This allusion establishes more ethos by reminding us that the quote of equality is still of great importance today as it was the time it was written. In the light of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, which happened to fall on the same day as this speech this year, President Barrack Obama tied his speech closely to his, both in the importance of unity and similar structure and language. Our president brings us to the past, telling us that freedom had a long line of being taken rather than given.
He uses logos to solidify this idea by referring back to the American Revolution, reminding us, in a periodic sentence, that the patriots didn’t fight for revenge, but for freedom. Freedom that we would keep safe entrusting every single generation with it. Just as King had done many years before on his speech, President Obama shoots us back into the present. He lists off our country’s feats, starting each achievement of society by “together, we” to stress that it was a collaborative effort of many minds, giving the audience a sense of pride and awareness of the greatness that comes out of unity.
The President begins his next point, starting his next paragraph with “but” , bringing out a change in tone and dropping in the central argument, or message, into perspective. Using deductive reasoning, Obama explains more plainly than before that America can’t function under a single person, but work as a single unit as “American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world” and “ No single person can train all the… teachers we’ll need…” but “… now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people. At this point if you don’t sense a feeling of unity in the depths of your brain then you are Helen Keller and I respect that. On top of that big fat slab of equality and togetherness, President Obama also begins to usher in a sense of endless possibilities and hope through the audience. He juxtaposes the “ending of war” to the beginning of economic recovery (Isn’t that a lie in the state we’re in? ).
The Essay on President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Speech
After being sworn-in by Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Roberts, Barack Obama gave his inaugural speech in front of U.S. Capitol. On January 21, 2013 Obama addressed the nation as a president for the first time in his new term. Since April 30, 1789 Presidents have given an inaugural address after taking the oath as president. Usually an inaugural speech includes their vision of America and the ...
This solidifies hope and the use parallelism, “ we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together”.
He begins again, this time using a parallelism that is used throughout the rest of the speech, “we, the people,” to even further establish togetherness and also builds Obama’s presidential ethos, important to our freedom and our rights, yet still a part of our nation as a whole. As he implements this form of credibility into the rest of his speech, the president lists the current issues facing our society today, and how we, as a whole, can tackle the issues and solve them.
He alludes to various events that have taken place in the past year such as the hurricanes that “swept away a home” , and gun violence as he refers to child safety. These real issues draws the listener back into reality from the vision of bliss and equality. Finally, President Obama calls for action. He reminds us, through anaphora, that “our journey is not complete” until we are all equal and more opportunistic, per-se. Obama tells us that that is our task, alluding to the
Declaration of Independence, to “make these words, rights, these values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness real for every American” is a task that we will all go through together as one to achieve for all. Concluding his speech, the president reminds us that we are the hope; we ARE the change. Obama finishes his address thanking God and proclaiming that “may He forever bless these United States of America. ” For the final push of ethos to conclude the speech.
