Week 4: Block 2 Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama begins her speech with her worries of the first election; the worries she had concerning her family and most importantly her daughters. The problem she is speaking of is the reelection of her husband President Barrack Obama for the 2012 election. She speaks of her family as well as the Presidents family and of how they were hard workers who instilled unwavering values within the two of them. She assumes her listeners are supporters of President Obama and if they are not she is trying to convince them to become supporters. Her purpose is to persuade the American people to vote for her husband in the upcoming election. In order to accomplish her purpose, she appeals to pathos and tells stories of struggle and triumph. She also appeals to the average American who has a family and those who believe in working hard in order to succeed. Within her speech, Obama addresses the main argument and idea that success just happens and one does not necessarily have to work hard to become who they are meant to be. She refutes this argument by saying working hard to be successful instilled a sense of morals and values in President Obama and therefore he will continue to be successful as the President of the United States of America. Finally, she concludes with a recap of her previous worries for her family by saying she no longer possesses those fears because of the strong moral values instilled in her family. Overall, the argument Obama makes is very effective because she obviously appeals to the audience in which she is speaking to as well as to those who may have been skeptical in the past.