A Linguistic Analysis of Obama’s Inaugural Address

Rhythm and Rhetoric: A Linguistic Analysis of Obama’s Inaugural Address Liilia Batluk Supervisor: Stuart Foster School of Humanities Halmstad University Bachelor’s thesis in English Acknowledgment My appreciations to my supervisor Stuart Foster for very helpful advice during the research. Abstract In this essay I shall analyze Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, January, 2009 from the perspective of various linguistic techniques. More specifically, I shall propose and focus on the idea that the composition of the speech has an aim to create a unity of the speaker and the audience in order to deliver the message. Moreover, the speaker maintains the atmosphere of unity throughout the speech, so that the speech produces an effect when the†¦show more content†¦Having been skillfully coordinated, they create the 1 performance that aims the delivery of the message. I will focus on the structural and functional properties of the language, the combination of which enables the speaker to achieve the goal of the performance. In chapter 2, I will introduce the historical and cultural context in which the speech was made. Context is defined as â€Å"circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or an idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood† (Oxford Dictionary of English, context noun). Defining the term context as dynamic, Mey states that it â€Å"is about understanding what things are for; it is also what gives our utterance their true pragmatic meaning† (41). The context is vital for analysis of any speech, particularly made in public. I will draw attention to the historical, cultural and social circumstances during the election campaign, which preceded the Presidential address. In subchapter 2.1, the cultural and social background of Obama will be descr ibed. During a presidential campaign, any personal details of a candidate may be significant; they indicate the electors’ preferences and, possibly, expectations. A President’s address, in turn, is based on audience’s expectations. That is why, I think, this aspect should be taken into account whileShow MoreRelatedrhetorical analysis of obamas political speeches5660 Words   |  23 PagesCritical Discourse Analysis of Obamas Political Discourse Juraj Horvà ¡th Abstract This paper examines the persuasive strategies of President Obamas public speaking as well as the covert ideology of the same, enshrined in his inaugural address. Our analysis is grounded in Norman Faircloughs assumptions in critical discourse analysis, claiming that ideologies reside in texts that it is not possible to read off ideologies from texts and that texts are open to diverse interpretations