Rhetorical Analysis Of Michelle Obama's Speech

First lady and lawyer, Michelle Obama, in her 2016 DNC speech, recounts her children’s unique life in the spotlight while growing up in the White House. Obama’s purpose is to endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential Election. She adopts a sentimental tone in order to appeal to the audience as a concerned parent. Obama opens her speech by conveying a reminiscing sense of parenthood. She describes, “… I saw their little faces pressed up against the window, and the only thing I could think was, what have we done?” (Obama). She uses imagery to paint the picture of her young children growing up in the white house as an appeal to the nostalgic emotions of the audience. Obama uses this in the beginning of her speech, as well as throughout, in order to support her claim, “… this election and every election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives.” She uses this powerful combination to convince the audience that no-one other than Hillary Clinton is most suitable to impress on young minds.
Obama continues her speech by emphasizing Clinton’s credentials.
She appeals to the audiences’ sense of credibility by acknowledging what Hillary has already done for the children. She illuminates that “Hillary has spent decades doing the relentless, thankless work to actually make a difference in [children’s] lives” (Obama). Obama continues to build on Clinton’s credentials by testifying that she was “advocating for kids with disabilities as a young lawyer, fighting for children’s health care as first lady, and for quality child care in the Senate.” Obama was able to apply not only to the audiences’ sense of credibility, but also continues to build on her earlier sentimental
tone. Obama closes her speech by discussing recent discriminatory violence. She creates a sense of patriotism by discussing the everyday heroes, “folks who volunteer to coach that team, to teach that Sunday school class…Heroes of every color and creed who wear the uniform and risk their lives to keep passing down those blessings of liberty, police officers and the protesters in Dallas who all desperately want to keep our children safe…” (Obama). Obama chooses this statement because it doesn’t show favor or prejudice but instead shows that everybody is of equal importance, something she and Hillary both highly value, and that we are “Stronger Together.” She continues the theme by postulating that “because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States” (Obama). Obama uses these vehement statements to fulfill her purpose and bring forth the passion and patriotism in the audience. Michelle Obama implements her purpose of endorsing Hillary Clinton by creating a relatable platform to aid her audiences’ comprehension. She appeals to the sense of parenthood, credibility, and patriotism in the audience in order to persuade them that Hillary Clinton should be the next President of the United States.