Barack Obama's Keynote Address at the Democratic Convention
Barack Obama has been acknowledged as an accomplished orator but some of his speeches standout. A majority of people consider Obama's 2004 keynote address at the Democratic convention as the speech that made him president. The speech was successful due to the effective use of the rhetorical aspects of ethos, pathos, and logos. Obama's efficient employment of rhetoric in his speech ensures that he is able to help his audience identify with him hence, easier communication of his message.
Employing Logos to Create Interest
The rhetorical element of logos entails the use of logic and reasoning and makes up the content of the speech. In his speech, Obama continuously employs logos for effective creation of interest from the audience. The main message that Obama delivers during the speech is hope delivered through good decision making in the political voting process. To help his audience grasp the intended message, Obama creates a logical sequence where he begins with his own diverse background narrating how the sharing of the same dream by two groups of people led to his birth. Acknowledging that only in the US that such an action was possible, Obama brings the audience to the larger American story of tolerance where all men are created equal with certain inalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. From the identified American story, Obama then introduces the aspect of correct political choice through voting where he identifies that people should vote to protect the small miracles of different liberties and small dreams such as employment and children's education shared by all Americans. Consequently, Obama brings the audience to the conclusion that only through such protection of different liberties through voting and correct political choice will the country and its people have the audacity to hope. Evidently, Obama uses logos to bring his audience in a logical manner from a reference point of his background to the clear message of hope.
Earning Trust through Ethos
The other rhetorical aspect that Obama employs is ethos which entails the author's employment of honesty, credibility, and authority in delivering his speech. Any writer in a speech or work of writing uses ethos to increase the level of trust between them and the audience. To earn the trust of his audience, Obama blatantly accepts that his of a diverse background and that his father was an immigrant student. Additionally, Obama constantly accepts the fact that people know that a government cannot solve all their problems but a change in priorities can be established to ensure that the American children have better chances of life and education. Obama does not sugarcoat the campaign promises that the government will directly reduce the level of unemployment or improve the levels of education, but a change in priorities will empower people to dream, hope, and help themselves. Additionally, Obama draws authority to his speech by the constant reminder about the actions of the forbearers that are known to everyone. By linking his speech to the Declaration of Independence where he ascertains the equal creation of all men and the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, Obama is able to earn the rights of his audience who all align with the declaration. Additionally, the reference to the motto of the US, E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one), serves the same function of building the trust of the audience as he provides a common reference point. It is clear that Obama is able to employ the rhetorical element of ethos to ensure the trust of his audience through honesty, credibility, and authority.
Eliciting Emotion through Pathos
The third rhetorical device that Obama employs is pathos. Pathos involves the invoking the feelings and emotions of the audience to create a favorable emotional atmosphere from the audience in the process of communicating and achieving the goal of the speech or writing. There are few examples to show that Obama effectively uses pathos to create a favorable emotional atmosphere. One of the instances of the effective employment of logos is when he creates the feeling of despondency experienced by the unemployed when he says "More to do for the father I met who was losing his job and choking back tears..." (Obama). By eliciting the despondent feelings that result from poor political choice, Obama is able to create a favorable emotional atmosphere where he can provide an alternate route, governance, and candidate to the audience. Moreover, Obama invokes the emotions of hope when he refers to the songs of slaves around the campfires and that of immigrants who set for distant shores. Effectively through evoking such quantifiable emotion of hope, Obama is able to improve the emotional response of his audience towards his message of hope through better governance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Obama effectively employs logos, ethos, and pathos aspects of rhetoric. However, the measures in which he employs the three elements are unequal as logos is more dominant. Obama relies heavily on moving the audience from reference points that are already occurring or have occurred to the new possibilities of what is possible through hope and actions through proper political choice. In the speech, Obama logically brings the audience from the facts of his diverse background to the larger American story that everyone can contribute to building through better political choice in the process of voting. The effective employment of the three rhetoric element especially logos enables Obama to clearly communicate his message of hope through better choices in governance.
Work Cited
Obama, Barack. "The Audacity of Hope." 2004, https://photos.state.gov/libraries/korea/49271/dwoa_122709/obamaw.pdf
