Yes, he could
Yes, he could
Democrat Barack Obama has become the first African-American to win the White House. During the election campaign for the presidency, Obama made a key speech, which became known as the “Yes we can” speech because of the way the phrase was repeated at key moments. The power of his victory speech left a mark on its listeners. During those twenty minutes, Americans could merge into “one nation, one people” but also each individual, even the enemies, felt they had a place in his speech. And rightly so, since the president managed to address everyone, alluded to the history of the United States, referenced the inaugural addresses of former presidents John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln, and also referred to speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., talked about change, about today’s issues, about the tasks ahead, boosted their patriotism and asked the U.S citizenship for hope and effort. All that because and under the motto of “yes, we can”. The aim of this essay is to demonstrate the relevance of Obama’s speech by providing examples from the text, displaying and analyzing the mechanisms he uses to achieve it.
From the introduction of the speech one can clearly see that the tone of the speech is inspirational, powerful and encouraging: “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible (…), tonight is your answer”. In his own words, Barack Obama champions his ideas, dreams and visionary plans in messages of hope.
He also uses a variety of techniques to address and unify his audience. For example, the continuous use of the second person - “tonight is your answer”, “it belongs to you”, “it cannot happen without you”- is cleverly employed to demonstrate the importance of the individual and how his victory and future effort to change America will rely on the efforts of the collective. It is used to make people feel a sense of belonging. Furthermore, he even makes a distinction: “It’s the answer spoken by
Democrat Barack Obama has become the first African-American to win the White House. During the election campaign for the presidency, Obama made a key speech, which became known as the “Yes we can” speech because of the way the phrase was repeated at key moments. The power of his victory speech left a mark on its listeners. During those twenty minutes, Americans could merge into “one nation, one people” but also each individual, even the enemies, felt they had a place in his speech. And rightly so, since the president managed to address everyone, alluded to the history of the United States, referenced the inaugural addresses of former presidents John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln, and also referred to speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., talked about change, about today’s issues, about the tasks ahead, boosted their patriotism and asked the U.S citizenship for hope and effort. All that because and under the motto of “yes, we can”. The aim of this essay is to demonstrate the relevance of Obama’s speech by providing examples from the text, displaying and analyzing the mechanisms he uses to achieve it.
From the introduction of the speech one can clearly see that the tone of the speech is inspirational, powerful and encouraging: “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible (…), tonight is your answer”. In his own words, Barack Obama champions his ideas, dreams and visionary plans in messages of hope.
He also uses a variety of techniques to address and unify his audience. For example, the continuous use of the second person - “tonight is your answer”, “it belongs to you”, “it cannot happen without you”- is cleverly employed to demonstrate the importance of the individual and how his victory and future effort to change America will rely on the efforts of the collective. It is used to make people feel a sense of belonging. Furthermore, he even makes a distinction: “It’s the answer spoken by