Barack Obamas Speech - Back to School
Barack Obama’s speech – Back to School Barack Obama held a speech on September 8, 2009 called “Back to School”. He held the speech to students of all ages. From kindergarten to high school. Obamas intention with the speech was to evoke a feeling of the responsibility that follows when it comes to education. The speech is build up very normally. The opening; where he talks about the first day in a semester, and the pressure, which lies on your shoulders. The narrative; it is basically the background information – his own experiences as a schoolboy. The argumentation; this is where the main part of the speech is. Obama talks about opportunities, responsibility why education is a good “investment”. The end; here he sums up and concludes all the things he wants and expects from the students. School and education is – what they say – the most important thing for society. That education is the way to get a good life. That as long as you have a great education and a great average mark you’ll do well, and that education will keep you out of trouble, unemployment and poverty. But for children all of this is hard to understand – even for high school-kids. But that is a problem as it is them who are in the education system. Barack Obama therefore holds this speech to inform the kids and youngsters of the importance of a good education. The main point Obama is making in the speech is to tell the students to work hard in school and do good so they will get a good education. As a ground for this he says that you need a good education to be something in life and jobs and money do not come from nothing. He starts out by appeal directly to his audience. As he says in the first line: “Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today?” By that he makes it all very personal. It makes the audience pay more attention, and they sort of get a closer relation than if he had just said for example “welcome” and then just started blabbering for a long time. It minimizes the