Rhetorical Analysis Of Barack Obama's Speech

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In the speech given in the summer of 2016, Barack Obama expresses his grief regarding the shootings of African-Americans and the police. The tone of the speech is emotional, as he is grief-stricken. This is visible many places in the text including the start of the speech when he says "As painful as this week has been." Moreover, "So there is sorrow, there is anger […]". Obama makes it very clear that the US is not divided into black or white, and that a few bad apples do not represent the entire basket when he says, "I firmly believe that America is not divided as some have suggested" and "So we cannot let the actions of a few define us all".
The language of this speech is semi-formal and quite sentimental, relying on pronouns such as "we" and "us" to get the message through to the audience. This use of pronouns such as "we" and "us" is used deliberately to unify the American people against the menace that is police brutality and racism. This can be seen here "[…] we must not see this as a fork in the road […] and here "We must seek union, we must look the …show more content…
If one is to inspect the speech closely, one can see a pattern. The first four paragraphs have a sad tone that is filled with sorrow "Like the phoenix, we will rise from the fire of hate, stronger and renewed as one people" and "They feel the system is a wall of division, not hearing them, not speaking for them". This lessens the distance between Obama and the people, as he condones these heinous acts and empathises with both sides. However, the last four paragraphs have a more positive tone and promotes unity, "And one of the things that gives me hope is actually seeing how the overwhelming majority of Americans have reacted-with deep empathy and understanding." and "[…] we've got a fantastic, firm foundation to build

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