ConnerTippetts

Mr.Henriksen
English1010
P.6

RhetoricalAnalysisofPresidentObamasRemarksonEbolaOutbreak

Rhetoricis,initsessence,communicationwiththepurposeofpersuading.
Appealsusedinrhetoriccanbeclassifiedintooneofthreecategories:logical,
emotional,orcharacterbased.Logicalappealsareusedtoengageanaudience
throughuseoflogic.Emotionalappealsareusedtoengageanaudiencebyinjecting
emotionintoapersuasiveclaim.Characterbasedappealsareusedtoengagean
audiencebyestablishingtheauthorscredibility.Inallrhetoric,thereexistsarhetorical
situationwherethreeparametersmustbefulfilledanauthormustconnecttoan
audienceviaatext.
InPresidentObamasremarksontheEbolaoutbreak,hepresentsmultiple
exampleswithfrequent,directstatementstoreassurehisaudienceofhisactions
regardingtheEbolaoutbreakspreadingtoAmericaifthecurrentstateofthediseasein
Africadoesnotgetbetter.Whilesomemaydismissthetextbasedonthecredibilityof
theauthor,IwillarguethatPresidentObamausesallthreerhetoricalappealsto
persuadehisaudiencethathisassembledteamisrampingupefforts(1)intheir
attempttostopthespreadofEbola.

Obamausesemotionalappealsbothexplicitlyandimplicitly.Oneeffective
emotionalstrategyusedexplicitlyisanemotionalmotif.Andsoourthoughtsand
prayersarewiththem(1),andIwanttobethinkingaboutandprayingforthetwo
healthworkers(4),aretwoexamplesthatrepresentthismotifassaidbyObama.This
strategyisusedwheneverthesubjectturnstowardtheaffectedhealthcareworkers.
Throughtheauthorsuseofthismotif,heshowshisconnectiontoprayerandpondering
whenthingsgowrong:anobviousplayatappealingtotheaudiencebyusingdidactic
languageandtone.Hisuseofanexplicitemotionalmotifisanexampleofoneappeal
usedtopersuadehisaudiencethathisassembledteamisrampingupefforts(1).
Obamaalsousesemotionalappealsimplicitly.Obamaargues,thedangersof
youcontractingEbola...areextraordinarilylow(3).Thisemotionalappealrealizesthe
audiencesinvolvementinthesituationoffacingtheEbolavirusandthenreassuresits
invaliditybytakingitveryseriously(3).Thisimplicitemotionalappealaccomplishes
hispurposeofpersuadinghisaudiencethathisassembledteamisrampingupefforts
(1)byexpressingdirectengagementinthesolution.
Furthermore,Obamaappealstohisaudiencebypresentingsupportingexamples
logically.Averywellwornstrategyusedinlogicalappealsistheif/thenmodel.The
if/thenmodelissetupfirstwithaconditionalstatement,thenfollowedbyacausality.
Forexample,Obamasays,Ifwedotheseprotocols,thenthelikelihoodof
widespreadEbolaoutbreaks...arevery,verylow(2).Thisexamplegivesareassurance
totheaudiencethatthethreatofcontractingEbolavirusissmallifspecificprotocolsare

met.Hereyoucanseehowthisuseofalogicalexamplepersuadeshisaudiencethat
hisassembledteamisrampingupefforts(1)byusingawellwornliterarytool.
Indeed,logicalandemotionalappealsareusedquitefrequentlyinObamas
remarksonEbolacrisis,butthemostinfluentialrhetoricalstrategyusedis
characterbasedappeals.Obamastrategicallyasserts,
Thekeythingtounderstandaboutthisdiseaseisthattheseprotocolswork.We
knowthatbecausetheyvebeenusedfordecadesnotinEbolacasesaroundthe
world,includingcasesthatweretreatedinEmoryandinNebraska.Butwehave
tomakesurethat,understandably,localhospitalsmaynothavethatexperience
[1].
Hiscredibilityisbolsteredbyaddinghimselfintoagroupofcrediblepeople,referringhis
remarksbacktothatgroup.Anothercharacterbasedappealseeninthissectionofhis
remarksishisconfidenttone.Hemanifeststhatpracticesusedinboththepastandthe
presentareeffectivewithconfidence.Thistestimonyandgroupingofhimselfwitha
crediblebodysuggestObamaspurposeofpersuadinghisaudiencethathisassembled
teamiscredibleenoughtotrust.
Thisnationisconcernedenoughtopromptaspeechtobemadedirectly
addressingthepossibilityofanEbolaoutbreakintheU.S..Obamathusdeliverscasual
remarksconcerningthesubjectfocusingontheconcernsofthepublic.Bylookingat
thiscontextthatsurroundstheremarksgivenbyObama,onecanidentifythatthe
organizationandappealspresentedarenotallexplicitlyused,butareamixofboth
explicitandimplicitappeals.Obamausesemotionalappealsmorespecificallya

spiritualmotifsecuringaconnectiontohisaudiencethroughreligiousjargon.Healso
usesclassiclogicalstrategiestoappealtohisaudiencethroughacauseeffect
cascade.Finally,weanalyzedhismoststrategicallybeneficialapproachofapplying
characterbasedappealstoagroupofexpertsheisapartof.InObamasuseof
rhetorictoappealtohisaudience,onecanidentifyPresidentObamasuseofallthree
rhetoricalappealstopersuadehisaudiencethathisassembledteamisrampingup
efforts(1)concerningtheEbolaoutbreak.