Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy were both candidates and presidents at incredibly pivotal time periods in history. As such they faced a wide range of rhetorical obstacles during their candidacy and time as presidents. A rhetorical obstacle is some outside force that can limit a rhetors’ main purpose or goal. A shared obstacle faced by both candidates was that of identity. Identity becomes an obstacle when a rhetors’ audience does not share “common goals/background, beliefs, values, etc.” (1) with that of the rhetor. Kennedy addressed this obstacle in his discourse Campaign speech to the Houston Ministerial Association. At the time, he spoke directly to protestant voters who could not identify with him on account of his being a Catholic. Obama
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This appeal to ones’ reason can be used in rhetoric as a strategy to overcome an obstacle a rhetor may be facing. This strategy can be observed in John F. Kennedy’s discourse, Campaign Speech to the Houston Ministerial Association, in which he was addressing the protestant audiences’ inability to accept or identify with him as a president due to the fact he was catholic. Kennedy brings up many different examples of reason to his audience, such as the fact that he served his country when he fought in the South Pacific. He explains that he was never questioned of his loyalty to America, nor believed to “belong to a disloyal group” (Kennedy, 1960) when he was willing to fight and risk his life for his country. However, when he was running for the presidency the fact he was Catholic appeared to be a factor that affected the publics opinion on his loyalty. Discussing these two instances constitutes an attempt at helping the audience understand the fact that it would not be logical to respect and trust Kennedy in one instance but not the other. Furthermore, Kennedy continued to discuss how he planned to be an excellent President and discussed his adequacy as President. Utilizing logos once again, he declared that he would do everything in his power to fulfill his Oath as President, an oath he points out in line 24 of his speech as practically identical to the one he took in Congress. …show more content…
Tone is involved with a writer’s attitude towards their subject or audience. During this speech Obama, a Democratic President, addresses the Republican Party, which represents the other side of the political spectrum. However, Obama understands there are bigger problems in America than what Political Party one belongs to and that was why he devoted much of this speech to creating a tone of unity and patriotism between Democrats and Republicans. He created a sense of patriotism through his discourse by explaining how America is the “greatest nation in the world” (Obama, 2010, ln. 6) and how the political parties’ separation was preventing them from addressing the important issues. Thus he explained it is important for “Washington to work together” (Obama, 2010, ln. 13) and for them to “move forward together” . He used the strategy of tone to his advantage by creating a sense of patriotism for this great nation that Republicans and Democrats need to work together to improve. He went further to explain that “It’s going to require all of us doing what’s right for the American people” (Obama, 2010, ln. 56) creating this sense that they have to all unite because nothing can be fixed if everyone does not actively come together. This immense sense of patriotism helped turn the Republicans’ minds away from which political party was more important, and towards how to conquer issues occurring in America
This appeal to ones’ reason can be used in rhetoric as a strategy to overcome an obstacle a rhetor may be facing. This strategy can be observed in John F. Kennedy’s discourse, Campaign Speech to the Houston Ministerial Association, in which he was addressing the protestant audiences’ inability to accept or identify with him as a president due to the fact he was catholic. Kennedy brings up many different examples of reason to his audience, such as the fact that he served his country when he fought in the South Pacific. He explains that he was never questioned of his loyalty to America, nor believed to “belong to a disloyal group” (Kennedy, 1960) when he was willing to fight and risk his life for his country. However, when he was running for the presidency the fact he was Catholic appeared to be a factor that affected the publics opinion on his loyalty. Discussing these two instances constitutes an attempt at helping the audience understand the fact that it would not be logical to respect and trust Kennedy in one instance but not the other. Furthermore, Kennedy continued to discuss how he planned to be an excellent President and discussed his adequacy as President. Utilizing logos once again, he declared that he would do everything in his power to fulfill his Oath as President, an oath he points out in line 24 of his speech as practically identical to the one he took in Congress. …show more content…
Tone is involved with a writer’s attitude towards their subject or audience. During this speech Obama, a Democratic President, addresses the Republican Party, which represents the other side of the political spectrum. However, Obama understands there are bigger problems in America than what Political Party one belongs to and that was why he devoted much of this speech to creating a tone of unity and patriotism between Democrats and Republicans. He created a sense of patriotism through his discourse by explaining how America is the “greatest nation in the world” (Obama, 2010, ln. 6) and how the political parties’ separation was preventing them from addressing the important issues. Thus he explained it is important for “Washington to work together” (Obama, 2010, ln. 13) and for them to “move forward together” . He used the strategy of tone to his advantage by creating a sense of patriotism for this great nation that Republicans and Democrats need to work together to improve. He went further to explain that “It’s going to require all of us doing what’s right for the American people” (Obama, 2010, ln. 56) creating this sense that they have to all unite because nothing can be fixed if everyone does not actively come together. This immense sense of patriotism helped turn the Republicans’ minds away from which political party was more important, and towards how to conquer issues occurring in America