Rhetorical Analysis Of Obama's Second Inaugural Address

Obama uses his second inaugural address as a call to action. The narrative in a rhetoric is told to make a point. In the middle of the speech he reclaims and wants us to appreciate the founding fathers and to make point to how important they are to our history. He references back to Martin Luther King and wants us to celebrate his life, since it was the national holiday when he gave his speech. But he also grabs ideas from Martin Luther King, and embraces the idea that we need to come together to diminish all the problems facing the country. He never makes it known that he is above us and makes it clear that we are all at the same level. He uses the words “we, us, and together throughout the whole speech which establishes ethos. He addresses his ideas on immigration, women’s …show more content…
This rhetoric does fulfill all the functions of narrative because it is informative, persuasive, and entertaining. The narrative helps create a sense of shared identity and shared commonality among people. Narrative helps create a sense of understanding. It fulfills the functions because Obama states, “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” (Obama, Paragraph 20). This helps create identification between the characters and everyone who is a part of the audience. Obama makes it clear that we need to stick together, help those in need, and cherish all the blessings we have been given. It’s obvious that Obama knows his identity because he was a victim of prejudice, so it creates power in the speech. Obama’s identity is centered on change and hope. Overall, Obama uses the function of narrative to persuade his audience to believe in his personal views and his image for