Iraq War Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Words: 758
Pages: 4
Open Document
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
Show More

Related Documents: Iraq War Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Mohammed The Terrorist Is Coming Analysis

During the war in Iraq and Afghanistan one of the main conclusions drawn by the west was that the mistreatment of women in Middle Eastern countries is operant and necessitates action. Action in a traditional international relations discourse equates to war or pseudo occupation. Additionally such dialogues root themselves in logic and realism. The rationality is control as well as necessitated by western constructs of masculinity. As Nadine Naber explains “To the National Endowment for Democracy George…

Words 1360 - Pages 6

Yes We Can Speech

In this essay I am going to compare and contrast the speeches of Barack Obama (‘Yes we can’) and Martin Luther King (I have a dream). When we talk about 'language', sometimes we mean speech (spoken language), sometimes writing (written language).Do you think is there any difference between spoken language and written language? Of course, speech is spoken and heard, while writing is written and read. There are many types of spoken languages such as news report, interview, speech, debates and conversations…

Words 1038 - Pages 5

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions Essays

Spring 2014 Course Descriptions 89S. Imagining War. Instructor M. Maiwald. WF 8:30-9:45 In this course, we will consider how the experience of war has been represented in American fiction, non-fiction, and film. We will investigate how attitudes toward war have evolved throughout American history: our timeline begins with the Civil War—the traumatic event that birthed the modern American state—and ends with the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In particular, we will attend to the ethics…

Words 9501 - Pages 39

Bill Clinton Essay

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served from 1993 to 2001 as the 42nd President of the United States. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president from the baby boomer generation. Clinton has been described as a New Democrat. Many of his policies have been attributed to a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance. Before becoming president, he was the Governor of Arkansas for five…

Words 8036 - Pages 33