Analysis

This analysis of the remarks made by President Obama at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela is based on the rhetorical pentagram model.

In the next few pages, we will look at the topic of the speech – the life and death of Nelson Mandela, which the speaker links to universal themes such as racial equality and justice.

We will present the speaker, Barack Obama, looking at his background but also at the image he conveys of himself through the speech.

We will examine the audience, formed by South Africans, world leaders, and politicians, and the wider international audience, and how the speaker addresses these categories in his speech.

We will discuss the language used by the speaker to convey his message, including choice of words, tone, rhetorical devices, and forms of appeal.

We will explore the circumstances of the speech including Nelson’s Mandela’s death, the funeral service, and the political context in South Africa and in the US.

We will focus on the intentions of the speaker: To convince the audience to follow Nelson Mandela’s example and to criticize those who do not.

You can read our full analysis of the speech in the next pages!

Further help

Do you want additional help with analysis of speeches? See our guide to speech analysis: