Rhetorical Analysis Of Michelle Obama's Speech In Philadelphia

Michelle Obama’s speech in Philadelphia in 2010 was in response to The Fresh Grocer opening in Progress Plaza. The grocer was the first to be in the neighborhood in a decade and it opened two months before the speech. The opening was part a of healthy food initiative that is a key part of Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign. This campaign was started to fight the rise of childhood obesity in America. The issue of childhood obesity is very pressing as nearly a third of the children in America are overweight or obese. Obama stresses that is important to fix the issue now, so that the children of this generation can grow up with a healthy weight and not have problems that will affect their children’s lives later. This is also important for college students like myself because it is hard to purchase affordable healthy food. Weight gain in college students may be an effect of the lack of affordable healthy foods and their accessibility. Michelle Obama effectively uses a range of rhetorical devices to persuade her immediate audience in Philadelphia, as well as her secondary audience listening throughout the United States, that implementing more supermarkets in communities to increase healthy food affordability and accessibility is

After mentioning that she is a mother, Michelle says she wants to fight childhood obesity because she cares about her kids and she cares about all of the nation’s children. She also pulls the audience into the statement, saying “we all care about our kids” (Obama). She does this to appeal emotionally with the parents of the audience and give them something to think about. If anyone with children was unsure about why they should be in support of the cause, this would help persuade them to be in support of the healthy food initiative. Now that she has the attention and support of the audience, she mentions the launch of the Let’s Move!