- Ensure the paragraph addresses the question.

- Ensure the paragraph is clear on the technique and message/theme.

- There should be sufficient quotes from the text.
- 300-400 words
- Should be completed in your learner portfolio.

Discuss how this speech utilizes different methods to win over the audience to its speaker and
message.

Main messages
- The American dream is achievable with hard work and commitment/dedication.
- People settle for the world for how it is, not how it should be.
-

Main techniques used:

- Humor, Rapport -> eases the audience into the speech, creates a happy warm
atmosphere that's not too serious, makes her seem more relatable, reliable and
approachable.
- Anecdote -> creates relatability, makes each and every one of the audience feel more
included.
- Repetition, Scesis onomaton -> “I come here as…” makes her seem more human, not
just a president’s wife, and understanding. Appeals to moms, dads, youths…
- Diction

This text type is a speech which was made by Michelle Obama in 2008, the wife of
Barack Obama, who ran in as the Democratic presidential candidate back in that time. This
speech aims to persuade the audience, whose majority are from the working class, to persist
and not give up on the American Dream which will be achieved by rooting for Barack Obama in
the presidential election. In order to appeal to the audience, Michelle Obama creates relatability,
and a sense unitedness and inclusion in her speech. She also gets the message through the
audience by establishing a reliable image of herself. This is done through her effective use of
various rhetorical and literary devices, such as diction, anecdotes, and raport.
Michelle Obama enables the audience to sympathize with her, and motivates them to
persevere, through her use of Anecdotes. By including personal stories of her life, and
mentioning her family who are very dear to her, this allows the audience to feel that they are
more connected with her. This also appeals to the majority of the audience, who as mentioned
earlier, are from the working class, as her anecdotes consist of stories of her parents, who also
were blue-collar workers. “As he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk, it took him longer to get
dressed in the morning. But if he was in pain, he never let on.” (line 24) Michelle describes her
father. Then in the next paragraph, she reveals, “we both were able to go on to college.” (line
31) we, referring to her brother and herself. This part of the speech highlights the commitment of
her father, mentioning how even after he got sick, he never gave in to the pain. By doing so,
Michele provides him as a figure of inspiration for the audience. This might also be representitve
for many of the audiences family, as the father is the provider of the family and is required to
work long term for the family and the kids in many of the middle class families, allowing them to
relate and sympathise with Michele, and her father. Michelle also mentions Obama’s family in
her speech, “-- His family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were
working-class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills
just like we did.” (line 35) In here, Michele outlines the similarities of her family and Obama,
which applies to many of the families in the working class, once again, establishing an
approachable image for herself and Obama.