Rhetorical Analysis Of Obama's Speech

In response to Assad gassing and killing children in Syria, President Barack Obama argues that something has to be done to stop Assad from using chemical weapons in his speech “Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on Syria.” He effectively builds his argument by using imagery, logos, and ethos.

Obama starts his speech off by using vivid imagery of “(syrian) Men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas. Others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath. A father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk.” through this brief description, Obama makes this visual impression on the audience to play with their emotions and to make the issue more realistic rather than just reading it on a billboard when you pass the road or hearing about on the news. By pulling in his audience with the use of vivid imagery about chemical weapons, Obama presents why the use of chemical weapons must be banned. He builds his argument to stop Assad from using chemical weapons by proving …show more content…
As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas, and using them,” and that chemical weapons have a global effect. He reasoned that failure to act in syria would keep up the use of chemical weapons amongst dictators and make it easier for terrorists to obtain them. Another reason is that if we fail to stand against the use of chemical weapons, it would weaken the prohibitions on other dangerous weapons. Obama builds his argument for chemical weapons having a global effect by saying “what happened to those people, those children, is not only a violation of international law, it’s also a danger to our security.” the use of his logical reasoning was used to persuade the audience that intervention would be essential to national and personal