Analysis

This analysis of Barack Obama’s New Hampshire Primary Speech is derived from the rhetorical pentagram model.

In the next few pages, we will present how Barack Obama explores the topics of change and hope from a political perspective.

We will examine Barack Obama as a speaker, looking at his background but also at what the speech reveals about him.

We will consider the audience of the speech, the people present at the speech, and the people that Obama mentions directly.

We will explore the language used by the speaker, paying attention to the speaker’s choice of words, tone, symbols, rhetorical devices, and forms of appeal.

We will discuss the circumstances of the speech, namely Obama losing the local elections in New Hampshire and the electoral race in 2008.

Finally, we will look at the speaker’s intentions of convincing Americans to vote for him, of promoting social unity, and of criticizing some industries and politicians.

Further help

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