Audacity of Hope Rhetorical Analysis "My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of Earth" - Abe Lincoln. Since it 's early beginnings, America has been a place of hope, and that standard is carried on through a speech, given by Senator Barrack Obama, called The Audacity of Hope. Obama gave this speech as the Keynote address for the 2004 Democratic National Convention. At the time, Democrat John Kerry was running for president against Republican George Bush. This speech served somewhat as an aid to John Kerry 's campaign. It was Obama 's goal to persuade not only the democrats and republicans alike to vote for John Kerry. However, in order to accomplish this goal he would also need to unite
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This speech is given in the year 2004, only 3 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Just as Bush may have used this tragic event to win his election and go to war with Iraq, Obama may also be using it to promote John Kerry. For instance, in his speech Obama states "John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world war must be an option sometimes, but it should never be the first option." This could be a reference to the Iraq war. At the time, many people were against the war on Iraq and by saying that John Kerry does not preference war as the first option Obama could be attempting to appeal to those who are opposed to the war. On the other hand, he could also be attempting to appeal to those who were supporters of the war as well as he also states "Now let me be clear. Let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world…Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure." This statement may cater to those who are supporters of the war because Obama is explaining that John Kerry will do whatever it takes to keep America safe including war. It is clear that Obama is using the kairotic time to his advantage. He is aware of the fear and the patriotism that is still currently instilled in Americans from the 9/11 terrorist attacks and he utilizes that emotion in order to unite the American …show more content…
Usually, when one uses present tenses they can unite a group of people on an issue and that is exactly what Obama does. For example, near the end of his speech he makes this proclamation "there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America." Throughout the entirety of this section Obama says there "is the United States of America" rather than 'there was ' or 'there will be '. This unites his audience around the classic American ideology: that America is a united nation that is accepting of everyone. This also could be an attempt to discuss the commonplace of racism in America, in the sense that Obama, and for that matter John Kerry, does not see race or ethnicity as something that divides America but rather as something that unites us all as Americans and makes the county itself greater. In addition to that, he is uniting them in the sense of the presidential campaign. As we know, it is Obama 's goal to persuade as many people as he can to vote for John Kerry, and he achieves that goal by uniting his audience on a common ideology. Then, by stating that John Kerry also believes in this ideology Obama unites his audience to not only collectively believe in
This speech is given in the year 2004, only 3 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Just as Bush may have used this tragic event to win his election and go to war with Iraq, Obama may also be using it to promote John Kerry. For instance, in his speech Obama states "John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world war must be an option sometimes, but it should never be the first option." This could be a reference to the Iraq war. At the time, many people were against the war on Iraq and by saying that John Kerry does not preference war as the first option Obama could be attempting to appeal to those who are opposed to the war. On the other hand, he could also be attempting to appeal to those who were supporters of the war as well as he also states "Now let me be clear. Let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world…Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure." This statement may cater to those who are supporters of the war because Obama is explaining that John Kerry will do whatever it takes to keep America safe including war. It is clear that Obama is using the kairotic time to his advantage. He is aware of the fear and the patriotism that is still currently instilled in Americans from the 9/11 terrorist attacks and he utilizes that emotion in order to unite the American …show more content…
Usually, when one uses present tenses they can unite a group of people on an issue and that is exactly what Obama does. For example, near the end of his speech he makes this proclamation "there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America." Throughout the entirety of this section Obama says there "is the United States of America" rather than 'there was ' or 'there will be '. This unites his audience around the classic American ideology: that America is a united nation that is accepting of everyone. This also could be an attempt to discuss the commonplace of racism in America, in the sense that Obama, and for that matter John Kerry, does not see race or ethnicity as something that divides America but rather as something that unites us all as Americans and makes the county itself greater. In addition to that, he is uniting them in the sense of the presidential campaign. As we know, it is Obama 's goal to persuade as many people as he can to vote for John Kerry, and he achieves that goal by uniting his audience on a common ideology. Then, by stating that John Kerry also believes in this ideology Obama unites his audience to not only collectively believe in