We’ve moved from David Foster Wallace’s great commencement address to a source a bit older: Richard Nixon’s televised plea for his credibility in 1952. The goal in reading this one is to better understand the use of ethos in an argument.

• President Obama’s Nobel lecture
• President Obama’s Address to the Nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan
• Candidate Romney’s speech at the Clinton Global Initiative (note the “bounce” joke at the opening! What’s he doing there?)

[Couldn’t find transcript, so here’s video of President Obama’s speech.]

We wrapped up our reading of President Kennedy’s Inaugural Address today, adding a couple more terms to our list of rhetorical devices:

• Anaphora: “To those . . . . To those . . . .” “Let both sides . . . . Let both sides . . . .”
• Chiasmus (antimetabole): “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Your assignment is to look at one of three topics in his speech (unity; past, present, future; and self-sufficiency), clarify his message (he isn’t just arguing “Unity”—what is he trying to convince his audience about unity?), and analyze how he presents it using the three rhetorical appeals. This isn’t a formal assignment, so complete it as you will so that you can maintain an insightful conversation about his rhetoric.

In addition to the above, you should turn in your second article analysis on Tuesday after the break.

Here’s Obama’s Address to the Nation on December 1st, in which he outlines the plan for American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Transcript here.

Then check out his Nobel Acceptance Speech.

Thoughts?