Analyzing Rhetorical Devices In President Barack Obama's Speech

President Barack Obama, the first African American President in the United States of America. He made history. But, he did not stop there. President Barack Obama honored other history maker Rosa Parks with a statue in the National Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol building. While dedicating the statue to Rosa Parks, former President Barack Obama used many rhetorical devices in his speech to convey his message, using allusions, repetition, and anthesis to convey conviction.

In President Obama's speech, two allusions are on display. The first allusion refers to the fall of Jericho. The line, “the entire edifice of segregation, like the ancient walls of Jericho, began to slowly come tumbling down.” This use of an allusion depicted in imagery how segregation came “tumbling down” due to Rosa Parks. She refused to give up her seat on a bus, she attacked the institutions discriminating against her and forced change. Another allusion in the speech references scripture in the Bible. The allusion reads, “For now we see through a glass darkly.” This rhetorical device compares the time that Rosa Parks’ lived in, current times, and the separation that looking through glass gives us, the human race to situations beyond it. This allusion highlights that during Rosa Parks' arrest for

Repetition determines the behavior of Rosa Parks many times. The repetitions of, “would not be pushed,” “stood up for,” and “tells us,” convey that Rosa stood steadfast in her beliefs and actions. President Obama conveys that people should also be steadfast in conviction, especially for change. Also, opposites highlight the things people need faith to change. Such as, “children hungry in a land of plenty.” President Barack Obama conveyed an exact example of something that desperately needs changing, with conviction that Rosa Parks used to exact her own