Nicole Lopez September 23, 2013 WRD 103 Rhetorical Analysis Rough Draft

Sandy Hook Throughout time, various speakers and politicians have given significant

speeches about important events that have occurred during their time. Most of the topics spoken of are either stimulating or mind numbing. However, the most important part of their speech was how well they persuaded the audience. President Barrack Obama has been known to be one of the best public speakers of the twenty-first century. Many say the president has a perfect tone, good pronunciation, and just gets the audiences attention as soon as he says his first word. On December 16, 2012, President Obama gave a speech on the massacre of Sandy Hill Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that was to make the audience cry, not to introduce changes on how to prevent shooting massacres. The beginning of President Obamas Sandy Hook speech starts off with a piece of scripture. The President states do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away inwardly we are being renewed day by day For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (page 1.) President Obama chose this piece of scripture because it is a reassuring quote to remind us that behind every bad, there is a good. Already at the beginning of President Obamas speech, one can already tell he is being very emotional and sympathetic; he is getting his audiences attention by being comforting and telling them what they want to hear. After this quote, President Obama continues to be comforting by talking about how remorseful he felt about the Sandy Hook Shooting happening.

As President Obamas speech goes on, he does not stop being kindhearted. This time, President Obama talks about how parenting is so important to Americans. He claims, this is our first task-caring for our children. Its our first job. If we dont get that right, we dont get anything right. This quote was intended to get into the hearts of the audience again. However, President Obama has a specific audience this time and that audience is parents. To continue to get the parents, President Obama asks his audience if they can actually say they have taught their children how to be happy and loved. He also asks if the audience is doing its job by keeping their most precious possession, their children, safe from harm (page 3.) Of course, parents are going to get raveled up because of their children, so Obama is smart for throwing that in because he is being extremely persuasive here. Shortly after President Obama captures the parents attention, he finally gets to the subject of what is actually going on and why he is giving his speech, the massacre. Obama states how during his second term there have been more than three mass shootings. Of course to be compassionate about such a terrible situation, he throws in something to warm the hearts of the audience; Obama says, No single law- no sets of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society (page 4.) In other words, what he is saying is that he tries to do all he could by him being president of the United States, but violence and evil is going to happen regardless so please do not blame me for these massacres. He goes on about how vital it is to take action and save just one more life. He talks about how Americans lives will be changed thanks to Sandy Hook; they will change by him enforcing a stronger law enforcement and helping teachers and

parents. That is all Obama states as to how the country is going to change because after that he goes back to talking about how important love and children are, which are important but not as important as what he is going to do to prevent him from giving another speech to parents on how to take care and love children. Finally, the ending of President Obamas speech covers God, scripture, and love all over again. He shares another quote from the scripture that goes, Let the children come to me, Jesus said, and do not hinder from them- for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven (page 5.) Shortly after he says this quote of scripture, President Obama does not fail at poking at the audiences heart; he then says the names of all twenty children that were lost to the massacre. He goes back to his quote and says, God has called them home (page 5.) President Obama ends his speech and mentions, again, how the children are safe with God. It is clear in this speech that President Obama enjoys using pathos as his main gateway of capturing his audiences attention. He knows exactly what people want to hear, which is why he is so reassuring and comforting. In this speech, he did not get to the main point and that is what he was actually going to do, in detail, to avoid massacres. He used the children and God as pathos because those two things are sensitive subjects. President Obama just makes the audience feel light-hearted rather than getting them to analyze the situation to help make change in The United States of America.

Works Cited

"Transcript: President Obama At Sandy Hook Prayer Vigil." NPR.com. N.p., 16 Dec. 2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.