On September 6, 2012, President Barack Obama used ethos and pathos in his Democratic Nomination Acceptance Address to deceive his audience into voting for him. Through pathos, Barack Obama targets families struggling to pay for necessities like a home or schooling, parents who have a child in college, and students with dreams who have a low chance of succeeding due to financial situation or legal status, into voting for him. Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response. In this specific part of the speech, Barack Obama begins to talk about why he ran for president. He begins talking about jobs and how they were moving overseas and families who had no money to pay anything,
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That same teacher thinks about one specific student who wants to be a doctor when she grows up but she know all odds are against her because of her race. Then there is the parent watching, who is scraping up every penny they to pay another semester of their child’s expensive college tuition. All these people have now connected with President Obama on an extremely emotional and personal level, which eventually lead to a vote from them. President Obama is extremely smart when it comes to using the rhetorical device pathos, but is even more clever when he begins to incorporate some ethos into his speech. Ethos is an appeal to ethics and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader. Because Obama has already served one term it is easy to him to use this as a way to convince the audience that he is credible. Voters believe that because Obama has been president for 4 years he know exactly how to run America for another 4. The first piece of notable ethos President Barack Obama uses in his speech is when he lays out his plans for …show more content…
The second thing President Obama does is speak in the past tense, this comes off as him saying the people elected him in the past making him credible and appropriate to continue to make decisions for America. Another thing President Obama does is tell. He is saying that the people did not elect him to tell them what they wanted to hear but that he was elected to tell the truth. How does one know he is telling the truth and not lying? Just because he is the president does not mean he automatically knows the truth, however Americans voting assume he hold all the answers which eventually also got him another vote. The second statement made through an ethos appeal is when President Obama mentions his opinion on certain topics . He states, “I don 't believe that firing teachers or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy...” (2). In this quote Obama talks about what he believes will better America. Clearly saying that firing teachers is not an option makes him more credible and trustworthy to teachers who fear losing their job, eventually gaining him a vote. The second target audience is students who rely solely on financial aid in order for them to continue their
That same teacher thinks about one specific student who wants to be a doctor when she grows up but she know all odds are against her because of her race. Then there is the parent watching, who is scraping up every penny they to pay another semester of their child’s expensive college tuition. All these people have now connected with President Obama on an extremely emotional and personal level, which eventually lead to a vote from them. President Obama is extremely smart when it comes to using the rhetorical device pathos, but is even more clever when he begins to incorporate some ethos into his speech. Ethos is an appeal to ethics and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader. Because Obama has already served one term it is easy to him to use this as a way to convince the audience that he is credible. Voters believe that because Obama has been president for 4 years he know exactly how to run America for another 4. The first piece of notable ethos President Barack Obama uses in his speech is when he lays out his plans for …show more content…
The second thing President Obama does is speak in the past tense, this comes off as him saying the people elected him in the past making him credible and appropriate to continue to make decisions for America. Another thing President Obama does is tell. He is saying that the people did not elect him to tell them what they wanted to hear but that he was elected to tell the truth. How does one know he is telling the truth and not lying? Just because he is the president does not mean he automatically knows the truth, however Americans voting assume he hold all the answers which eventually also got him another vote. The second statement made through an ethos appeal is when President Obama mentions his opinion on certain topics . He states, “I don 't believe that firing teachers or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy...” (2). In this quote Obama talks about what he believes will better America. Clearly saying that firing teachers is not an option makes him more credible and trustworthy to teachers who fear losing their job, eventually gaining him a vote. The second target audience is students who rely solely on financial aid in order for them to continue their