Introduction
Nowadays, being a political leader requires having the support of close relatives and friends, as they give hope and help people overcome constant challenges and issues of the modern world. One of the bright examples of political contributors is Michelle Obama. Analyzing her speech during the 2016 National Democratic Convention will help understand her intentions and effectiveness of figurative language to deliver her viewpoints.
Analysis of the Speech
Consequently, the speaker is Michelle Obama. She is First Lady of the USA and the wife of President, Barack Obama (Bond, 2012). She tends to support Obama in his actions and plays the role of one of the critical contributors to the political life of the country. Her professional background of a lawyer and writer supplies her with the relevant knowledge to express her opinions about various social issues (The White House, 2016). In the context of this occasion, she was expected to express her opinion about current elections and support the candidature of Hillary Clinton.
The primary goal of the Demographic Convention was to unite the representatives of the democratic parties at one platform and suggest the nominees for the presidency (Democratic National Convention: About, 2016). The demographics were represented by the delegates from different states of the country while including Democrats from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (Wayne, 2015). This audience expected Michelle to suggest a new candidature and explain the rationale for her choice. Alternatively, her speech attempted to reach the audience nationwide while aiming at the whole population of the United States of America and covering the citizens of the country, who are eligible for voting.
In this case, the primary reasons for gathering were to contribute to the political life of the country and nominate potential candidates for the presidency (Bardes, Shelley, & Schmidt, 2010). Due to the vast coverage of the Democratic National Convention and its importance, the requirements concerning language and content tended to exist to decrease the percentage of misunderstandings. Subsequently, a speech should avoid racially biased language and the traces of stereotyping and racism (Hernandez, 2011).
Michelle’s speech complies with the mentioned requirements, and she tends to deliver her main points in an organized manner. One of the main points is to emphasize that children are the future of the nation. She starts her speech with her family story and underlines the fact that being President or First Lady pertains to being the “most important role models” to kids (Remarks by First Lady, 2016, para. 4; Democratic National Convention, 2016). Overall, the speech is persuasive, as it attempts to convince the audience with the help of practical examples (Verderber, Verderber, & Sellnow, 2011). Starting with the story highlights Michelle’s desire to share her opinion with the audience and build a rapport with her followers. This speech helps deliver the main message to the listeners, as discussing these topics ensures the flow of ideas.
Furthermore, another point is to emphasize Hillary’s devotion to children and extended years of work experience in the public sector while being a “Secretary of State of President Obama’s Cabinet” (Adekale, 2016, p. 56). Meanwhile, this statement about Hillary is true, as she highlights the importance of “children” and “integrity” in her works (Adekale, 2016, p. 102). Correlating this topic with the beginning of the speech makes it effective and consistent. The audience supports her with applause and laughter throughout the speech while supporting her ideas.
As for the overall structure of the speech, it is organized in a sufficient manner by having an introduction, body, and conclusion, and it refers to professional facts and metaphors to support the findings. In turn, pathos is represented in the form of the story about the daughters of Michelle and Barack Obama (Remarks by First Lady, 2016). She uses commonly accepted language in the form of words such as “black SUVs will all those big men with big guns” and her motto “when they go low, we go high” (Remarks by First Lady, 2016, para. 1). Speaking of ethos, Obama relies on the personal authorities and her trusting relationship with Clinton to persuade the audience to select her as President by emphasizing Hillary’s “desires”, “disappointments”, and “quality child care in Senate (Democratic National Convention, 2016).
Using emotion-laden words is another technique to make her speech more persuasive. In this case, Obama actively employs the expressions such as “big”, “relentless”, “thankless”, “true”, and “proudly” (Remarks by First Lady, 2016, para. 5). These aspects help highlight the significance of particular matters while depicting Hillary’s devotion and desire to raise children and cultivating trusting relationships at national and international levels.
Lastly, to make the speech even more persuasive, Obama uses repetitions such as “see” and “I want” (Remarks by First Lady, 2016, para. 5). It helps create a connection with the audience and explains her want to make the country a better place. Additionally, repeating the structure “someone who” also has a beneficial impact on understanding her intentions and makes the correlation with the candidature of Hillary Clinton (Remarks by First Lady, 2016, para. 5).
Conclusion
Overall, Obama’s persuasive structure of the speech helps her express her opinion about Hillary Clinton and provides the rationale for selecting her as President of the United States of America. Telling a personal story and making jokes assists in building a connection with the audience while making people respond with laughter and applause. Nonetheless, despite the initial intentions of the speech, Obama expressed her opinion about the children as the future of the nation and the need to protect them.
References
Adekale, M. (2016). The people’s presidents. New York, NY: Page Publishing, Inc.
Bardes, B., Shelley, M., & Schmidt, S. (2010). American government and politics today: The essentials 2009-2010 Edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Bond, A. (2012). Michelle Obama: A biography. Chicago, IL: ABC-CLIO.
Democratic National Convention. (2016, July 26). First Lady Michelle Obama at DNC in 2016. Web.
Democratic National Convention: About. (2016). Web.
Hernandez, T. (2011). Hate speech and the language of racism in Latin America: A lens for reconsidering global hate speech restrictions and legislation models. Journal of International Law, 32(2), 805-841.
Remarks by First Lady at the Democratic National Convention. (2016). Web.
The White House: First Lady Michelle Obama. (2016). Web.
Verderber, R., Verderber, K., & Sellnow, D. (2011). The challenge of effective speaking. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Wayne, S. (2015). The road to the White House. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.