Rhetorical Analysis on Obama’s Inaugural Speech_Analysis

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Rhetorical Analysis on Obama’s 2013 Inaugural Speech

Abstract

Barack Obama is the 44th and current president of the United States and he is also one of the biggest speakers in the world.His inaugural speeches are always very persuasive and full of prospect.From his 2013 inaugural speech, we also can learn some rhetorical devices especially parallelism.Key WordsObamainaugural speechrhetorical deviceparallelism

Ⅰ Introduction

Obama is the first African-American president in American history.His inaugural speeches always can move people and arouse their paion.In his speech, there are a lot of rhetorical devices such as parallelism, alliteration, repetition and so on.In this paper, I will mainly talk about the parallel structures.It will let all the readers have a better understanding of Obama’s speaking skills.And in my paper, there are four parts: introduction, rhetorical devices, conclusion and reference books.Ⅱ Rhetorical Devices Analysis on Obama’s Speech

Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the capability of writers or speakers that attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations.Parallelism is one of the most common devices in Obama’s speech including word parallelism, phrasal parallelism and sentence parallelism.2.1 Phrasal Parallelism

(1)We must harne new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher.In this sentence, Obama uses seven verbal phrases.First four phrases show what the government should do and the latter three let us know the benefits that we will get from those government’s actions.This parallel structure can let the audience know his determination and attract audience’s attention for what the speaker’s said.(2)And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized,the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes:tolerance and opportunity;human dignity and justice.This parallel structure shows president Obama give his great concern to those people who are poor, sick, marginalized.From this, the audience may find he is very kind and merciful.(3)That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happine – real for every American.Here Obama said they will let Americans enjoy liberty, their own rights and happy life.He used these three phrases to emphasize and make the public see the hopes of the United States.2.2 Sentence Parallelism

(1)Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witne to the enduring strength of our Constitution.We affirm the promise of our democracy.We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names.In this sentence, Obama used “we bear”, “we affirm” and “we recall” let Americans know they are together and America need they all to become more prosperous and stronger.This parallel structure strength his tone and let the audience feels the power.(2)Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity;until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.In this paragraph, Obama used four parallel sentences to show there are still a lot of things the Americans should do.There are some challenges need them try to deal with.2.3 Paragraph Parallelism

(1)Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce;schools and colleges to train our workers.Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.Obama used these three parallel paragraphs let the Americans know they are one.The audiences can feel they are a part of their nation and they also can do some contributions to their countries.(2)We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity.We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity.We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.Obama used “we, the people, still believe that” three times in order to let Americans know every citizen have security and dignity and they will have a peaceful world.This parallel structure make Obama’s tone become very strong and full of power.Let Americans see the hope.ⅢConclusion

Parallelism is one of the most important speaking skills, after studying this kind of feature, we can have a better understanding of Obama’s speech.Also we can learn those rhetorical devices, especially parallelism and use them in our writing.Bibliography

〔1〕 杨卉芊.奥巴马就职演说的修辞探讨, 2012

〔2〕 张碧航.奥巴马演讲的语言特点分析, 2012

〔3〕 王慧玲.奥巴马演讲魅力探讨,2009