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Brayan Padilla

Professor Granillo

English 101

26 September 2018

America, the country that needs to be fix by students

Through the many speeches done at different universities, there have always been

messages that have had an effect on the lives of the students, whether academically, socially, or

mentally. Obama’s speech for the graduating class of 2016 in Howards University, Iowa,

concentrates on the aspect of the advances America has gone through, socially, for decades now.

Emphasizing that America has gone through many major changes towards racial and gender

equality was the former president’s biggest thoughts during his speech. Obama discusses logos,

ethos, and pathos rhetorical devices created by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher who was born in

384 BC. Aristotle, using the rhetorical devices, captured Athena with his philosophical views so

that they would not think of him as insane, irrational, or illogic. Aristotle’s works on metaphysics

and politics required his use of logos, his poems used pathos, and his ethics used ethos. He also

used these devices to prove his points and help those realize that their way of thinking is subject

to change. Each of his works were subjected to using the rhetoric’s to discuss his work with

confidence. Barack Obama utilized logos, ethos, and pathos to support his claim that America is

better today than in the past. For society, it is important that today is better day than the past

since society had to improve a lot in the past.

Logos is used in his speech in order to support his main warrant, “America is by almost

every measure better than it was when I graduated from college” (Obama 299). Just like many

others who try to support their claim, Obama provided evidence to back up his main point
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throughout his speech in many different ways. Statistical evidence is necessary to prove any

claim given by anyone whether a lawyer during a trial or a scientist during an experiment. Also,

by giving statistics the audience can draw conclusions about how society is working. Because

Obama has attorney experiences, he uses his abilities to link the many data he has recovered as

president to use on the audience so that they view him as a credible and reliable source of

information. Statistics and logic range from many different forms of knowledge, whether through

experiments and analysis, or through credible sources who have concluded what the author is

trying to prove and support. Obama uses many polls as well as statistics he has managed to pull

from different sources such as political scientists that conduct surveys or run through databases

to retrieve the information they are looking at. Obama argues that, “In 1983, [he] was part of

fewer than 10 percent of African Americans who graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Today, you

are part of the more than 20 percent who will. And more than half of blacks say we’re better off

than our parents were at our age” (299). Many examples range from his stating how

unemployment and poverty has dropped, graduation levels have increased for African American

students, and how women are able to get give and be a part of the workforce at a much higher

pay then before. Other than statistics, his logical aspects also play a huge roll in this speech by

reiterating the importance of equality, even though inequality does still exist within racial and

gender aspects. He emphasizes the importance of knowing that African Americans have been

offered a much better life than they would have had centuries ago in America by stating that no

man or woman of color would choose to live in America at an earlier time because they wouldn’t

receive the freedom and opportunities they are receiving today in the workforce, or in

universities across the nation. Logos is the most reliable way of gaining the support and

understanding of the audience due to the credibility.

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In his speech, he reiterates many factors the graduating class of 2016 must present and

need to have to be successful whatever their career may be in the near future. Using ethos leads

to persuading the audience, whether in written articles, or in this case, graduation speeches in

order to provide a solid basis on the foundation they will be building throughout their lives

between colleagues, clients, or supporters. Ethos is mostly based on the values and morals that

are used in speeches, articles, presentations, etc., to show and further explain the importance of

morals and values in societies. Throughout the speech, there are ethos-based statements that

highlight the importance of values and morals, especially when discussing the societal

advancements that America has reached over the past fifty years. America would be nothing

without its people and their morals and values, which have built the country. Through that,

Obama challenges the audience by inserting a statement which says, “We can’t walk by a

homeless man without asking why a society as wealthy as ours allows that state of affairs to

occur. We can’t just lock up a low-level dealer without asking why this boy, barely out of

childhood, felt he had no other options” (304). This evidence shows that we are in a smart

society; however, unfair organizations challenge us to use our capabilities through easy routes

rather than at a higher level.

Pathos is usually used in different methods of communication to adhere to the emotional

aspects of people and persuade them using emotion, rather than facts. Obama presents different

emotions in his speech in order to represent experiences from both positive and negative sides of

everyday reality. Obama influences the emotional side of the audience through his statement,

“Cierra is the first in her family to graduate from college. And then, she says, she’s going to go

back to her hometown […] to make sure all the working folks […] have access to the health care

they need and deserve. [..] She’s going to reach back and help folks like here succeed” (311). In
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other terms, putting Cierra as a leading example to all the graduates that are looking to make a

difference. This is one of the most important quotes that affect the audience’s emotions because

it provides the story of a real graduate, who regardless of her gender, age, and race, is choosing

to go back home and make her hometown a better living environment for those living there.

Similarly, such devices were used by Obama in his speech to the graduates of Howard

University in order to present the progress of our society compared to when he graduated from

college. He discusses and compares the different America’s during his college years and during

the years of the graduating class whom the speech is addressed to. The reason behind his

emphasis on this idea is to show how America was and how it has gone through extreme changes

for the better throughout his college life until today. America, to him, is such an important

concept, since he held office at the time. But more than that; his family history, his racial

background, and what they faced as a race pushes him to focus on making it a country that

practices freedom and equality, even though he knows it does not fully exist. “I am not saying

gaps do not persist…. Racism persists. Inequality persists” (Obama. 301). Knowing that he has

made a huge difference within unemployment levels and graduation levels within his first term,

and working on better things for his second term, brings him to peace knowing that he is doing

all he could to satisfy the morals and values of the American society. The former president

sought to talk about the progress the country has achieved during the last fifty, or so, years. The

majority of the speech contains rhetorical devices such as logos, ethos, and pathos for a better

elaboration and understanding.

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Works Cited

Obama, Barack. Howard University Commencement Speech. They Say/ I Say, Gerald Graff,

Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst, Fourth Edition, May 7, 2016, pp. 296-313.