Reflection

Valeria Cortez

ENG 1101

Prof. Jewell

My genre was Oval Office speeches and after gathering the sources of my annotated bibliography I was able to identify certain characteristics found in these speeches. I noticed that they all contained several similarities to each other. One of the things they all had in common is that the Oval Office Speeches are always going to be given by the president of the United States at the time. Another thing that they have in common is that in most of the cases these speeches are given in order to address an important event or problem that the country had gone through or is going through. For example, when Bush gave his “9/11 Address to the Nation on Terrorist Attacks.” speech, he was informing the nation about the recent terrorist attacks that the country had been victim of. The fact that these speeches are about problems, accidents and important events leads me to other two similarities they all have in common, the tone and the constantly use of pathos. Since all of them address issues and important events, the speakers use a specific tone in these speeches, the tones used in these speeches vary between determined, uplifting, calm and serene. These tones are used in order to provide the audience sense of tranquility and also to make them feel that the country will get through anything it is going through. The speakers in their own way, try to emotionally appeal or connect the audience to the problem that they were addressing. The last remarkable similarity between the sources is the audience the speaker is trying to reach, since this is a speech given by the president of the nation, the audience of these speeches is the entire United States population.
Something I learned about Oval Office Speeches after gathering and analyzing my sources is the speakers approach to the topic is the key to deliver a clear and specific message. The speakers of these speeches typically show a calm, confident and determined approach towards the topic they are addressing. For example, in Obama’s speech on “The Killing of Osama Bin Laden”, His approach toward this controversial and important topic was determined and confident tone, Obama kept the details limited, focusing on the reasons for targeting bin Laden and the process by which he and his team assessed intelligence and found the leader’s compound, which provided the nation calmness and made them feel safe. The fact that he approached in that way is what made the speaker achieve the intent of his speech. After completing the assignment, I still wonder if these speeches have to last a specific time or if the speaker can take as long as he/she wants?
Throughout this assignment I discovered many things about myself. I learned that I have a huge inclination and interest in speeches and in learning how speakers use rhetorical appeals as techniques in order to cause a certain emotion or opinion in a specific audience, towards the message they are delivering. At first when I tried to write the annotated bibliography I didn’t really know exactly how to start writing it, however along the way I used different resources as a guide and taught myself a process on writing it. Once I started it took me time to think and put my thoughts together, so that the reader could be able to understand what I was trying to portray. After that I realized that the best thing to do was to listen and read the speeches a couple of times, and take notes while doing that after that I took my time to brainstorm and come up with the most relevant aspects about the speeches. Once I did that, I was able to complete the assignment. As a writer I think I am good at analyzing how the speakers used different rhetorical to provide their intended message. I know that because I took my time analyze every specific detail about the speeches. As a writer I would still want to improve at organizing my ideas to be able to portray the right message. Another thing I would want to evolve in is in the vocabulary used in my writings, I would want my vocabulary to expand and become more sophisticated. Also to take more time at writing and not to leave it to the last minute. To improve in those aspects I think that organizing my time is the first step to do. Once I have enough time to work on my writings I think all the other aspects I need to improve on would stop being a problem.