Obama's Speech

President elect Barack Obama made his acceptance speech in Chicago, Illinois on November 4th.  Throughout his speech, me mentioned how that night was a night of change for America.  He focussed in on the importance of that night.  Like other speeches before him, he thanked family, friends, and those who campaigned for him.  He also mentioned how they had the best political campaign in the history of elections.  Obama uses pathos by focussing on the audience and connecting with them.  He mentions how the campaign started all over the United States, and this makes the audience feel closer to him.  He used the calm voice he is known for by speaking of togetherness and unity in a patriotic way.  He also uses pathos when he mentions the puppy that his daughters are getting when they move into the White House.  He shows his respect towards McCain and Palin who lost, yet he still congratulated them for their hard work.  His speech reflected the ideas of his campaign: change for America.

Previous Speeches

I chose to write about John Kerry's 2004 concession speech.  The beginning of his speech was very personal.  He thanks everyone for their warm welcome and affection.  Then he mentions his phone call to President Bush.  Throughout his speech, he is very patriotic by mentioning the need for unity in America.  He explains how "we are required to work together", yet I find this somewhat contradicting because he also mentions says "we cannot win this election" referring to the Democratic Party as 'we' rather than America itself.  He focusses in on his supporters a lot and even responds to an individual audience member.  He uses pathos by talking about his family and mentioning all their names.  He even refers to old friends and supporters.  Also, he tells the audience that he wants to just "wrap you up in my arms".  That is another example of pathos.  He really builds on the idea of a strong audience connection.  He brings in the quote "God Bless America" to help support his ethos and it adds to the patriotism.  I somewhat got the idea that he was not certain that the votes were fair and accurate judging by his negative attitude towards the voting machines.

Sources

After searching for primary sources, I found it difficult and decided to change my topic.  I am now going to change my topic to Voter Fraud associated with ACORN.  This was a lot easier to find sources for because it is newer information that is important to voters.  When I searched under LexisNexis, there were many long articles. Gale databases did not seem as helpful, but I was still able to find information.  Debates.org offered me the transcript from the last debate between McCain and Obama when they discussed this issue. The NYT-election page seemed to be mainly secondary sources, so I did not find it as useful.

Unit 2 Topic

I am narrowing my topic down to Border Control.  People who have experience would be U.S. customs, candidates, the police, illegal aliens, etc.  People who are talking are Americans, especially ones who live close to borders, and the candidates. Primary sources include speeches from debates about the subject, or interviews with customs and guards from the border.

My Humorous Argument

I did an editorial cartoon about abortion.  It had Obama holding the door for the women to choose to walk in the abortion clinic.  The back door of the abortion clinic to the cemetery represents how some consider abortion murder.  The fence represents how some people are blinded by this fact.

I understand that my argument was meant to be thought provoking rather than humorous because the topic is so controversial.  If anyone has suggestions to make a humorous argument that would be great!

Humorous Argument

The video that I found is a satirical spoof of Sarah Palin being nominated for vice president. The link is:   http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1831461   They take information from her campaign, views, and family and turn it into something funny that people would be able to understand and maybe agree with.  For example: Sarah Palin's son's name is Trig, and because this is such an unusual name, they make a point to make it funny by calling him 'Algebra'.  In the video, the president dies.  This is making fun of McCain's age and how some feel that he is too old to be president. The video is mean to be a funny way of engaging the audience and emphasizing unusual or well known facts that are easily argued. I do not agree with the video, but I did find it funny.  So, humor is a creative and strong way to hold an argument.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1831461

OpEd

The Right To Take Another Human's Life

    In the United States, during the heat of the election, there are two basic beliefs towards abortion: pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life is the view that fetuses are human lives, and they have the right to live. Pro-choice leaves the mother to decide whether or not she wants to keep or dispose of the unborn baby. Now my question for you is: Why is it up to the mother to chose if she wants her unborn child to live or not? Obama emphasizes the right of women to decide, but I do not believe that is a decision we should be making. We have rationalized abortion so much that we think it is a right we should be given.

The idea of ‘when life begins’ is probably the most controversial issue within abortion. Even if you do not believe life begins at conception, there is no argument that the unborn fetus will develop into a human. If not a life already, abortion takes away a potential human life that has already started developing. Not to mention that growth, as done by the fetus, is a characteristic that is present only in living things. We are disguising murder as a ‘choice’.

    Abortion is intentionally taking away an innocent human life. Maybe more people would be against abortion if they were the ones who actually had to do the terminating. Maybe you would feel more strongly against abortion, if you had to see a picture of the fetus being terminated. People do not want to think about the actual process, and our society does not want to show it. It’s emotional. At only twelve weeks, all vital organs have begun development, and the heart is already beating. The fetus can even make a fist with its fingers.

    Abortion is a heated topic in the upcoming election, because it is so controversial. The democratic candidate argues for the right of choice, but is the choice to take away a life a right we are given? Some women tend to favor this side, because they see it as women’s rights and an opportunity of power. This is not the case at all. We need to step back and realize the morality of what we are dealing with. Women have constantly fought for maintaining equality in society, but having the right to take another human’s life is not a right we should be fighting for. Sarah Palin and her daughter prove this by being women on the pro-life side. They prove that life is sacred, and every unborn fetus deserves to live. Only a woman can make the decision of what will happen to the fetus? No. Only God can.

    It is hard to fight strongly for something when we do not know everything about the developing fetus. We are quick to make decisions for it, because, obviously, it cannot defend itself. Well, being a fetus once myself, I am qualified to argue for pro-life.  I know what it will look like less than nine months later, and that is something I would never dispose of. 

    Our society is becoming more aware of teenage pregnancy because of the recent movie Juno, a TV show called The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and the teenage pregnancies of Jaimie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin.  We learned there are other options besides abortion. We know that teenage pregnancy may happen, and our society is trying to welcome that over abortion.

    Abortion is not a women’s right, it is not a right, and it is not right. Whether it is because of religious or moralistic views, most everyone on some level knows abortion is not just. Disposing a fetus because it conflicts with your plan is not something that can be justified. What is the justification of abortion?

    The abortion issue effects everyone, not just those who are pregnant. The candidates have two opposing views, and I advise you to vote for what you think it right. Yes, the election does not revolve around abortion, but I do believe that preserving human life is one of the most important topics.

    So I urge you to think about the right of the unborn fetuses when you are thinking about the election. Abortion is an important topic, and innocent lives are being sparred. It is not our right to decide if we should terminate a future human life.