Holocaust Days Of Remembrance Ceremony Speech Analysis
In the speech, Remarks by the President at the Holocaust Days of Remembrance Ceremony, President Obama is speaking to mourn the lives lost, to celebrate and honor the survivors, and to bear witness to the tragedies. This speech took place on April 23, 2009 in Washington D.C. at the ceremony of Holocaust Remembrance near the Holocaust Memorial Museum. President Obama effectively convinces his audience that everyone needs to learn from the mistakes of the Holocaust in his speech through rhetorical definitions and emotionally charged diction.
President Obama uses rhetorical definitions in his speech to express a critical attitude about the Holocaust. In the first paragraph Obama uses strong adjectives to define the Holocaust to make the audience
feel negative towards the Holocaust. In the speech he says, “It is the grimmest of ironies that one of the most savage, barbaric acts of evil in history began in one of the most modernized societies of its time...”. By defining the Holocaust this way he makes his audience believe that the Holocaust was the worst tragedy that ever happened to mankind. This allows Obama to achieve his purpose of learning from history’s mistakes because by saying that the Holocaust was terrible he alludes that this should never happen again. He makes the audience want to take action to never allow this tragedy to happen again. Another example of rhetorical definition is when Obama defines the Holocaust as an “atrocity.” He uses negatively connotated words to stress the importance of the Holocaust and so he can tell the audience that they need to learn from this terrible event. This is effective because the Holocaust is a tragic event that many people died from. So, it is arguably one of the worst things that happened to mankind. Obama uses rhetorical definition to express a negative attitude about the Holocaust and convince his audience that we need to learn from our history’s past mistakes.
Besides rhetorical definitions, Obama also uses emotionally charged words to express a negative attitude about the Holocaust.Throughout his speech, Obama uses positive or negative words to make the audience feel a certain way about the Holocaust. In his speech, Obama says, “Their legacy is our inheritance.” He is talking about the people that died from the Holocaust and he uses the words “legacy” and “inheritance” to inspire us. He uses these words instead of words like “burden” or “weighed down” to make our task of bearing witness to the Holocaust seem more like an opportunity instead of an obligation. In the second paragraph he describes the Holocaust as, “ a bureaucracy that sustains modern life used as the machinery of mass death- a ruthless, chillingly efficient system where many were responsible for the killing…”. By using emotionally charged words like “mass death” and “ruthless” Obama conveys a negative feeling to the audience. President Obama uses this method to tell his audience that everyone needs to take note of the mistakes of our world’s past tragedies.
Using rhetorical definitions and emotionally charged diction, President Obama effectively convinces his audience that we need to learn from the mistakes of the Holocaust. Obama defines the Holocaust to convey a negative attitude about the Holocaust. The speaker also uses negatively connotated words to persuade the audience to feel a certain way. In his speech, President Obama uses rhetorical definitions and emotionally charged diction to effectively convince his audience that everyone needs to learn from the past tragedies that happened during the Holocaust.
President Obama uses rhetorical definitions in his speech to express a critical attitude about the Holocaust. In the first paragraph Obama uses strong adjectives to define the Holocaust to make the audience
feel negative towards the Holocaust. In the speech he says, “It is the grimmest of ironies that one of the most savage, barbaric acts of evil in history began in one of the most modernized societies of its time...”. By defining the Holocaust this way he makes his audience believe that the Holocaust was the worst tragedy that ever happened to mankind. This allows Obama to achieve his purpose of learning from history’s mistakes because by saying that the Holocaust was terrible he alludes that this should never happen again. He makes the audience want to take action to never allow this tragedy to happen again. Another example of rhetorical definition is when Obama defines the Holocaust as an “atrocity.” He uses negatively connotated words to stress the importance of the Holocaust and so he can tell the audience that they need to learn from this terrible event. This is effective because the Holocaust is a tragic event that many people died from. So, it is arguably one of the worst things that happened to mankind. Obama uses rhetorical definition to express a negative attitude about the Holocaust and convince his audience that we need to learn from our history’s past mistakes.
Besides rhetorical definitions, Obama also uses emotionally charged words to express a negative attitude about the Holocaust.Throughout his speech, Obama uses positive or negative words to make the audience feel a certain way about the Holocaust. In his speech, Obama says, “Their legacy is our inheritance.” He is talking about the people that died from the Holocaust and he uses the words “legacy” and “inheritance” to inspire us. He uses these words instead of words like “burden” or “weighed down” to make our task of bearing witness to the Holocaust seem more like an opportunity instead of an obligation. In the second paragraph he describes the Holocaust as, “ a bureaucracy that sustains modern life used as the machinery of mass death- a ruthless, chillingly efficient system where many were responsible for the killing…”. By using emotionally charged words like “mass death” and “ruthless” Obama conveys a negative feeling to the audience. President Obama uses this method to tell his audience that everyone needs to take note of the mistakes of our world’s past tragedies.
Using rhetorical definitions and emotionally charged diction, President Obama effectively convinces his audience that we need to learn from the mistakes of the Holocaust. Obama defines the Holocaust to convey a negative attitude about the Holocaust. The speaker also uses negatively connotated words to persuade the audience to feel a certain way. In his speech, President Obama uses rhetorical definitions and emotionally charged diction to effectively convince his audience that everyone needs to learn from the past tragedies that happened during the Holocaust.