SPEAKER: Our chosen speech was Barack Obamas Inaugural Address.

The speaker, obvioiusly, was the incoming president, Barack Obama. He was a former law professor at the University of Chicago, and, later, a United States senator, representing Illinois. He was a member of the Democratic party, and was, at the time of this speech, making the transition between Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. president. He was a highly educated, biracial male, and the first black American president.

AUDIENCE: The immediate audience for the Inaugural Address was the group of onlookers at the inauguration, as well as those watching the inauguration from their televisions. The immediate audience probably spanned a wide range of distinguishing characteristics, although there was probably a majority of Democrats attending the inauguration. Many of those same onlookers probably shared Obamas hopeful vision for America. There were probably more AfricanAmericans at or watching the inauguration than during previous years, simply due to the fact that Obama was the first African-American president. Genders and classes were probably equally represented, while most immediate onlookers probably had at least a high school education, as per the American norm. The mediated audience probably included foreign nations, to whom Obama intended to send a new message of diplomacy (in this case, these foreign nations wouldnt have been watching the inaugural at the time of delivery). Like the immediate American audience, the foreign audience would have been quite diverse, sharing only an interest in Americas approach to world interactions. Logically, then, much of this audience may have also been highly educated, and involved in international relations. Another mediated audience

may have been future generations. Although also incredibly diverse, and lacking in distinguishing characteristics, this audience was meant to be on the receiving end of a historical moment the election of the first black American president. The speech, similarly, was intended to convey a detailed account of the trials and tribulations of Obamas world.

EXIGENCE: Obamas speech was given as a traditional rite-of-passage, in the wake of his presidential victory. It was, essentially, his first chance to outline policy goals and objectives for his coming term. He was especially clear about the need for sacrifice and compromise from everyone, because he knew that his success would be determined by the actions of the masses. He also wanted to speak out in order to ensure that expectations were not too high, and, thus, that opinions of his presidency would not sink too low.

MESSAGE: Obamas message centered around his victory in the presidential election. He sent a message of bipartisanship to his fellow lawmakers, and encouraged compromise at all levels of government. He also called on America as a whole to make sacrifices, explaining that although our situation was improving, it was still rife with challenges that could only be met with the determination of the entire nation. He set an encouraging tone, highlighting the ideas and values that made America great. He proposed ways to achieve a new era of peace, and an end to security concerns of all types. To foreign nations and dignitaries, he promised a new mindset in worldwide diplomacy. His message was one of hope, but it nonetheless called upon everyone to make certain sacrifices.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the speech was to present Obama as a suitable, trustworthy president. It was also supposed to encourage cooperation and compromise among lawmakers, foreign dignitaries, and U.S. citizens themselves. In lesser part, it also outlined the issues that this cooperation and compromise would be vital to solve. The speech was meant to play an inspiring role in a tough era.

APPEALS A. LOGOS: Obama used logos both within his solution proposals (we will act, not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth), and in his references to the community efforts that would be needed to implement those proposals (as much as government can do, and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies). He also used logos while outlining the problems themselves (we are in the midst of a crisis our nation is at war our economy is badly weakened homes have been lost our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many the challenges we face are real).

B. ETHOS: Obama attempted to build up ethos mainly through his use of pathos and logos. However, there were a few notable phrases involving ethos that discussed Obamas rise to the presidency (forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath) and his role, along with the American people, in alleviating certain pressing issues (the challenges we face are real but

 they will be met). Obama also built up Americas ethos by explaining the new way in which he was prepared to conduct foreign policy (we are ready to lead once more)

C. PATHOS: There were multiple examples of pathos in Obamas speech after all, he was trying to connect, on an emotional level, with a wide range of people. We saw him using pathos by invoking religion (in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things), hope, our ancestors (for us, they fought and died in places like Concord and Gettysburg, Normandy and Khe Sahn), our values (those values on which our success depends honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism these things are old), kindness (they embody a spirit of service a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves), future generations (we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations), diversity (our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness), love of country (we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears and true to our founding documents), and the solutions to our challenges (we are the keepers of this legacy).

ORGANIZATION/STRUCTURE/FORM: Obamas speech followed a logical, train-of-thought structure, but at the same time managed to be artful and poetic. It began by outlining the problems America, and the world, faced. It then proposed solutions to these problems, and proceeded to explain the role each group of people would have in implementing these solutions. Finally, the speech explained how

wonderful these solutions could be, and reiterated the fact that these solutions were on par with the overall values of America.

DIDLS A. DICTION: The speechs overall diction consisted of a large vocabulary, poetically used to provide the greatest measure of inspiration possible. The entire speech contained a contrast between the darkness of the then-present political situation and the light of the world Obama hoped to mold. In due form, the word choice of the speech reflected this, with the darker words appearing near the beginning of the speech, only to be replaced with the lighter words near the speechs end, as Obama began proposing solutions. Sometimes, however, the contrast existed within single paragraphs. The speech as a whole was heavy on abstract, idealistic words, and chose proper, yet commonly understandable, language, befitting a president, at the expense of any particular slang, colloquial, jargon, or dialect.

B. IMAGERY: Obamas speech was a little short on imagery, probably because using too much of it would have appeared elitist. However, it did contain imagery when describing both military escapades (patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river) and the challenges America faced (the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms). The reason for this imagery was probably to emphasize the extreme danger of the two situations, as compared to the other situations outlined in the speech.

C. DETAILS: Obamas speech was notably short on specific policy details, and instead provided a sweeping, inspirational narrative of Americas problems and their potential solutions. The details that the speech did provide, however, were neatly separated, with the negative, crisis-oriented details coming first, followed by a focus on the positive, solution-oriented details (this was in line with the overall structure of the speech). Obama also used detailed lists when describing religions (a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers) and battles (they fought and died in places like Concord and Gettysburg, Normandy and Khe Sahn), although these lists purposes were rhetorical, not informational.

D. LANGUAGE: The speechs figurative language was, like its imagery, present only in small amounts, probably primarily to avoid the perception of elitism. Where it was present, however, the figurative language served to emphasize the extreme nature of situations. Figurative language included the idiom used to describe the problems Obama faced (the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms), the personification used to describe stalled politics (the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for too long have strangled our politics), the idiom used to describe the necessary solution to Americas problems (we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America), the idiom used to describe the changed political situation (what cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them), and the metaphor used to illustrate the horrors of civil war and segregation (we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation).

E. SYNTAX: Obamas speech, like many political speeches of our day, contained short, choppy sentences at both the beginnings and ends of the paragraphs, with long, winding sentences in the middles. The exceptions to this rule were the paragraphs in which every sentence was made to sound exactly the same length. These were often also the paragraphs that included parallel structure.