Obama's Rhetoric

U.S primaries are where the Republican and Democratic parties select who they want to be their representative to run for president. The Republican nominee is already known and is John McCain. At the moment the democratic nominee is still unknown. There is currently a close race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Exercise 1.

You are going to listen and read part of Barack Obama's speech made after he lost the New Hampshire primary election to Hillary Clinton. The Youtube link and the text are found below.

While you read it, highlight examples of the following techniques of rhetoric used by orators to win over an audience:

Anaphora: The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a sentence or phrase.
Epistrophe: Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of a sentence or phrase.
Alliteration: Repetition of words that have the same first consonant.
Imagery: Words and phrases that form clear pictures, sounds or sensations of touch and taste in your mind.


Exercise 2.

We are now going to look at the structure of effective argumentation. A very common and effective technique used by politicians is the Toulmin Method.

Claim: Point the speaker wants to make.
Data : Evidence the speaker uses to support the claim.
Support for data: Justification for using this evidence.
Counter claim: Argument against the claim.
Rebuttal: Rejection of the counter claim and an affirmation of the claim.

Using this structure analyse the text in blue and try to identify each of the elements in the Toulmin Method.

Possible answer

Exercise 3

The speech was the inspiration for a song by Will-i-am of the American group The Black Eyed Peas. Click on the link and watch the video: Yes We Can. After watching it write down your honest reaction to the song and the video, by leaving a comment on this post.

Follow-up exercise

Watch an interview with Will-i-am and the video director Jessie Dillon and answer the following questions. You can watch on Youtube: Will-i-am Interview. You will see the video once again, if you like use the slider bar to skip it and to hear the rest of the interview. Stop at minute 6:35.

1) Why did Will-i-am write this song?
2) Who are the people featured inthe video and why did they agree to appear in it?
3) Is Will part of the Obama campaign?
4) What does Will-i-am see as being necessary to change?
5) Does Obama know about the video?

***

Listen to Obama's speech as you read it. Follow the link below and start at minute 8:07:

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe751kMBwms

New Hampshire Primary Speech Extract

....All of the candidates in this race have good ideas and all are patriots who serve this country honorably.
(APPLAUSE)

But the reason our campaign has always been different, the reason we began this improbable journey almost a year ago is because it's not just about what I will do as president. It is also about what you, the people who love this country, the citizens of the United States of America, can do to change it.

That's what this election is all about.

That's why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers, and the volunteers, and the staff who believed in this journey and rallied so many others to join the cause.

We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. And they will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come.

We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

(APPLAUSE)

For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.

It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.

Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.

And so, tomorrow, as we take the campaign south and west, as we learn that the struggles of the textile workers in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas, that the hopes of the little girl who goes to the crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of L.A., we will remember that there is something happening in America, that we are not as divided as our politics suggest, that we are one people, we are one nation.

And, together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story, with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: Yes, we can.

Thank you, New Hampshire. Thank you. Thank you.

Source: The New York Times, 8 January 2008


Acknowledgements

The idea for this lesson comes from inspiring conversations with English teacher Lauren Ayotte at ENSEEG, France.

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© All Copyright, 2008, Ray Genet