Barack Obama's 2009 Inaugural Address: Symbols, Motifs, and Rhetorical Devices
Barack Obama's 2009 Inaugural Address: Symbols, Motifs, and Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
You can't have an Obama speech without some metaphors thrown in. Metaphors are symbolic comparisons between unlike things and often use strong imagery to create a poetic effect. Dig these examples:...
Parallel Structure
You know that feeling when you're talking to someone and their eyes kind of glaze over? Maybe they even stifle a yawn? Yeah. Political speaking is about keeping people engaged. Get too far afield,...
Anaphora
Anaphora is like parallel structure, but more specific. When Obama uses the same word at the beginning of multiple sentences in a row, he's doing the Anaphora. Which sounds like a super nerdy dance...
Straw Man
If there were no Jafar in Aladdin, would it even be a movie? Stories need villains in order to flow, and in a similar way, politicians need antagonists. It's hard to make yourself a public hero wit...