Presidential Speech Analysis
December 18, 2012
ENG 114
Portfolio: How do Politicians Use Language to Persuade Us? Barack Obama once said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” This quote inspired many and gave hope in Obama and his upcoming presidency. But there is more to how and what he does to inspire and persuade us at the same time. Propaganda, a form of communication designed to influence the attitudes and actions of a particular group; it can be used as a form of political warfare. The most commonly used propaganda devices are, Name Calling, Glittering Generalities, Transfer, Testimonial, Plain Folk’s, Card Stacking, and the Band Wagon device. In Obama’s 2012 Acceptance Speech, we can recognize that he uses different strategies like The Plain Folk’s, where he appears like regular people, then, Glittering Generalities, which appeals to our emotions, Inflated Language, where things aren’t more than what they seem, and jumping on the Bandwagon as examples to convince us that he will be the change that we seek. A common strategy used in campaigns is The Plain Folk’s strategy because Obama tries to win our confidence and vote by appearing to be just like regular people. The Institute for Propaganda Analysis’s, “How to Detect Propaganda” states that “… they win our votes by showing that they’re just as common as the rest of us - ‘just plain folk’ – and therefore, wise and good.”(430) If Obama appears and acts like a regular American citizen, the people would believe that he is just like the rest of the nation. If Obama appears to be just like the plain folk, then people will see that they’re relatively similar to each other and most likely be able to trust him in office. In the mere beginning seconds of Obama’s Acceptance Speech he expresses, “Michelle, I love you so much. A few nights ago, everybody was reminded just what a lucky man I am. Malia and Sasha, we are so proud of
ENG 114
Portfolio: How do Politicians Use Language to Persuade Us? Barack Obama once said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” This quote inspired many and gave hope in Obama and his upcoming presidency. But there is more to how and what he does to inspire and persuade us at the same time. Propaganda, a form of communication designed to influence the attitudes and actions of a particular group; it can be used as a form of political warfare. The most commonly used propaganda devices are, Name Calling, Glittering Generalities, Transfer, Testimonial, Plain Folk’s, Card Stacking, and the Band Wagon device. In Obama’s 2012 Acceptance Speech, we can recognize that he uses different strategies like The Plain Folk’s, where he appears like regular people, then, Glittering Generalities, which appeals to our emotions, Inflated Language, where things aren’t more than what they seem, and jumping on the Bandwagon as examples to convince us that he will be the change that we seek. A common strategy used in campaigns is The Plain Folk’s strategy because Obama tries to win our confidence and vote by appearing to be just like regular people. The Institute for Propaganda Analysis’s, “How to Detect Propaganda” states that “… they win our votes by showing that they’re just as common as the rest of us - ‘just plain folk’ – and therefore, wise and good.”(430) If Obama appears and acts like a regular American citizen, the people would believe that he is just like the rest of the nation. If Obama appears to be just like the plain folk, then people will see that they’re relatively similar to each other and most likely be able to trust him in office. In the mere beginning seconds of Obama’s Acceptance Speech he expresses, “Michelle, I love you so much. A few nights ago, everybody was reminded just what a lucky man I am. Malia and Sasha, we are so proud of