What my investigation is hoping to find out?
My investigation will focus on the rhetoric devices used by Barrack Obama and whether he takes any linguistic features from other prominent black speakers from different time periods such as martin Luther king, also exploring whether if any features were taken, if this was a conscious decision.
Why I decided to choose this?
I decided to choose this topic because the way in which political speeches are constructed for maximum effect has always interested me and studying the language and power module last year only gave me further insight into the techniques employed in such speeches. Barrack Obama is also considered one of the greatest speakers of all time and is also one that has come to be prominent in my time making him an obvious subject for my investigation. Barrack Obama also brings up other areas on interest that may lead to interesting routes of investigation such as him being the first black president. This is just one contextual factor that must have impacted some variables in his speech. A key part of this investigation is to see whether any devices used by other prominent black speakers can be found in Barrack Obama's speeches, the most famous speech of all time was delivered by Martin Luther King and it will be interesting to see whether any similarities can be found between the two and if so the reasons for there existence.
My investigation will focus on the rhetoric devices used by Barrack Obama and whether he takes any linguistic features from other prominent black speakers from different time periods such as martin Luther king, also exploring whether if any features were taken, if this was a conscious decision.
Why I decided to choose this?
I decided to choose this topic because the way in which political speeches are constructed for maximum effect has always interested me and studying the language and power module last year only gave me further insight into the techniques employed in such speeches. Barrack Obama is also considered one of the greatest speakers of all time and is also one that has come to be prominent in my time making him an obvious subject for my investigation. Barrack Obama also brings up other areas on interest that may lead to interesting routes of investigation such as him being the first black president. This is just one contextual factor that must have impacted some variables in his speech. A key part of this investigation is to see whether any devices used by other prominent black speakers can be found in Barrack Obama's speeches, the most famous speech of all time was delivered by Martin Luther King and it will be interesting to see whether any similarities can be found between the two and if so the reasons for there existence.
What aspects of the course does this investigation involve?
The language area I will be focusing on is political speeches and the rhetorical devices used. This will mostly draw from material within the language and power module from last year.Whether I will use one speech from each political speaker I choose to analyse or multiple, I will select those that I feel are most impacting and highlight, if any are found, patterns and similarities that are present.
The data I will need to collect with be transcripts of speeches made by both Barrack Obama and the speaker I choose to compare him to. These will probably be attained by watching speeches found on the internet probably from sites such as YouTube and then transcribing them. I will then have to analyse and annotate the speeches looking for rhetoric devices and any other language features that i consider to be relevant. I will also collect information produced by other individuals as I will be able to use their ideas to form a more in depth investigation. These too will often be found online and also in the library which may offer valuable information from books that focus on similar ideas.
What data I will need to collet and how I am going to collect it?
I plan to watch some of Barrack Obama's speeches in order to determine which one I feel will offer the most information after I analyse it. I will find this speech online probably off of a site such as YouTube. Once I have found the speech I want will transcribe it and then annotate it for rhetoric devices as well as identifying if it employs or complies with any theorist's work that I know of, an example which I'm sure will be of use is Max Atkins clap trap. To annotate and analyse the speech properly I will probably have to revise both theories and knowledge of rhetoric and other language and power modules so I am able to produce a thorough analysis of the speech. I will also be looking at the phonetics of the speech focusing on if how he pronounces words has any specific reason behind it. For example if pronouncing words in what is considered a "black" accent helps him converge will other black listeners. Studying the phonology of this will also help with the comparison of Barrack Obama's speeches to that of another prominent black speaker. Other areas of investigation will include the context of the speech that is being analysed. For example a Barrack Obama speaking when he won the democratic election would probably sound different to that of a Barrack Obama at the end of his term as president. Collecting the data for the other speaker will follow the same path. Once both are finished I will begin my in depth comparison.
What theorists do you think will be valuable to my investigation in respects to both what am hoping to achieve and also in relation to the methodology I am going to use to gather the data in the first place?
As my investigation will include many topics covered in the language and power topic it would make sense to read over those theorist also covered in the topic. Fairclough 's theory of synthetic personalisation is sure to come up within the speeches I listen to so will be an obvious choice to include in my investigation. He also brings to light different methods of analysing discourse structure which is sure to help when doing my analysis. Max Atkins also published several works relating to the use of rhetoric devices used within speeches, most notably the "Clap trap" which includes the techniques speakers use to induce clapping from the audience.
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