Obama's Speech: A Look into Rhetoric

In class we read Obama's speech on the Muslim occasion of Ramadan. It was an interesting speech in that it had a specific audience, but was meant to reach much farther than that. While he addressed it to the Muslim people, being the President, he knew the nation would hear him. He took this opportunity to express his opinions on the "Ground Zero Mosque" which he explains is about eleven blocks away from Ground Zero and is a mosque for Muslims, who have lost more lives to Al Queda than Americans have.

According to Blitzer, the exigence in this speech would be the controversy surrounding the mosque being built. There are many opposed to it, but most of them are misinformed and only hear "Ground Zero Mosque" which they think means "Terrorist Memorial at Ground Zero." Little do they know the mosque is for Muslims, who despite what they might think, were not in any way involved in the 9/11 attacks. Constraints are people or events that can alter the exigence, in this case it would be those building the mosque, as well as various other people. Obama is actually not a constraint as he can not change the outcome, only inform people about the situation.

Blitzer's last part was audience, which as discussed earlier, the audience in this situation is complicated as it is directed at Muslims, with the entire nation, and world for that matter, in mind. Obama is trying to convey to the American people and those opposed to the mosque that there is nothing to be upset about.

I think this was a good assignment, I can definitely see how rhetoric was used in this situation, and how Blitzer's analysis of rhetoric fits in here.