Rhetorical Analysis Obama Speech

Presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a speech to his potential voters in the 2008 election. This speech was given to address race equality and race relations in the United States. Comments perceived as racist and Anti-American from Reverend Wright, triggered his speech. He felt that this speech needed to be made to help save his reputation and his campaign. Obama then talks about how we need to become a more perfect union by addressing division, creating a better future, and ending discrimination. At the end of this speech. Barack Obama wants his potential voters to go out and vote for not just him, but for a more perfect union.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama addresses how we should become a more perfect union and how we should not

To achieve a more perfect union, we must acknowledge the trouble existence of discrimination. He points out that discrimination exist “not just in the minds of black people” and must be addressed with not just words, but also actions, that will further help the economy prosper. Obama encourages that in order to do so, we must invest in our schools and community, “by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations” (Obama, 32). He effectively uses symbolism by using a ladder to let us see that we must provide this generation with the ability to ascend to “the top of the ladder” and reach new heights. As a country we can improve and grow together. This statement is powerful and shows his drive towards making a better country for this generation. He touches the hearts of the audience by saying that what we want and believe does not come at the expense of only want he wants and believes. He genuinely focuses on us a whole and that we all can achieve greatness with the help of one another. We are encouraged to agree with him by his use of parallelism when he says, “that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper” (Obama, 32). This is effective because it connects the words health, welfare, and education with black, brown, and white. It says that all these words are parallel to each other and that all races need all three services to help America