against al Qaeda” (Mills, 2013). This statement is significant in changing the tone, the perception and the seriousness of the whole content of the speech; because it serves to indicate that the speech is given from the position of the office holder. The clear definition of the position of authority held by the speech maker is an important aspect of the delivering the message in the speech, since the position of power or authority held then determines the manner and seriousness with which the public will receive the message (Bryan, 2008). References Bryan, M. (2008). Recovering Ideology Critique: Ideographic Criticism and the Marxist Tradition. National Communication Journal, p1. Mills, D. (2013, May 23). Obama’s Speech on Drone Policy.The New York Times. Web. December 5, 2014. < http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/us/politics/transcript-of-obamas-speech-on-drone-policy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0> Foss, S. (2004). Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice (3rd ed.). Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press. 295-296. 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