Weekly Writing Assignment #1

Ashley Johnson
Weekly Writing Assignment #1

Michelle Obama’s Democratic National Convention Keynote Address does several things to appeal to the audience’s emotions and make her speech relatable to the everyday life of an American, which is why I think the rhetorical tenant context is one she uses very well.
She uses her own personal experiences to draw images out to the audiences of things they can imagine themselves doing; she elaborates on her relationship with her brother, who happened to introduce her; she talks about her relationship with her dad and the sacrifices he made for their family; and she ends with addressing “the man she fell in love with,” and what he has done for his family, and what he will do for the country.
One of my favorite parts of the speech was when she was discussing our blessings that have been “hard-won” by those who came before her. Her use of imagery in this section really allows the audience to feel what she is saying and she the people she is describing.
She uses the good-night kiss as a way of depicting what families work for to allow a present and a future for their children, saying “People who work the day shift, then kiss their kids good night and head out for the night shift without disappointment, without regret. See, that good-night kiss is a reminder of everything they're working for.”
She makes dreams tangible things that grow when she describes “People like Hillary Clinton -- who put those 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling so that our daughters and our sons can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.”
She uses this imagery again in the main focus of her speech, which is to appeal to her audience, and the context she is in. She appeals to the audiences emotions and relates to them in describing a thread that connects our hearts, making us one nation that loves their country; “the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope. And you see, that is why I love this country.”
That is where I believe Michelle Obama was most successful in her speech; her use of rhetoric in order to create images in the audiences’ mind was consistent throughout the whole speech. Her words were aimed towards these people she was describing, fitting the context.