Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

Race In Rhetoric: A Textual Analysis Of Barack Obama's Campaign Discourse Regarding His Race, Andrea Dawn Andrews

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This study is a textual analysis of Barack Obama's nine most noteworthy speeches from 2004 to 2009 during his rise to prominence and presidential campaign. Because Obama was considered an inspiring speaker and because he was the first African American to win either a major party's presidential nomination or a general • • presidential election, this study examines how Obama's use of language about his race may have contributed to his success. Previous research has shown that use of six rhetorical devices resonates with the American people: abstraction, democratic speech conversational speech, valence messages, conciliatory messages and imagery. The study …