Obama’s Education Promise, a Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example for Free

Obamas Education Promise, a Rhetorical Analysis Es translateEducation is the best provision for the journey to senescent age. Aristotle Today, 314.5 million people c solely themselves Americans. Each of them, with God permitting, ordain make the journey to old age. However, in this huge set of individuals, roughly fifteen percent of adults over the age of twenty-five concord non received a high school diploma (Educational Attainment in the United States 2009). By itself, this fortune feels rather small, and so we as Americans pride ourselves in our commandmental administration. After crunching the numbers, however, this measly percentage actually represents twenty-nine million Americans, twenty-nine million individuals who lack an accomplished high school education. Aristotle would be displeased to say the least. In 2008, then senator Barack Obama delivered a speech to the Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts title Whats Possible for our fryren. Though intended for his election campaign, the speech as well reflected this introductions attitude, art attention to the gaping holes in American education. More specifically, however, Obama promoted educational reform based on a three-point platform fixing No Child leftfield Behind (an act which encourages state standardized tests to pulse and regulate primary and secondary education in the United States), encouraging teacher reforms and furthering teaching employment, and change over magnitude opportunities for minor ethnicities and new(prenominal) disadvantaged students. In retrospect, his speech met with great optimism and is often quoted by leaders in education. To explain this speechs success more fully requires an analysis of Obamas seas unrivalledd rhetorical strategies, of ethos, logos, and pathosrespectively, as well as an explanation of how each of these three strategies establishes an effective speech.Obama sprinkles ethos, or ethical proof, throughout his three-point platform. In doing so, he gears his audiences attention to fightds his assessment of the ethical standards in American education to inspiremotivation and change. For example, in the introduction, Obama states, This kind of America is morally unacceptable for our babyren (qtd. in Full text edition edition of Obamas education speech). Through this statement, Obama assumes the role of an ethical mediator he creates situated ethos whereby, as a professorshipial candidate, he has the power to tell us as a society where we argon correct and where we can improve. By equating American education with moral irresponsibility, he calls society to consider the issues he addresses later in his speech. One such(prenominal) issue is No Child Left Behind, his first premise. In discussing the problems within the act passed by former President Bush in 2001, Obama repeats the phrase we must al roughly religiously.Must is a strong word choice it implies an obligation to something. As an audience member, we mak e the connection that the obligation is precisely what Obama stated in the introduction. We must make our educational standards higher for our children thus, we become motivated to fix No Child Left Behind. Likewise, in his second point, which promises teacher reforms and employment, Obama begins with a simple commonplace Individuals who do sizeable jobs should be rewarded. Using the ethos from his introduction, he concludes that teachers who do good jobs should be rewarded, which gives motivation for teachers to do well. Obama even goes so far as to inspire change in education among ethnic minorities, his final point. In this point, he calls upon hopehope that disadvantaged students leave behind one day rise from the bottom with his new learning opportunity programs. His optimism and confidence calls us, his audience, to change.Obama further generalizes this notion of change during his conclusion when he states, We have to hold ourselves accountable (qtd. in Full text of Obamas e ducation speech). By holding the audience accountable, educational reform becomes some(prenominal) a private and humankind matter. Therefore, the audience, 314.5 million Americans, feel more personally compelled, motivated even, to follow his adviceto change No Child Left Behind, to reward teachers for good work, and to give more opportunities to disadvantaged studentsto reform much of the accredited educational model, in effect. Logos and pathos, however, are still needed to solidify such an undertaking.Realizing he is delivering a speech around education, an intellectual topic, Obama adds several textbook examples of logos, or logical proof, to hisspeech. Simply put, after he explains the unacceptable educational current model to his audience using ethos, he uses logos to depict the reality of how unacceptable the system is. In his introduction, for instance, Obama equates knowledge to the currency of the Information Age, stating that an individual should use his or her knowle dge to sell himself or herself to a career position. A cause-and-effect relationship soon follows to backing this extended metaphor If the more than 16,000 atomic number 27 students who dropped out of high school last year had only finished, the economy in the state would have seen an additional $4.1 billion in wages over these students lifetime (qtd. in Full text of Obamas education speech). Logically, we as the audience then deduce that education, in reality, is profitable. It is in our interest to be well-educated, only if as of now, we are losing money from being uneducated.From there, Obama makes a more explicit logical deduction to support his first premise. If we as Americans want to help the economy, we should fix No Child Left Behind. His logical cerebrate for fixing the program stems from its seemingly insufficient economic policy, which stifles the paychecks of teachers who we as a society want to inspire. Because of such, he suggests that, while No Child Left Behind s goals are noble on paper, its structural mechanics are illogical and unacceptable in the real universe. By doing so, he gains more support from educators and economists. Obama also uses logos in his third premise, albeit implicitly.Back in the introduction, Obama quotes the following from Thomas Jefferson, a well-respected president from American history Talent and virtue, needed in a free society, should be educated regardless of riches or birth (qtd. in Full text of Obamas education speech). Obama knows that the general public will agree with anything Thomas Jefferson says because he is so well respected in American history. Therefore, when he discusses the current issues of ethnic minorities, he conjures support from a broader spectrum of Americans because he is in accordance with Thomas Jefferson. In that respect, he is able to use logos as a means to show the unacceptable truth screw the educational systemto showcase the relationship between revenue and education as well a s highlight student-teacher discriminationto the widely diverse American people.Among all the strategies Obama uses in his speech, pathos, or unrestrainedproof, is the nigh commonly used, especially in the introduction and conclusion. The reason for this distinct placement of pathos is elementary In order to grab the audiences attention and illustrate the realities of Americas educational system, of which both processes require ethos and logos, Obama must connect to the audiences emotionsto bring about changes in thought and heart. His most effective strategy that does so is his appeal to children. Countless numbers of times, Obama urges us as older Americans to stomach better education for our posterity. By doing so, he uses our unconditional love for children, perhaps seeing our own children in other children, in a way that grabs our attention so that we may listen and critically recollect about what he has to say regarding education.On top of using the obligation to children as the basis for attention, Obama also invokes imagery during his oration. An example of this imagery is found in his third premise When they students at disadvantages look around and see that no one has lifted a finger to fix their school since the 19th century, when they are pushed out the door at the sound of the last bellsome into a virtual war zoneis it any honor they dont think their education is important? Is it any wonder that they are dropping out in rates weve never seen before? (qtd. in Full text of Obamas education speech) The very thought of a neglected child, or a child in a war zone for that matter, tugs at the hearts in the audience. By using such imagery in the third premise, the audience is helpless, for not many people can resist such raw emotion.The audiences helplessness makes them vulnerable to changes in thought. In this case, the audiences thoughts will largely favor Obamas intent to dampen the disadvantages of ethnical minorities and mentally handicapped st udents. To conclude his emotional journey and to leave his audience emotionally fulfilled, Obama taps into the biggest patriotic commonplace in Americathe American dream. He takes the one idealistic value that all 314.5 million Americans hold in common and equates the jeopardy to educate oneself with that core value. It leaves a powerful, lasting impression on his audience and, alongside all the other pathetic strategies mentioned previously, heightens the audiences interest in investing in educational reform.Hence, after facial expression extensively at all these different strategies at work,is it any wonder why the speech did not meet with such critical acclaim? Ethos persuaded us as the audience that our educational system was ethically unacceptable. Logos described the current state of the educational system in a way that do us want to change it to Obamas standards. Pathos sweetened our perception of that change, making us opine that educational reform will correct the curren t unacceptable model. Together, the three major strategies mixed in just the right proportions to yield instantaneous changes in audience perception and evaluation of Americas educational standards. It created waves which propagated Obamas educational reform ideals to all parts of the United States. In fact, these waves continue to riff throughout the American political arena one needs to look no further than the 2012 presidential debates to confirm such a statement.Ultimately, education is on the minds of everyone, as well it should be. True as it is to say that agriculture started civilization, it is equally as true to say that education started modern civilization. Therefore, we as citizens of the entire world should be concerned with the development of our education, for when we lose our education, we lose our modern civilization. Aristotle is correct. As humanity bestrides, it ages. How does humanity mature? It educates itself. Without education the future remains uncertain, for there are no provisions to account for the uncertainty. As Americans, all 314.5 million of us would like to believe that the future of our nation is determined to stay. To claim such a belief with any amount of certainty, however, requires all 314.5 million individuals to be educated. Until then, we continue to build provisions for the misty future that awaits us.Works CitedEducational Attainment in the United States 2009. U.S. Census Bureau. Feb. 2012. Digital file.Full text of Obamas education speech. denverpost.com. 2 Dec. 2008. Web. 2 Oct. 2012.