Political Speeches of President Barack Obama and Senator John Mccain - Research Paper Example

One fundamental aspect of rhetoric is its strong and convincing nature. People often study the art of rhetoric in order to develop good public speaking skills. As Berlin would put it, a rhetoric:. has as its base a conception of reality, of human nature and of language. In other terms, it is grounded in a noetic field: a closed system of defining what can, and cannot, be known; the nature of the knower; the nature of the relationship between the knower, the known, and the audience; and the nature of the language.

Rhetoric is thus ultimately implicated in all a society attempts. It is at the centre of a culture’s activities.Indeed, with its emphasis on language comes persuasion. Aristotle, states that rhetoric is “the faculty of discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion” (McGarrity, 2009, p.18). Today, people most often use the persuasive art of rhetoric in delivering public speeches. For a speech is nonetheless different from a good speech, and Aristotle claims that in order for a good speech to make an impression, its material ought to be artistically thought off to suit its audience.

In this paper, the author will provide a rhetorical analysis of the political speeches of President Barack H. Obama and John McCain, with specific reference to its use of humor. In doing so, this paper will be divided into four parts. The first part will introduce the concept of rhetoric, in theory, and in practice. The second part will discuss two speeches of President Obama, namely, his routine at the 2009 and 2010 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. The third part will provide a rhetorical analysis of John McCain’s comedy routine at the 2008 Al Smith dinner in New York.

Finally, the last part will serve as the conclusion of this paper.As mentioned in the introduction, rhetoric primarily is characterized by the act of persuasion.