Power of Rhetorics

Analysis of Obama's Rhetoric

I now will examine Obama's rhetoric by applying the five canons of rhetoric to see how the speaker used (1) invention (ethos, pathos, logos); (2) organization; (3) style; (4) memory; (5) delivery in order to create a rhetoric that was effective for his audience. In the following analysis of the speech, I will try to reveal how Obama used the Neo-Aristotelian canons in order to awaken Americans to a new era of change and responsibility.

Invention

According to Aristotle, the speaker at first, most importantly, should build trustworthiness of his/her character in the eyes of the audience members. In another words, based on Aristotle’s argument, ethos appears to be the primary appeal of speaker to make a persuasive speech. In Aristotle’s idea about the essence of the art of rhetoric, the main point around which the whole perspective is developed, is his perception of the truth. According to Aristotle, there is no simple absolute truth, but there are truths that are inartistic and artistic. Everything that is not created through the process of rhetoric by the speaker is defined by Aristotle to be inartistic and thus, cannot be argued about. However, there also exist three artistic truths that are the elements that can be manipulated by the speaker rhetorically in order to persuade the audience – ethos, pathos and logos. In Obama’s speech, he addresses people of South Carolina by calling them “the good people of South Carolina”, in order to gain sympathy from the audience. Another way how he uses ethos to create morally trustworthy image of himself is the way he expresses respect towards all of the other candidates. “We are up against the idea that it’s acceptable to say anything and do anything to win an election”, says the senator and by this statement he creates a perception in the minds of audience members that his words and actions are not only directed toward winning the elections, but are honest and trustworthy. Through the use of...