A More Perfect Union Ethos Pathos Logos

In “A More Perfect Union” by Barack Obama, Obama builds an argument that the Constitution promises us freedoms and rights but it is not always as simple as that. We need to fight, protest, and demand our rights so that we come together as one and become equal. He uses Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle, logos, ethos, and pathos to strengthen the speech. President Obama uses ethos throughout the speech in order to show his credibility to the audience. Obama does this by giving factual information. He gives historical references; he explains where he comes from and how this relates to the people. Obama makes sure that everyone listens to what he has to say because he has the authority. For example, “Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then

Obama discusses how costly health care, failing schools, job shedding, lost housing, and high energy use are all “data and statistics” that are “indicators of crisis” (The New York Times 2013). President Obama uses statistics and data to prove how our country is doing. This gained a grasp on the audience attention because they realized that they are struggling also because of how we are not working together. “The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.” He talks about the issues that we need to fix and that he is going to work on as president. We will not be able to fix anything if we not work together as