Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize Lecture

     In 2009, American President Barack Obama was given the honor of being the Nobel Peace Prize Recipient. He started his speech by addressing each of the different members of the audience. A majority of notable speakers do this in order to individually address their audience members in order to signify there importance. They also do this in order to display their humility. Humility was valued by Ancient orators. The President began by saying, “Your majesties, your royal highnesses, distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, citizens of the world." Obama is expressing his gratitude to each of the mentioned individuals. Similarly, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  and Nelson Mandela presented their lectures, they to greeted the committee with the same manner. Obama is displaying the rhetorical practice of imitatio. He imitates admired speakers in order to have the same powerful effects on his audience as they did. He mentions that when compared to the accomplishments of Dr. King and Nelson Mandela, his accomplishments are slim. This further contributes to his sense of humility before the audience. The subject matter of his speech doesn't necessarily reflect his individual accomplishments, but it talks about goals and ideals of which he believes the world should encompass. For example he says, "We do not have to live in an idealized world to reach for those ideals that will make it a better place." These words prove to be very meaningful. I believe that if I was just to read these words then they would still be extremely impactful. However, the way he pronounces each word, contributes immensely to the overall purpose of the phrase. This is an example of pronunciato of which is how an orator pronounces the individual parts of a word or phrase. He also is demonstrating the rhetorical term action of which represents the voice variation and delivery of the words within the speech. The passion of which Obama delivers his speech is in my opinion very stylistically appropriate. Demosthenes said that delivery is the most important part of oration. The words of the speech would still be meaningful even without Obamas stylistic interpretation, but since he is able to include his individual style within the speech it makes the speech even more effective. It is obvious that each word within the oration was carefully and precisely chosen. This also contributes to the overall effectiveness of the speech. He includes the fact that America was presently at that time at war while under his command. He states that it seems ironic because he is receiving an award for peace. He then goes on to say that the war is an effort to preserve peace and rid the act of terrorism among various nations. He asks the question, "How can peace be preserved". This example of a rhetorical question works to set up Obama's next topoi or theme and content to be presented. For the duration of the speech, within President Obama's peroratio or conclusion, he expresses his gratitude for the award while reviewing his ideas on how to efficiently combat the issue of war globally.