Analysis

Our analysis of Barack Obama’s 2012 election victory speech is structured following the rhetorical pentagram model. Here is a short presentation of the main points of our analysis.

In what follows, we will help you explore the topics of the speech – American diversity, equal opportunity, and hope – by looking at the way the speaker chooses to frame them in relation to social and political issues.

We will examine the speaker’s background as US President and a Democratic politician and the image he tries to convey of himself through the speech.

We will look at the audience of the speech – live, national, and international—and the way the speaker targets certain categories of the public.

We will consider the language used by the speaker and discuss the way rhetorical devices like repetitions or allusions help the speaker achieve the intention of convincing the audience that diversity and equal opportunity are sources of strength in American democracy.

We will present the circumstances of the speech, focusing on the 2012 electoral campaign and relevant events in the US at that time.

Read the full analysis in the next pages!

Further help

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