Barack Obama Back to School Essay

On September 8th 2009, the president of The United States, Barack Obama gave a speech called â€Å"Back to School†. The speech was about the responsibility that you have as a young individual – responsibility you have for yourself, your teachers, parents, and your country. Obama mentions, among other things, that you have to attend school to find out what your good at, and what you want to make of your future. He says that without education your never going to get the job you want most. He says that what you make of your education is going to determine the future of the country and if you quit school and quit on yourself, your giving up on our country. Throughout the speech, Obama makes references to not only his own life experiences, but also, the American dream. He ends his speech by saying, that it is hard to be successful and that you have to fight to achieve your goal in life. You have to practice, study hard and not be afraid of asking people for help. Furthermore he ends his speech by asking his audience questions and to say that he has great expectations for this new generation. The President of the United States Barack Obama is the speaker of the text â€Å"Back to School†. His audience is not only the young people at Wakefield High School, but moreover young people attending school in all over America. P. 1 l. 1: â€Å"Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? † It is already indicated in the first line that he is trying to level with his audience, the young students, despite of his status. Furthermore he uses the words â€Å"I know†, and almost turns them into a phrase. With this phrase, which appears several times through the text, he indicates to the audience that he knows their feelings or thoughts. The imagery in this speech is very vivid, showing what success looks like, and what an individual could make of their life. With the use of small and simple sentences Obama tries to get the point across that school is important and one needs an education to survive in this world. The length of the speech shows how adamant he is of children staying in school, and trying to better their future. There is a lot of repetition in the speech, stating that school is important, and an education is necessary in life, and that you cant get what you want without practicing hard, studying even harder and always trying your best. There seems to be no form of alliteration in this speech. Many people use the alliteration of speech to capture the audience and individual minds. Obama references to many other famous people who have failed many times and still succeed. â€Å"J. K. Rowling’s — who wrote Harry Potter — her first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, ‘I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s why I succeed. ’†. The language of this poem shows that the speech is meant for a young audience, possibly kindergarden-12th grade. Barack talks about staying in school, a the responsibility an individual has as a student. He directly addresses the audience, by using the word â€Å"you†. He uses a very direct tone in order to capture the audience in a better way. With the use of logos, the spectators can better understand what the President is saying to them by using his own experiences, and journeys. Trying to sound like president Kennedy, Obama makes the audience feel comfortable, and makes them feel like what he is saying is true. He uses promptness and sternness to show how serious education is, not only for yourself, but your country. Toward the middle of his speech Obama says â€Å"The truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject that you study. You won’t click with every teacher that you have. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try. † This helps ones mind feel at ease with knowing he’s speaking the truth.