Iraq War Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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Rhetorical Analysis The Iraq War was a highly controversial subject. Many public figures tried to sway peoples’ opinion one way or the other on this matter. Such speakers employed ethos, logos, and pathos to convince people to their side. For example, Obama used logos and pathos in his speech against the Iraq War. Then-Senator Barrack Obama delivered this speech in Chicago, on October 2, 2002. He spoke, while the world watched, in an attempt to persuade people to oppose going to war with Iraq. Ultimately, this speech was not effective in using logos and pathos to convince the citizens and Senate to object to the Iraq War. Obama exhibited excellent use of rhetoric in this speech, although it was not enough to stop the war from happening. One …show more content…
At the beginning of his speech, Obama mentioned the Civil War. Obama said, “The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to drive the scourge of slavery from our soil.” By using strong language, such as “bloodiest in history,” and “scourge of slavery,” Obama appealed to sentiment. Many people become emotional at the mention of the Civil War. This emotional appeal is called pathos. Pathos is used to make people feel emotion, and in turn, they feel more invested in what the speaker says. Obama went on to give another example of a war that was worth fighting. This second example is about his grandfather signing up for war after Pearl Harbor was bombed. “He [Obama’s grandfather] saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka,” Obama explained. This is an appeal to pathos for many reasons. The first is that he mentions his grandfather. This created a feeling of connection between the individuals that make up the audience and himself, manipulating them to care about what he said more. Second, he talked about the “dead and dying,” creating imagery and evoking empathy. Lastly, Obama speaks of Auschwitz and Treblinka. These are terrible places with terrible histories, and the mention of them would bring sadness to the
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