English 102 Blog #2

In his speech, Senator Obama used arguments based on emotion (pathos).  For example when he chose not take his colleagues advice about brushing off what Mr. Keyes said about him being elected because, "Jesus Christ would not vote for Barack Obama. Christ would not vote for Barack Obama because Barack Obama has behaved in a way that it is inconceivable for Christ to have behaved." (Connection between Faith and Politics) Senator Obama did the complete opposite and did take that statement to heart and he uses this life story to show how he felt and to get a reaction out of his audience members by making them feel how he felt.  Another good rhetorical strategy used by Senator Obama is his use of arguments based on facts and reasoning (logos).  When he throws out numbers and gives statistics such as saying that about 90 percent of Americans believe in God that is a great way of catching the audience's attention and keeping it.  When people are given numbers and statistics to be shown a point, I know for me, it really catches my attention and I want to learn more whether the statistics really make sense or not.  When I find out I am not the only person who loves bacon but that "x" percent of other American's love bacon as well it makes the world feel much smaller than it really is.  It's a way to make others feel not so alone.  Using these types of strategies in any type of speech really aides in creating a successful speech.