Obama: Third Annual Back To School Speech *Analyzed*

Am I really going to analyze the President's speech? Only rhetorically...

Okay so it's obviously important to note that his audience is high school students. This changes his tone and syntax: he is a little more casual about his presentation and he uses shoter sentences for emphasis, but also to keep the attention of his young audience.

A few things added to his ethos: the most obvious being he it the President of the U.S. I would say that adds to his character and credibility. But he also tries to make his words relatable: he jokes around a little and adds in lists of different sports, activities, academic hardships, going through changes with friends...he mentions Facebook and Twitter as well. This ties in with the fact that his audience is high schoolers, but it also ties into his ethos: he has been through this before, he can relate to them.

He puts a lot of emphasis on how 'You are the future'. That is a big burden to carry, it takes a lot of responsibility. But he adds in his own personal stories about what type of a student he was, and what he remembered about high school. He wasn't perfect, and he's not expecting his audience to be, but he is letting them know what is important.

He uses a lot of lists to add specific details in many cases. He does this to include everyone and speak to everyone: listing different jobs or different activities so that he includes everyone's interests so he/she can relate.

He gives a few examples of outstanding cases of young people such as Will Kim, Jake Bernstein, and Amy Chyao. This shows that he is aware of individual cases, and that he is invested in them. I think this was an important part because many people might figure since he is the President, he does not have time or interest in young individuals or anything not immediately affecting him. Those examples made him come off as somewhat humble, not above everyone else, and only invested in large scale occurances. It also demonstrated what young people can do, and how they are not only the future, but the now.

Obama is a very steady speaker. He uses hand gestures to emphasize some of his words or things he is saying. He uses some repetition: "What does it look like...", or "You'll be the ones who...". He also repeats the concept of continuing education beyond high school. He plays a little with pathos when he says the U.S. used to have the highest college graduate rate, but is now 16th. This might make students feel guilty, and compelled to not let the President down, and continue with their education to change that statistic.

All of these techniques contrubuted to the speech's effectiveness. I think his ending was motivational and powerful. (Therefore it will be how I end my post). "Your country is depending on you. So set your sights high. Have a great school year. Let's get to work."