Rhetorical Devices In Obama's Inaugural Speech

In the Inaugural Address by Barack Obama he states the fact that “we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution” and that we kept our promise of democracy strong. He then continues to flatter and praise our people as a whole and remind us that “men are created equal”. His use of quoting the Constitution to further promote our greatness for keeping true to “ life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all these years. Barack Obama makes several more statements of how we have endured many things to get to where we have today. He also continues to tell of how we moved past our struggle of old, racism to move on to a brighter new future. The overall idea he tells us is of how citizens of america as a people are great and have endured much but are headed towards a brighter tomorrow hand in hand as equals. The claim Barack Obama makes in the first half of his speech is how we have overcome our struggles with all the racial diversity in the past and how slavery was abolished due to our policy of equality and freedom. …show more content…
In the beginning of his speech Barack talks of how “what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names” which is targeting our past triumphs in these regards by disregarding any racial or religious differences and instead embracing each other as citizens of america. Barack is specifically concentrating on the sense of patriotism the crowd feels and is evoking that feeling from within them as he speaks and alludes to glorious moments in the nation's past. Towards the middle of Barack Obama's speech he alludes to the civil war to once again revive that feeling of patriotism in the people before him. The pathos shown in Barack’s speech targets the patriotism the people feel and how proud they are in the fact they overcame their religious and racial struggles hoping to evoke an even greater feeling of patriotism as Barack continues to reference these moments of oppression and righteousness. In the other part of Barack Obama’s speech he tells of how we have endured, adapted, and struggled through misfortune and must adapt to the times. Barack says “we have always understood that when times change, so must we” and “now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people”. Barack relentlessly says we and refers to himself and everyone else as one nation to bring forth a sense of unity and patriotism from Barack referring to himself as one of many in this nation. By saying all these words that include many people and rarely just referring to himself but telling of how we will all do it together, Barack attempts to bring the people to be closer to him and like him even more since he doesn’t say he is doing it by himself. Barack makes sure to tell everyone that he notices the little people, the gears in the clock that makes it go round and that he appreciates them. Barack does this and the pathos shown in this makes them emotionally happy and proud that he, Barack Obama, the president knows what they do matters and he appreciates it. The speech Barack Obama gives is one of bringing himself closer to the people by referring to all of them