Obamas Victory Speech - Research Paper Example

Research Paper about speech Obama’s victory speech In this analysis, I will be reviewing Obama’s victory speech that he delivered on November 4th, 2008 after he was elected President of the United States. This speech was an inaugural speech that marked the start of a new era in the American politics and recounted the past experiences that America had undergone to achieve its dream (Olive 12). This speech is important because it was made by the first African American president elect and his election was seen as a transformation of American politics. It was the first speech delivered by a president who can be said to have been elected at the peak of American democracy, given that the electorate funded his campaigns instead of the traditional way where aspirants were supposed to issue handouts to the electorate. In this analysis I will use self and peer assessment or grading so as to make sure what I come up with will be objectively founded (Duren 9). This Obama’s victory speech captures the rhetoric of the time with great accuracy and especially at a time when America was overly expectant in the political milieu. This essay is an analysis of how Obama’s victory speech employs contrast as a rhetorical device to persuade and inform his audience. The speech captures some instances, which have brought about the fulfillment of the American dream that had been elusive for many years. These include the illustrations of the recaptured democracy, the end of political bureaucracy and the end of discrimination (Olive 13). In doing this, in the victory speech, Obama employs triple contrast as a rhetorical device to construct building blocks of his language. The Victory Speech starts by evoking the long awaited American dream encapsulated in Martin Luther King Junior’s speech “I have a Dream”, and it is clear that he is addressing three groups of people. He states that whoever doubts the power of American democracy, they should find answers in the event of his inauguration. This was to mean that he himself, having been elected as president of America, has marked the ultimate end to autocracy and the attainment of full democracy. The first of the three groups he identifies as his audience is illustrated when he says; “…people who waited three hours and four hours” (Obama 1). These are the images of voters and are the first group he identifies by use of a series of imageries. Afterward, Obama follows this imagery with a series of contrasts where he mentions “…young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black and white...” This series of contrast makes his speech a mastery piece and yet he follows this by introducing three groups of yet contrasting American ethnic groups, “…Hispanic, Asian, Native American…” This is another classification of the three groups of people he was addressing based on their race. He also identified two more contrasting groups that completed his description of the American people as should be covered in his leadership thus, “…gay, straight, disabled and not disabled…” In this case, he used the last grouping to capture his sense, recognition, and respect for human rights and diversity of his citizens based on sexuality and ability. He subsequently uses the image of a bending arc to illustrate the theme of hope for a better future in America as he says “…arc of history… bend it…toward the hope of a better day…” Obama utilizes yet another contrast between what has been coming and what has come now and illustrate three moments of this becoming as “…what we did on this day…this election… this…moment…” This contrast can be seen in his repetition as in “this day, this election and this moment.” Moreover, Obama furthers his ‘trinity’ of themes in his illustration of what Senator McCain did for America and Obama analyzes that Senator McCain has fought for the campaign, fought for his beloved country, and endured sacrifices for America. This is subsequently followed by three great things that Joe Biden had done on the side of Obama: “…campaigned from his heart… spoke for the men and women…and rode … on that train home to Delaware…” He lastly introduces his wife Michelle under three identities namely; “…the rock of our family, the love of my life, the… next first lady…” In this trinity of illustration, Obama as a speech master is very keen to describe a person first before introducing his or her name. The person is identified, then he or she is praised and then his or her name introduced. This way, he is able to avoid confusion to the audience and himself as to when to applaud and when to listen, thus making his speech to gain control. Another rhetorical style Obama uses is introducing a puzzle and solving it for the sake of the audience. In this case, he rarely praises himself as having succeeded and instead he praises others as having made his whom he is. In this puzzle, he states that “this victory truly belongs…to you.” This is a compliment to the audience and the people of America, and earns him a credit. Obama furthers his contrast about his campaign, which he started modestly, was built by working citizens and grew from the strengths of young people. The amplification of the contrast is achieved when he says that the campaign “was not hatched in the halls of Washington [but]…began in the …Des Moines…Concord, and…Charleston.” This contrast captures Washington and contrasts it with three ordinary places in America. He further notes that the campaign was built upon three types of drains on personal cash “they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.” Moreover, Obama uses the same ‘trinity’ style to outline the three challenges, which according to him, America faces as a nation and he states that “…the challenges that tomorrow will bring are ..: two wars, a planet in peril, [and] the worst financial crisis in a century.” The grouping of the problems into three must have been a well thought subject matter because the three capture all other challenges that a country would have at any time. He follows this by illustrating the tough conditions that American soldiers face in an imagery of deserts and mountains. These tough conditions are contrasted with the difficulties that Americans parents undergo in the country as they ponder on how to beat economic recession and he states “… mothers and fathers… will lie awake … and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for their child's college education.” Regardless of these challenges, Obama analyzes the way out using an imagery of a road thus “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep.” This imagery, combined with his statement that “I promise you - we as a people will get there”, is reminiscent of the last speech of Martin Luther King that gave hope for Americans to get to the Promised Land one day. These contrasts are too many in Obama’s speech for this essay to accommodate. When writing this speech, Obama must have considered every word he wrote, its effects and association with other words. He must have listed the most significant ingredients and arranged them in order of priority. He also paid a lot of attention to the reaction of the audience and ensured that there is no confusion because the speech could determine when the audience was required to react and when their silence was required. This is well noted in the way he could introduce persons in his speech. This speech introduces significant values of appreciation, courage, justice; as noted when Obama was addressing Americans without discriminating those who voted him and those who did not, modesty, temperance and consideration of other people’s values, believes and behavioral patterns especially his recognition of gay community. These values, among others, are worthy perpetuating through total abandonment of discrimination and expansion of democracy. In summary, Obama used contrast as a rhetorical device and in doing this, he always combined three subjects. He addressed three groups of people as his audience and he does so by introducing the three races in America, the three classes of people in America based on social status, political affiliations as in young and old (age), rich and poor (status), Democrat and Republican (political affiliation). The same ‘trinity’ methodology is employed when he was introducing three significant persons in his campaign namely senator McCain, Joe Biden, and Michelle Obama. Therefore, the analysis revealed that Obama employed a group of three in his victory speech, and this style enables him to achieve a great deal of contrast where it was necessary. I have learnt that one can have a dominant rhetorical device in a speech used to bring out the whole subject. I will apply this style and others inspired by it to write speeches, help others to apply them and use the analysis as an example for further critical appreciation of speeches. I would recommend this speech to be read and more analysis done on its use of rhetorical devices. Works Cited Duren, Connie. Critical Analysis Paper Research Methods. Class Handout, 2012. Obama, Barack. Victory Speech. November 4, 2008. Retrieved 19, Nov. 2012. . Olive, David. An American Story: The Speeches of Barack Obama. Toronto: ECW, 2009. Print. Read More