Aristotle and Barack Obama

“A More Perfect Union” Analysis Based on Aristotle

According to Aristotle, one of the most authoritative forms of persuasion relies on the speaker’s character (Leitch 115). As the viewer, reader, or listener of rhetoric, we not only base our judgments on the speaker’s character, but also on the argument itself (Leitch 117). These aspects of rhetoric are demonstrated by President Barack Obama in his speech entitled “A More Perfect Union.”

A very important factor contributing to persuading an audience is word usage. When the speaker uses appropriate language, the audience is better guided towards what the speaker is trying to convey. An audience does not take well to rhetoric when the language being used by the character or the speaker does not make sense. For example, and audience might be put off by a work involving a slave who uses very “fine” language or a young person who uses big vocabulary words which are much too challenging for their age (Leitch 118). In Obama’s speech, he does not stray from using language most can understand which allows for the audience to be persuaded because they are able to keep up with what he is saying and not feel lost or as though the speaker is too “smart” for them. Aristotle also claims authors should speak naturally which goes hand in hand with the idea that the audience can better connect and be persuaded by the author (Leitch 118).

As an audience, we trust wisdom (Leitch 117). President Obama begins his speech by providing a brief historical background about the declaration of independence in the United States. As listeners, we trust the speaker to be knowledgeable and therefore allow ourselves to be persuaded by what he may have to say because he has provided us with facts about our country. For example, we would be much less likely to listen to a person attempting to address issues in our country if they didn’t have knowledge about the history of the United States. President Obama also ends his speech by reminding the audience of his knowledge of history, once again persuading us to support him.

President Obama also uses emotion to appeal to his listeners. Aristotle claims “[There is persuasion] through the hearers when they are led to feel emotions [pathos] by the speech” (Leitch 115). Throughout his speech, Obama uses imagery to appeal to the listener when he talks about real situations people have been through in our history. Some situations include: segregated schools (Brown vs. Board of Education), legalized discrimination, a lack of services to the black community (such as parks and garage pick-up), long lines for blacks and Hispanics in the emergency room, and images of war. All of these images bring up emotions in most people, even if they are not of the same race who endured these inequalities. The listener connects with the speaker and is persuaded to believe and follow what he says because he appeals to their emotions and to what matters to them. President Obama saves his last story appealing to emotion for the very end of the speech. He talks about a young woman whose mother has cancer and how people like her influence another man to help in Obama’s campaign. The audience sympathizes with the young girl and her situation and admires the man for his sincerity.

The aspects of President Obama’s knowledge of history, word usage, tone, and use of emotional imagery further persuade the audience to support President Obama.




Works Cited

Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Second ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.

"YouTube - Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union' (Full Speech)." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 11 July 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrp-v2tHaDo.