Following a recent chemical attack on the Syrian people, by the Assad regime, President Barack Obama uses negatively and emotionally charged diction to convince Congress to vote for military action. Later in the speech, Obama also gains the support of the American public by appealing to their weariness of large scale wars. He reasons that military force is necessary to prevent further conflict down the road which will keep Americans safe, at home and abroad.
In the beginning of the text, President Obama appeals to Americans fear of war by using vivid imagery. By doing so, he justifies military action against the Assad regime. This is seen when he initially describes the aftermath of the attack saying, “hospitals overflowing with victims; terrible images of the dead... several hundred of them were children”(13). Because he describes this so explicitly, he changes the view of the event in the average American’s mind. It goes from an “attack in some foreign country” to a threat to their families. Here he plants seeds of fear among the American people, causing them to worry for their family’s future well-being, causing them to support military action to protect themselves. Later on in the speech, Obama goes on to justify military action by asking the nation, “What message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of children to death... and pay no price” (12). Here Obama implies that if they do not hold Assad accountable, more unthinkable acts like what took place in Syria could happen. He also implies that others who kill children may not be …show more content…
He then supports this purpose by gaining the backing of the American public by using imagery to appeal to their fears. Obama convinces the nation that military action is needed now and through that, they will set an example to other nations as a champion of
In the beginning of the text, President Obama appeals to Americans fear of war by using vivid imagery. By doing so, he justifies military action against the Assad regime. This is seen when he initially describes the aftermath of the attack saying, “hospitals overflowing with victims; terrible images of the dead... several hundred of them were children”(13). Because he describes this so explicitly, he changes the view of the event in the average American’s mind. It goes from an “attack in some foreign country” to a threat to their families. Here he plants seeds of fear among the American people, causing them to worry for their family’s future well-being, causing them to support military action to protect themselves. Later on in the speech, Obama goes on to justify military action by asking the nation, “What message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of children to death... and pay no price” (12). Here Obama implies that if they do not hold Assad accountable, more unthinkable acts like what took place in Syria could happen. He also implies that others who kill children may not be …show more content…
He then supports this purpose by gaining the backing of the American public by using imagery to appeal to their fears. Obama convinces the nation that military action is needed now and through that, they will set an example to other nations as a champion of