A Greater Nation Essay

Submitted By msrhogai
Words: 758
Pages: 4
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Years of being looked down upon, being treated unfairly because of the color of his skin, years of being told he would never make it as President of the nation. Today the citizens of the America have the opportunity to witness what is described as miracle. January 21, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn into office as the first African American president of the United States. The day of his inauguration, Obama made a speech that explained to the citizens how he would remake the United States into a nation of greatness. Although this task may be challenging, President Barack Obama was able to inspire hope within the hearts of America's citizens thought his use of literary devices.

Though out his speech, Obama uses a variety of parallelism in his sentences to enhance his purpose to inspire hope within the audience. "The time has come to reaffirm enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation," (Obama). The nation was in an economic crisis. Obama's words of encouragement was to help America persevere through that rough patch in order to be a better nation; he gave them hope. "Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many... But know this America -- they will be met," (Obama). Obama wanted the people to know that there was nothing they cannot do. Any challenge one may face in life can be overcame with hard work, determination, and hope. "For everywhere we look, there is work to be done... All this we can do. All this we will do," (Obama). In this use of parallelism, Obama wanted his audience to see into the future. A future where the economy is not in a distraught state; a future where where there is peace and equality amongst society; a future where life is great. Obama was inferring that, in order to see this future, the people needed to have hope.

Obama's use of allusions created imagery so the audience could visualize the subject of his speech. In reference to hope, allusions are very effective because they can refer real people, places, or events. "For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg...time and again these men and women struggles and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life," (Obama). This allusion shows how much people in history endured so that the generations that came after, may live in a country with more opportunity and equality. These people suffered so much because they had hope that the country would grow and be greater. "Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded b the blood of generations," (Obama). Obama's wanted the audience to acquire that same hope
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