Rhetorical Analysis Of Blessing In The Nation

Blessing in the Nation:
An effective political ad is based on three basic techniques: playing on emotions, great cinematic style, and appealing to a specific audience. Ted Cruz touches upon all of these in his 30 second political ad for the 2016 presidential cycle. He creates an emotional bond with the audience by explaining aspects and dynamics of his life which would have been otherwise detrimental to his upbringing, and therefore his presidential candidacy. Then by using a cinematic approach, the editors of the ad introduce new meaning and subconscious feeling into the viewer’s mindset towards the video with professional editing. Finally, the ad gets across a final and very specific idea which appeals to religious values. Cruz’s entire

He starts it off by discussing how much of an impact Jesus Christ has made on his life. He states that, “were it not for the transformative love of Jesus Christ, I would have been raised by a single mom without my father in the household”. He follows this up with various footage of his family dining together at the table and saying grace. By doing this he is able to persuade his audience that having this certain religious figure in their lives will allow for a positive impact, especially within the household. He also includes footage of his own children, which allows him to come across as a “family man”. This appeals to a bigger demographic than just religious people. Despite the fact there are these deep religious undertones, it still can appeal to those who are non-religious. The family unit being of utmost importance is a fairly universal idea so by including it in his ad, he is able to easily expand on who will hold interest in his

The images shown include soldiers, families, children, and people praying. He brilliantly shifts from the religious centered images, to some that are more relatable. These images could strike a chord with anyone. It could be a woman waiting for her husband to return, a child who has lost a parent to the war, a mother who has just sent off her son to fight, etc. Anyone who knows someone in the service will feel something when they see that image. In addition to making people feel certain emotions, he is able to get across a certain point. The point is that “over and over again when we face impossible odds, the American people rise to the challenge”. The impossible odds could be anything from fighting in the war to breaking down a toxic home environment. He wants to put an emphasis on the fact that American’s refuse to give up. Depicting images of children praying, giving a sense of future to those who may have lost faith, and can now perhaps find solace and leadership from him. It reassures the audience that if they’re able to overcome obstacles, they will most certainly be able to make the right choice in choosing him as candidate. It is not only these powerful images which create a beautiful advertisement, but also the subconscious details people would not necessarily be able to pick up upon the first