The inaugural address of the 44th president of America, Barack Obama, was effective in communicating to his audience the directions in the next four years and more importantly the building up of confidence in the average American. He used ‘continuity’ to make the audience understand more fully the specifics in the context of his speech. His repetitive use of ‘generation’ in his speech placed the focus on all Americans, representing this generation who must continue the legacy of past to ensure the future.
He also used nature as metaphors to illustrate the situation of America, such as tides, waters, clouds, storms, winter, river, icy currents, and shores. By associating the conditions of America with nature he was able to let the people understand that challenges that come are often beyond control, but which can be overcome with the right attitude. The right attitude is the Americans’ enduring spirit which Obama used several times through different terms, such as principles, ideals, values and virtues.
The president used examples in his speech that different sectors in the audience can particularly relate to. The veterans of war will understand and bring to mind their personal experience in the battlefield when Obama extolled the “brave Americans who patrol far-off deserts” and remind them of their comrades who are now the “fallen heroes who lie in Arlington.
The Essay on Barack Obama Speech: A Better World, A More Perfect Union
In the speech “A More Perfect Union” by Barack Obama he appeals to the emotions of the readers when he says “I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together, unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all ...
” For those who came from different countries and who has since made America their home, President Obama acknowledged that the multi-ethnicity they brought into America became its strength through a “patchwork heritage [and] common humanity. ” For the rest of the world, who may have been present in the inaugural grounds or from their homes in places around the globe, the president pledged America’s friendship and leadership in the pursuit of peace and honor for every man and nation.
The inaugural address of President Barack Obama was in the context of what America was, is and hopes to be. He began in remembrance of America’s forefathers and the ideals that laid the foundation of the nation. He noted that America had weathered “rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace … gathering clouds and raging storms. ” What he wanted to tell the people was that nation has made it through the best and the worst of times because of the steadfast spirit in every generation of Americans.
Faced with the same challenges that are present in America today, the early settlers and the slaves worked in the hardest of circumstances and the defenders of freedom fought and died so that Americans will be ensured of a better future. It must be the same way for this generation of Americans who Obama calls on to continue the journey with the same attitude as those generations before had. References CNN Politics. Com. (2009, January 20).
Obama’s Inaugural Speech. Retrieved June 1, 2009 from http://edition. cnn. com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/obama. politcs/#cnnstcvideo
