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Rhetorical Analysis Of Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

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The 44th and first African American President, Barack Obama, in his Inaugural Address, promotes a call to action. Obama’s purpose is to express his gratitude for his opportunity to become president and discuss his plans for economic advancement. In order to reach the American people of the U.S., Obama adopts a serious and thought-provoking tone to urge them to support his plans for advancement. During this time of economic crisis, Obama clearly conveys to the American people through his use of metaphor, allusion, and anaphora, that it is time to take a stand and make a change in America. Throughout his speech, Barack Obama’s use of metaphor allows the audience to make powerful connections and conclusions; therefore, persuading them to support his plans. While analyzing past presidential inaugurations, Obama compares peace and prosperity to the ocean and economic crisis to gathering clouds and raging storms stating: “Forty-four Americans have now taken the …show more content…

He includes anaphora in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth paragraphs, which state: “For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places just like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.” From this repetition of “For us” Obama clues his audience in on the fact that people from earlier generations fought for the generation of today’s Americans to have a better life than them. He also adds another anaphoric piece of information that builds a bond between him and his audience. Obama includes the words “We will," in the sixteenth paragraph. From the repetition of “We will," Obama expresses his need to build an alliance with his audience to include them in his

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