Rhetorical Analysis Of Remarks To Naacp Speech

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What makes a great speaker, and what qualities are needed to be such a speaker? Barack Obama used many methods to get his point across to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in his speech, “Remarks to NAACP.”Examples of this are when Obama would ask thought-provoking questions such as “What steps do we take to overcome these barriers?” (Paragraph 14, #52-53) The speech is persuasive and used to promote Racial Equality and Social Justice. Obama wanted America to grow as a whole, but he wanted to see more growth from African American Communities. There is a reason he gave this speech: he wanted to see the improvement in the lives of Black Americans. That is why Barack Obama used methods such as diction, metaphors, and …show more content…

Punctuation and the length of sentences are types of the syntax used in his quote; “But make no mistake: the pain of discrimination is still felt in America.” (Paragraph 16, #59) The length of this sentence is short, and Obama got right to the point. He also used the colon to introduce a summary, and emphasize his point. President Obama did not want the American people to make the mistake of thinking America was discrimination free; Obama proved his point by emphasizing the action of making a mistake. Another form of the syntax used by Barack Obama were interrogative sentences such as, “The question, then, is where do we direct our efforts? What steps do we take to overcome these barriers? How do we move forward in the next one hundred years?” (Paragraph 14, #53-54) Nothing was being done to improve racial equality, so he asked those thought-provoking questions to work for a greater future. President Obama proved his point by stressing the fact that something needed to be done to overcome these barriers. Now because of these questions, Barack Obama was able to strengthen his argument and fight for his cause. Examples of syntax are Length of sentences, types of sentences, punctuation; those forms of syntax assisted Obama in the construction of his speech and help promote Racial