As the preceding one, this speech was also delivered to the common session of the US Congress in Capitol. Yet the speeches differ from one another in a few aspects.
The first one is just the matter of the transcript; the record of the State of the Union of 2010 contains even the records of the audience's reactions such as an applause or laughter. However, as the source is retrieved from the Internet sites which goal is to bring all Obama`s speeches together and thus it may be expected that they are administered by his supporters, it is not probably only the coincidence that the transcripts notes just the signs of approval and no disapproval.
The second aspect of difference deals with the overall tone of the speech. To understand it, it must be remembered that it was proclaimed at the time when Obama had been just the first year in his office; he had thus made some steps that he needed to advocate; moreover, it was also the election year to the Senate and therefore a greater publicity was an important and desirable goal that he wanted to gain. The tone of the speech is thus more entertaining and full of direct persuasion, urges, encouragements and it is also more amusing, although the passages focusing on deep analysis of the contemporary situation and the necessary changes and reforms in the future are quite extensive as well.
Obama is beginning the speech again with direct greeting, this time he does not forget even to the audience that may watch him on TV. The state of the union`s addresses are traditionally televised and this has affected their style they tend to be less formal and more entertaining. Persuading the whole nations seems to be of similar importance as providing facts to convince the senate. On one hand, it is not something extraordinary that should be stressed out, on the other hand, as it has been explained this influenced especially the fact that it was before the election to the Senate and that Obama wanted to speak to all citizens more than the year before. The speech then follows by shifting the attention again to the past and stressing the glory and authority that United States deserves. This passage may seem to be superfluous in terms of informative value; on the other side, to emphasize the tradition of such evaluative speeches of the Union which appear not only in peace times but also during the wars could raise the importance of this particular speech and everything what will be presented in it.
Only then, the speech continues with the recapitulation of all significant steps that had been made during previous year and after that with the steps that would be desirable to implement to the recent US system. Yet the speech tries to offer concrete details it is beside this full of clichs and declarative phrases, e.g.: "Again we are tested. And again, we must answer history's call. Except this, in some passages, Obama supports his suggestions by repetition of such clichs, for instance, in: "Now let me repeat: We cut taxes. We cut taxes for 95 per cent of working families. (Applause.) We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for first time homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college. (Applause.) I thought I'd get some applause on that one. (Laughter and applause.)" No doubt, such approach belongs to the key oral performances that may gain more popularity not only in the masses of the supporters in the hall (who drew it out) but also in the mass of the wider audience.
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The pressure of hard times and the approaching Senate election contribute with a high degree of probability not only to the effort to highlight the steps during the Democratic Party's government, but also to openly promote the steps that will only become true in the future. The speech thus posses features that resemble electioneering e.g.: "So tonight, I'm proposing that we take $30 billion of the money Wall Street banks have repaid and use it to help community banks give small businesses the credit they need to stay afloat. (Applause.) I'm also proposing a new small business tax credit / one that will go over one million small businesses who hire new workers or raise wages. (Applause.) While we're at it, let's also eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investment and provide a tax incentive for all large businesses and all small businesses to invest in new plants and equipment. (Applause.)" Again, the delivered statements are followed by conventional manifestation of agreement of the audience in the hall. Together with the fact the promises are attractive and pleasing the speech may be perceived as highly persuasive. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that even though the speech may be considered as such, it also tries to bring together some concrete facts and details and thus may be considered to be a bit informative as well.
State of the Union 2011
The Analysis of this speech revealed some similarities and also differences as compared to Obama's State of the Union from previous year. Both speeches are highly motivated to urge people to do something as there are lots of examples of direct commands, such in: "So, yes, the world has changed. The competition for jobs is real. But this shouldn't discourage us. It should challenge us."
There are lots of encouraging and positive evaluation which purpose is to depict the United States as the most powerful and mighty place on the Earth, e.g.: "We're the home for to the world's best colleges and universities, where more students come to study than any place on Earth." However, this passage may be seen just as rhetorical one as elsewhere in the speech Obama criticizes the recent state of the education system in the United States: "Think about it. Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs will require the education that goes beyond a high school education. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren't even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to ninth in the proportion of young people with a college degree." In a similar way, Obama has also expressed his anxiety in the State of the Union from 2010; so it seems evident that the words about the strength of the United states in the field of education are only one of the rhetorical devices how to evoke the listener's interest, pride and consequently mutual solidarity, unity and willingness to do something for their might nation.
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The speech was delivered at the year when no elections in the United States are planned, so the overall tone is not so "swollen" as in that of previous year. It might be just guessed that this kind of electioneering will have to be part of the speech of 2012 when the election campaign will be more or less slowly in the progress.
It is a relatively major effort to bring real stories to the listeners that could be found instead of the clear electioneering in this State of the Union, though some hints of open agitation could be found here as well. The allusion to the concrete, real people who wrote him or who did some of the extraordinary fact makes the speech to be more attractive and entertaining and therefore it suits better for media with their passion for such stories. It also emphasizes an impression that the president of the United States is reading all letters that American citizens have sent him or simply that he is not indifferent to the ordinary problems of the ordinary people. An example of such presentation may be exemplified by this passage: "one mother of two, a woman named Kathy Proctor, had worked in the furniture industry since she was 18 years old. And she told me she's earning her degree in biotechnology now, at 55 years old, not just because the furniture jobs are gone, but because she wants to inspire her children to pursue their dreams, too. As Kathy said: "I hope it tells them to never give up"." It could be guessed whether such person really lived or whether she had said what Obama proclaimed; nevertheless, it could be acknowledged that it might have an effect of successful persuasion.
It must be added here, that also this transcript of the speech is noted down with all marks of consensus, i.e. applause or laughter, as in the previous speech. Both speeches, furthermore, resemble in the effort to explain some steps that have been done and the steps that should be undertaken just in the future. However, as some of the steps, for instance in the field of reform of US education system, have not been fully realized it seems that both passages dealing with this topic are repeated in both speeches.
3.2.2 Obama's Foreign Speeches
First of all it is beneficial to realize one simple and clearly logical thing but one that should be born in mind: although the audience of all domestic speeches may slightly differ, it has a common feature that it was consisted of the members of one nation. The foreign speeches have also the common feature that they are simply devoted to foreign audience; however, this audience consisted of the members of various nations each time. The approach to these audiences might be probably influenced by different relationships of the United States to different nations; however, for the purpose of this thesis, it is crucial to remember that all speeches should be considered to be international and with this regard they are analyzed.
