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Connor Anderson
Michael Henriksen
English 1010, Period 7
31 October 2016

Michelle Obamas Use of Rhetorical Appeals

Rhetoric is communication that is intended to persuade. When communicating
rhetorically, a person will use one or more of the three rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and
logos. Ethos is an appeal to an audiences sense of credibility/trustworthiness, pathos is an appeal
to an audiences emotions, and logos is an appeal to an audiences sense of logic/reason.
Michelle Obama is a perfect example of someone who has displayed this type of communication
recently. The First Lady of the United States delivered her speech at a Hillary Clinton rally on
how Hillary is the best qualified candidate to be the next President of the United States.
Rhetorical appeals were spewed throughout her speech in order to persuade the audience to
support her stance. Michelle Obama is a very big advocate of Clinton and wants people to vote
for her. Its only logical that she is going to use rhetorical appeals to persuade the audience!
While some would argue that Mrs. Obamas use of rhetorical appeals was unsuccessful, I would
argue that she gave a very powerful speech using all three rhetorical appeals.
One of the most obviously used rhetorical appeals Michelle Obama used was pathos. The
First Lady decided to use pathos, because it is an appeal to an audiences emotions. One instance
in her speech included, were trying to keep our heads above water, just trying to get through it,
trying to pretend like [the sexism in the world and Donald Trump] doesnt really bother us

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maybe because we think that admitting how much it hurts makes us as women look weak (2).
By saying this, Mrs. Obama really is appealing to the audiences emotion. The majority of the
crowd at the rally were women or young females. The statement basically said that the world
doesnt want women to show their true feelings, and if they do, they are considered weak and
irrelevant. No woman wants that negative aspect to their life. Hearing this caused many of the
women in the audience to reflect back on the sexism they have faced throughout their lives. They
understood exactly what Michelle Obama was saying, and to many, it was a very relatable and
personal statement. Because of the topics resignation with many of the women, Obamas
statement hit very hard emotionally.
Michelle Obama went on to use even more emotional appeals throughout the speech, but
she also used the other rhetorical appeals. Another major rhetorical appeal found in the First
Ladys speech was ethos. Ethos is an appeal to the audiences sense of credibility and
trustworthiness. If people dont find you credible/honest, they wont believe you. Speakers need
to prove themselves before they start making claims, otherwise they are just wasting their time.
In her speech, Michelle Obama says, let me start by thanking your fabulous governor, your next
U.S. senator, Maggie Hassan. I want to thank her for that lovely introduction. I also want to
recognize your Congresswoman Annie McKlane Kuster, whos a dear, dear friend. Your
soon-to-be congresswoman once again, Carol Shea Porter -- all of whom have been just terrific
friends to us. And your Executive Council and candidate for governor, Colin Van Ostern (1).
This statement alone really proves the authors credibility and trustworthiness to the audience.
With Obama telling everyone that she is really close with other top government officials, it really

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solidifies her persona. It shows that she is extremely involved with politics and is close with
people in high places.
As common as her use of pathos and ethos was in the speech, Michelle still had one more
type of rhetorical appeal she knew she needed to use. Logos is a rhetorical appeal used to appeal
to the audiences sense of logic/reason. Obama used this in her speech to sound more educated
on certain subjects and give herself more substance to speak on. At about the middle of her
speech, Michelle used logos to describe Clintons qualifications for the presidency by saying,
Hillary has been a lawyer, a law professor, First Lady of Arkansas, First Lady of the United
States, a U.S. senator, and Secretary of State. She has been successful in every role, gaining more
experience and exposure to the presidency than any candidate in our lifetime -- more than
Barack, more than Bill. And, yes, she happens to be a woman (4). Once youve listed several
other government positions someone has held for many decades, they seem more experienced
and thus become the logical choice. Logos is all over her speech, just like the other two
rhetorical appeals. All together, Michelle was able to create a very powerful speech.
Michelle Obamas frequent use of all three rhetorical appeals in her speech really helped
get her point across. Ethos, pathos, and logos were essential in persuading the audience to vote
for Hillary Clinton. The First Lady wasnt just speaking in support of Clinton, she was speaking
to plead with people to support her too. Her appeals were all fact-based and stayed on topic with
what she was there to present. Mrs. Obama didnt just speak her mind, she put every fiber of her
being into presenting and persuading the audience to vote Hillary Clinton for President of the
United States of America. Without rhetorical appeals, Obamas speech would have been empty

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and accomplished nothing. Michelle Obama really came through and put those rhetorical appeals
to good use.

Works Cited
TRANSCRIPT: Michelle Obamas Speech On Donald Trumps Alleged Treatment Of Women
by Michelle Obama