Rhetorical criticism using Ernest bormann's Fantasy theme approach and Essay

Rhetorical criticism using Ernest bormann's Fantasy theme approach and Neo-Aristotelian approach on Barack Obama's first Inaugur - Essay Example To a good number of America the election of president Obama represented hope for a new beginning and a chance to perform reforms for the better. However, many Americans questioned his ability to lead with enough background and skills to address these concerns. This thesis examines the president 2009 inaugural address. The analysis of this speech shows how the president rhetorically managed to alleviate the concern of the USA’s people. And, in what manner he was rhetorically able to convince Americans that he is the right person to led the nation to the right direction through this difficult times. First, present and explains the chosen theories within classical rhetoric and the genre of the address. He then uses the selected theories to analyze the Obama’s inaugural address. The writer then makes assessment and discussion of the thesis statement from this analysis. The thesis has Ernest Bormann's Fantasy theme approach and Neo-Aristotelian approach to determine the type of speech, the usage and appeal form used. By utilizing this approach, it was possible to deduce whether Obama’s inaugural speech was rhetoric. The Obama’s rhetoric inaugural address has its own genre. ... Inaugural address is supposed to be non-partisan and unifying. They should make people feel that if they come together they can achieve more (Fafner, 1998). Most of the Americans have a major concern about domestic and international issue. With the election of a new president, people want to feel that the needed reforms are steered for the better especially with the new leader in power. Obama’s inaugural address was an opportunity for him to show off his prowess with respect to his capacity to alleviate the concern of the Americans. In this regard, therefore, the thesis will answer a number of questions such as question: 1) how did the president rhetorically manage to alleviate the concern of Americans? 2) In what way was president Obama rhetorically able to win the hearts and minds of the Americans convincing them that he is the right person to lead them through this trying time? Method of Analysis To answer the question, the author describes theories used for them. Then a rh etoric analysis of the president inaugural address will be made based on the selected theories. While accounting for the selected theories, the focus will be linguistic analysis that utilize five cons of Aristotle ‘classical rhetoric, (memoria, action, elocutio, disposito and inventio) and the three appeal forms- (ethos, pathos and logos.) Background and literature review Classical rhetoric arose in 5th century in Athens Greece. Rhetoric refers the art of speaking and is the theory about shaping the language in a way that both the person speaking and the intended audience gains sympathy. The objective of rhetoric is to convince actuate and stimulate the audience. In the recent past the