Part 1: Language and Power

Question (Text and Genre): How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the co
nventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose?
Barack Obama's speech at the 2006 Democratic National Convention conforms to the
conventions of a political speech with the use of optimistic tone, anecdotes an
d repetition to develop pathos.
1) Optimistic Tone - unifies the audience (empower)
2) Anecdotes - Shows understanding of the issues
3) Repititon - gain support for campaign
Optimistic tone: Through the use of optimistic tone, Obama unifies the audience.
- Americas.
- Gay friends.
Anecdotes: Obama uses anecdotes to show his sympathy for the audience. (pathos)
- Chicago
- East St. louis
Repetition: Obama uses repetition to gain the audience's support.
- Hope
- John Kerry
----------- Talk about the Hope poster
- Obama's intro to America and played a role in his victory
- Obama became a valuable asset for the Democratic Party
- Bush won but Obama was elected next term
- 9 million people saw his speech
It s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of i
mmigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant b
ravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker s son who dares to de
fy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that Americ
a has a place for him, too.