The analysis of Inaugural Address by President Barack Hussein Obama

The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States took
place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. Based on the combined attendance numbers, television
viewership, and Internet traffic, it was among the most-observed events ever by the global audience.

In his inaugural speech, Obama referred to ideals expressed by Lincoln about renewal,
continuity and national unity. Obama mentioned these ideals in his speech to stress the need for
shared sacrifice and a new sense of responsibility to answer America's challenges at home and
abroad. He used traditional references to connect his new administration with the nation's history in a
speech that was understated deliberately.

Analizing this discourse, we observe the rhetorical schemes present here.

The appellative that addresses the whole audience (1) is My fellow citizens, and it is a
stereotypical appellative or a linguistic clich because it was used so many times in other speeches
for the reason that it is employed in talks between people of the same social status - such as friends,
acquaintances, colleagues - they are felt both warm and respectful formulations as the intention of
the high social status locutor who uses them is not to look down on the addressees or to lower the
tone unduly, but to show them that they are acknowledged as equals. We consider this the reason
why Obama used this appelative.

The thanking formula(2) comes after the appelative; Obama thanks President Bush for his
service to the nation.... In this situation, he combined the thanking formula with the collateral
circumstance of person(3).

The collateral circumstances of issue(4) take the form of a short introduction of some facts
to be argued later in the speech and they are emphasized in the third paragraph: Forty-four
Americans have now taken the presidential oath..

The collateral circumstances of time(5) appear throughout the speech : At these moments,
Today, On this day, Now.
 Anaphora (6) is widely used in the text and it is the most frequent means of amplification
used by orators in their speeches. The reason why this is so is mainly of a psychological nature.
Usually, the repeated words have the greatest impact on the recipients of the message transmitted.
When these words are repeated for several times in a row at the beginning of consecutive sentences
or groups of phrases, this effect increases. Examples of anaphora from this text are:For
us...,Our...,We...,And..., These things...,The... etc.

A good example of simple repetition (7) is Our Founding Fathers, Obama insisted in this
speech on preservation the values of the ancestors.

Polyptoton (8) is a figure of speech in which a partial repetition arises from the use in close
proximity of two related words having different forms; it is used in this speech only for two
times:Less measurable, but no less profound...,We have duties to (...), duties that we do not....

Some examples of consonance (9) found in this text are:(...)cannot tolerate too many big
plans,Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward..

Obama invoked God (10) in his discourse, and not only God, but this speech containes
several biblical references .Obama highlighted the United States' religious diversity, referring to the
country's "patchwork heritage". "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and
non-believers.",Scripture,God. This was the first time a United States President
acknowledged American non-believers in an inaugural address.

Barak Obama quoted (11): Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter,
when nothing.... from Thomas Paine in The American Crisis. Paine says that the American
revolutionaries` hope and virtue will sustain them through the winter and the war for independence.
Obama's campaign message was focused on the need for change, but through this speech, he wants
to reassure Americans that he would operate as President within the margins of the nation's
traditions.

The speech was very direct, he used the three components of a good discourse: Ethos, Pathos
and Logic and he managed to persuade and to be credible for milions of Americans.

This discourse was a call for responsability and a promise that the first black President in
America`s history will be a good one. And it was.