A Viceral Response to Americas Inaction

Emily Staley
Professor Babcock
Rhetoric and Civic Life 017
26 October 2015

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On October 1, 2015, President Obama approached the White House podium exhausted
and angry. Earlier that day, Christopher Harper Mercer, a 26 year old male, rampaged through
the Umpqua Community College in Rosenburg, Oregon, taking the lives of ten and injuring
seven innocent Americans (Sidner). After responding to eleven mass shootings in his eight years
of office, the routine of delivering formal statements has become an execrable normality. Guns
have taken the lives of 30,000 Americans; more than half of those deaths are suicides. In 2010,
606 people, 62 of them children younger than 15, died in accidental shootings (Goldberg). Since
the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Obama has worked to get tighter gun control
laws to eradicate these horrid atrocities and has been unsuccessful (Obama on Gun Control). In
his statement on the shooting at Umpqua Community College, President Obama not only follows
the traditional format of a political statement by debriefing the public and sharing his
condolences with the families directly affected, but he also takes advantage of the platform to
address the problem of lack of gun control in America and create exigence through use of
strategic rhetoric.
Obama shares both his condolences to the families and his passion on the subject of gun
control in his tone and style throughout the statement. He uses the stylistic medium of preaching
to deliver most of his speech and exhibits a depressed and angry tone. His opening statement
reveals both his anger and sadness towards the situation. President Obama walks to the podium
and states, Theres been another mass shooting in America. He does not express any niceties or
say hello; he quickly states there has been another mass shooting. The emphasis on another
articulates his awareness and anger towards the problem of gun violence in America. In contrast
to his first statement, the Sandy Hook shooting, he continues by briefly offering condolences for
the families and the community members touched by the tragedy (Transcript). Then, Obama

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begins to condemn the audience for overlooking the problem of gun violence in America. He
uses the powerful, short statement, Weve become numb to this which demonstrates that the
American people have become habituated to these killings. Part of what makes this sentence so
powerful is the eerie diction choice of the word numb which creates a negative connotation.
Also, by delivering a telegraphic sentence, it demands the attention of the listeners.
By referencing all three occasions of rhetoric- forensic, epidemic, and deliberativePresident Obama also captures the attention of the audience. The statement starts and concludes
with the forensic, past-orientated, occasion for rhetoric. President Obama accomplishes this by
sympathizing with the families. His statement also starts out with verbs in past tense. He then
takes an epidemic approach to the body of his speech when he blames the American people for
not taking action to decrease gun violence. He creates exigence by stating, This is a political
choice that we make to allow this to happen every few months in America. We collectively are
answerable to those families who lost their lives because of our inaction. Obama not only claims
that it is Americans choice to let this happen, but he also indicates that it is their fault for letting
this tragedy occur. He appeals to pathos by saying that the American people are answerable to
those families for the death of their loved ones because the issue of gun control has been
ignored in Congress. The president makes the hidden purpose of his speech known when he
switches to a deliberative, future oriented, occasion for rhetoric. He voices his opinion on the
future by saying, Each time this happens I am going to say that we can actually do something
about it, but we are going to have to change our laws. By taking an optimistic approach for the

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first time in his statement, President Obama exhibits that he believes that this violence is not
permanent in America but clearly states that there must be a change.
President Obama uses strategic rhetoric throughout his statement to introduce the
problem of gun violence, explain there is a problem in America, and suggest a solution to solve
the problem in America through meaningful change. Obama utilizes pathos throughout the
beginning of the speech to create the context and set the tone. He scrutinizes the situation by
saying, That means there are more American familiesmoms, dads, children whose lives
have been changed forever. That means theres another community stunned with grief. By using
anaphora, President Obama exemplifies the pain felt by the families and the community. He
builds his ethos when he reflects on his own visit to Rosemburg, Oregon, commenting on the
community, Ive been to Rosemburg. There are really good people there. To end his
introduction and description of the terror felt by the students and family in Rosemburg, he uses
polysyndeton when he states, In the coming days, we will learn about the victimsyoung men
and women who were studying and learning and working hard. By using the conjunction and,
Obama illustrates the dramatic commonplaces that the audience associates with the students and
their lives before they were drastically changed by gun violence.
After briefly touching on the lives of the victims, President Obama stops, takes a deep
breath and says, But. He then mutters the most powerful and controversial line in the statement,
which is As I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each
time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. This hook
initiates Obamas argument on why we need better gun control in America. This comment

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provokes exigence in the listeners. By stating that what we are doing is not enough, the statement
indicates that there is more we can be doing to stop and prevent these horrible events from
occurring. By using the pathos of the situation, President Obama takes advantage of the public
concern and mass attention toward the Oregon shooting to promote his views on gun violence
and offer a solution. Throughout his presidency, Obama has called on Congress to create
universal background checks, ban the sale of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines and
make more strict penalties for gun trafficking. He also announced 23 executive actions, including
launching a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign and improving mental-health
care (Mantel). He blatantly introduces the problem of gun violence in America by appealing to
logos and saying, The United States of America is the one advanced nation on Earth in which
we do not have common-sense gun-safety laws even in the face of repeated mass killings.
Such commentary provokes cognitive dissonance because we are supposedly the best nation in
the world, but are falling behind our competitors. In the same phrase, he also creates an
emotional response by using the word common-sense. This diction creates a defensive reaction
because he is challenging the American people once again for falling into a cyclic rhythm of poor
citizenship. He blatantly emphasizes the habituation of Americans by exclaiming, Weve
become numb to this. This curt statement creates admonition to the problem throughout the
country.
President Obama does not end the statement by briefly pointing out the problem, he also
offers a solution through flagrant statements filled with exigence. He asks the American people,
Democrat or Republican, to think about how they can get our government to change these laws,
and to save lives, and to let young people grow up. Instead of explicitly stating his own agenda,

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President Obama strategically diverts responsibility onto the American people. He calls for civic
action in the audience to create a government of officials who will work to pass anti-gun
legislation, making America a better place. The phrase, To let young people grow up targets the
emotion of the many American families by capitalizing on the innocence of youth they would
associate with children. He also adds, This is not something I can do by myself. This directly
creates exigence again across the audience. By leaving the problem of gun control in the hands
of the American people, President Obama creates the conditions necessary for public awareness
and participation.
Because of shooting at the Umpqua Community College, President Obama was able to
exploit the emotional turmoil and public attention to increase awareness on the problem of gun
violence. He concludes his speech by saying, I hope and pray I dont have to come out again
during my tenure as President to offer my condolences to families in these circumstances. But
based on my experience as President, I cant guarantee that. This summarizes both Obamas
frustration and intolerance that he exhibited repeatedly throughout his statement. He captures the
grief of the Rosemburg community, encourages mindfulness on the national problem of gun
control, and promotes a sense of urgency, leaving the audience wondering if the American people
will remain habituated to these heinous crimes or accept their Presidents challenge to make a
change.

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Works Cited
"Obama on Gun Control: 'We Need a Change in Attitude'." CNN Wire 19 June 2015. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
Goldberg, Jeffrey. "Gun Ownership with Stricter Controls Could Reduce Gun Violence." Guns
and Crime. Ed. Nol Merino. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2015. At
Issue.

Rpt. from "The Case for More Guns (and More Gun Control)." Atlantic (Dec.

2012).

Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

"Transcript: President Obama At Sandy Hook Prayer Vigil." NPR (2012): n. pag. NPR. Web. 20
Oct. 2015.
Mantel, Barbara. "Gun Control." CQ Researcher 8 Mar. 2013: 233-56. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
Sidner, Sara, Kyung Lah, Steve Almasy, and Ralph Ellis. "Oregon Shooting: Gunman Was
Student in Class Where He Killed 9. CNN. 2 Oct. 2015: n. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.