Rhetorical Analysis of Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address

Rhetorical Analysis of Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address The inaugural address, spoken by President Barack Obama, was largely written by the 27 year old Jon Favreau. “What is Required: The Price & Promise of Citizenship” captured the audience of the American people, with Obama’s natural ability to achieve praise without really saying anything. The country was told once again that we are in a crisis and that change is the answer. The speech teaches about Obama’s thoughts on common defense, and Americans are then assured that our country’s problems will be fixed, but that’s up to us, the people. The words spoken by Obama bring hope; “Obama’s aides have repeatedly referred to him as his own best speechwriter” through symbolism and slick wording, this speech did have some high points of persuasion. The speech also had its lows, which only could convince someone who knows little about politics or his views and past statements. As everyone in America knows, our country is in a crisis. The United States is at war with Iraqi and Afghani terrorist groups, and anyone that has followed Obama’s campaign knows he is all for pulling troops out of Iraq. The country’s economy is in bad shape; people are losing jobs and their homes and can’t pay for their own healthcare. Obama says, “These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.” This quote says that the people of this country need to accept that we are in crisis and that we have to lower our living standards to survive. Maybe buy fewer toys and go out to eat less; pinching and saving is what needs to be done. First of all this is definitely something people don’t want to here, they don’t want the blame put on them, they don’t want to have to change their lives. Also this is nothing new; you can’t persuade