RHETORIC IN OBAMA’S SPEECH, “AGAINST GOING TO WAR WITH IRAQ”

Abstract

Obama has emerged as a master rhetorician and a wonderful orator. He has the ability to convince and persuade his listeners of his propositions. The present study reports at his rhetorical and linguistic ability while pointing out the use of his different techniques: story telling, rhetorical questions and answers, appeal to authority, salutations as emotion booster, use of free Verbal Repetitive constructions, Verbal / Syntactic Parallelism, logical selection of lexical expressions are the few. He develops through this linguistic craftsmanship his credible image in the minds of his listeners, and convinces them. In this speech on Iraq war in 2002, he talks for and against the war by using logical lexemes and expressions from both sides, yet his rhetorical ability convinces the audience that war in the present context (in the year 2002) is not the solution.