Obama's Speech on The Issue of Gun Control Rhetorical Analysis Essay

đź“ŚCategory: Government, Gun Control, President of the United States, Social Issues, Speech
đź“ŚWords: 449
đź“ŚPages: 2
đź“ŚPublished: 16 September 2021

In response to mass shootings and child deaths, President Obama effectively builds his argument to persuade the audience that changes in gun control are necessary by appealing to emotion through strong positive language and rhetorical questions.

Obama uses strong positive language in order to appeal to emotion. He states “We gather here in memory of twenty beautiful children and six remarkable adults.  They lost their lives in a school that could have been any school; in a quiet town full of good and decent people that could be any town in America”(Obama). Furthermore, Obama’s choice of words such as beautiful, remarkable, good, and decent pull on the strings of peoples’ hearts to make his audience feel compassion towards the people and community negatively impacted by mass shootings. The strong positive language used by Obama helps persuade the audience that there is a sense of loss everywhere in America because the situation could have happened to anyone in America; therefore gun violence could impact anyone so everyone should feel the need to want changes in gun control. 

Second, Obama uses rhetorical questions to appeal to emotion. Obama questions the audience with thought-provoking concepts about the safety of children everywhere in America. He writes the following: “And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we are meeting our obligations?  Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children -- all of them -- safe from harm?  Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know that they are loved, and teaching them to love in return?  Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?”(Obama). By questioning the audience, those people have to think whether or not their children are actually safe, loved, and happy. This method of rhetorical questioning urges his audience to think of the connection between their child's safety at school and current gun laws, hence the audience has to think about their stance on gun control. 

To continue, Obama uses rhetorical questions to appeal to emotion. He states "what choice do we have?  We can’t accept events like this as routine.  Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?  Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?”(Obama). Obama is trying to make the audience feel guilty and bad because children are paying for their freedom with death. Parents may join in and help change gun laws for their children's mental health and freedom.

In conclusion, Obama argues that gun control changes are necessary. He builds his claim by appealing to emotions through rhetorical questions and strong positive language.

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