George Castle

ENG 111: Paul Anderson

Assignment 1, Draft 1
September 14, 2014
A More Perfect Union: Can Obama create it?
In President Barack Obamas speech, A More Perfect Union, the president talks about
a large and dark problem in the United States: Racial Inequality. He then speaks that the only
way to fix America is to get rid of the prejudice. President Obama begins his speech by saying,
We the people, in order to form a more perfect union (Obama). These words were used in the
writing of the U.S. Constitution, and then he continues to speak of the creation of this nations
law of the land and how that once it was signed, it was not finished. There were still very many
problems to the constitution. Slavery was legal and not everyone could vote. This was still a
nation of inequality. Obama then talks about his genetic background and how he is multi-racial.
He speaks of his ex reverend, Jerimiah Wright. He talks about how Wrights controversial
statements earlier in the campaign. But then Obama talks about the good things Wright has done,
like get Obama into Christianity, help the poor, and serve the country as a marine. He then
continues on to all the problems the United States are facing and that no matter what, every race
is facing the same problems too because they are all American. Obama talks about where the
prejudice and anger of different races stems from and that we should all work together to fix
these problems once and for all. He then ends the speech with a story that ends with a young
white woman and an old black man fighting for the same issue. President Obama is addressing
American racists, his intended audience. The presidents argument is very effective to the
American people with his strengths in logic, emotion, and assertion.

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The logos, or logic in this speech is related to everyday acts and culture with which the
American people see. The first one is Reverend Jerimiah Wright. Obama talks about how he
knew Wright could critique Americas policies and say controversial things. Obama then says he
would disagree with Wrights political views. All of these things should be kept out of church.
When he asks himself the question of, Did I strongly disagree with many of his political
views? he answers himself, Absolutely - just as I am sure many of you have heard remarks
from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed (Obama). This is an
example of assertion. He points out he would not agree with his pastor and that many other
people in this country have disagreed with their religious leaders as well. It is an everyday
problem. It is indeed true that many people have had this happen to them. Not only is Obamas
logos strong, so is his pathos.
The pathos, the emotion in this speech is very strong. Obama brings every single race, the
whole nation, together when he lists the problems of the nation and says: two wars, a terrorist
threat, a falling economy, a chronic healthcare crisis and potentially devastating climate change;
problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us
all (Obama). This statement gripped the people. When Obama says, problems that confront
us all, (Obama) he addresses everyone. This brought the people a sense of unity. It makes the
audience feel like they do need to get together in order to fix these problems. People now want to
do this! A country cannot be fixed if no one gets along. The racists hopefully gain a sense of
unity and start to lose their prejudice. To strengthen his pathos, Obama also uses anecdotes.
Next comes the anecdote that ended the speech. A story that sums up all the words
Obama spoke. A story that shows what Obama wants this country to be: truly united. It is about a
young white woman, Ashley Baia. She tells Obama a story to why she is helping for his

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campaign. When she was a kid her mom was diagnosed with cancer, lost her job which included
healthcare, and her family then had to file for bankruptcy. She convinced her mom to only make
relish and mustard sandwiches because they were cheap and she was willing to sacrifice in order
to save money to help her mother. Obama then says that she said she joined the campaign was to,
help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents
too (Obama). He then adds that other people may have blamed other races and made stereotypes
to why she has problems but says that she instead, sought out allies in her fight against
injustice (Obama). More people helping in the campaign said their reasons for helping and then
they asked and old black man why he was. He then said, I am here because of Ashley
(Obama). The story grips people emotionally showing how this woman had to live when she was
just a kid, and how she wants to help. The audience cant help but feel empathetic when they
hear this. Then Obama nails the audience with the two different races and ages, white and black,
young and old, that people can indeed agree and fight for the same issue. But it needs to be
everywhere in America.
As a U.S. politician, Barack Obama has authority already, which helps his credibility.
This makes his assertions very strong. Especially when he brings an allusion to the American
Constitution, the law of the land. A strong assertion he makes is when he says, But I have
asserted a firm conviction a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American
people that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in
fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union (Obama).
Obama gets emotion in this too as he sounds like a true American. Faith in God and my faith
in the American people (Obama) hits the audience patriotically. He sounds like a patriot. He
should be, and he is credible as a U.S. politician. People will listen to him because he is, and this

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will help move beyond some of our old racial woundsandcontinue on the path of a more
perfect union (Obama).
Barack Obama uses logic, emotion, and assertion very well. He is a calm but moving and
powerful speaker with his use of the English language. He hits the audience with empathy and
authority. Real-life stories of everyday American people, no matter what color a person is,
strikes the nation as a whole and brings people together. Being of mixed-color, Obama is a
symbol and spokesman for all of America. He shows what this country is and that all races can
get along. He is a true role model and true American. Obama was effective on getting people on
his side but needed more statistics even to show the racial boundaries this country truly has and
where the inequality is.

Works Cited:
Obama, Barack. A More Perfect Union. Internet Archive. Los Angeles Times, 19 March 2008.
Web. 8 Jun. 2008.
<https/web.archive.org/web/20080608182717/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/19/nation/naobamatext19>