Obama Case

1776 all the way to the civil rights movement (5).

In his keynote address, Obama uses rhetoric clearly and effectively, creating a speech that has a profound impact on its audience: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, registered voters, and TV viewers. His discourse speaks to people of all ages, gender, race, and political belief. Throughout the dialogue, he relates to people throughout the country, citing his heritage as the child of an immigrant and the product of two very different cultures. Using pathos, he effectively associates himself with people of similar backgrounds, proclaiming his pride of his heritage and his success as a minority in American politics. He also notes that his parents gave him the name Barack, meaning "'blessed', believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success" (2). He speaks of his parents' educational beliefs: "They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential," effectively using pathos to create a similarity between himself and people of America who are in the same situation that he was in (2). Obama uses parallelism with the terms "tolerant America" and "generous America," talking about the different qualities of our nation. Obama recounts a few stories in his speech, talking of his childhood, blue collar neighborhoods where jobs are a commodity because factories are being relocated internationally, a father who "was losing his job and choking back the tears, wondering how he would pay 4500 dollars a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits that he counted on," and a young woman who "has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but doesn't have the money to go to college" (2). Millions of people across the country have the same problems, and millions of people across the country heard Barack Obama sympathize with their situation. These images work well with his audience, as he comes from a similar background and he can relate to people who are in the same circumstances. Obama successfully gains the trust of many of these people because of his knowledge and concern for them. He expertly uses pathos to get an emotional appeal from his audience. He also notes that he understands that people do not expect the government to do everything for them. He describes this