Ashley Morgan

On Tuesday January 28, 2014 Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union Address to

the members of Congress and to all fellow Americans in order to outline the national priorities.

In the beginning of President Obama’s speech he states that more oil is being produced in the

United States, the deficits have been cut by more than half, and that America is the world’s

number one place to invest. During this speech he includes high points or positive aspects that

have occurred within the nation, negative aspects that need to be changed, and personal stories to

illustrate his points.

The main idea about his speech is that Congress needs to make efforts to help Americans

get ahead and be able to reach the American Dream. The high points include ideas about

economic growth, women deserve equal pay, immigration reform needs to occur, new jobs need

created, minimum wage needs to be increased, and more has to be done to help Americans save

for retirement. President Obama declared that no American can ever be denied the coverage of a

pre-existing health condition to show that change has been made and that more can be done to

help Americans live the best life possible. Another main point about his speech is that citizenship

must exist in order for us and the next generations to accomplish their dreams. At the end of his

speech he mentions a soldier who was almost killed in a roadside bomb. Cory Remsburg was in a

coma for months, couldn’t talk, or barely move; however, he never quit and he realized that

nothing comes easy. President Obama added the story about Remsburg in his speech to show us

that “America has never come easy” and that everything is within our reach.

On the other hand President Obama adds negative aspects that need to be altered. He

recognizes that Americans do work hard and barely get by; therefore, he encourages Congress to

make changes to help Americans be able to reach their dreams. He acknowledges that all the

nation will not agree, that changes will not occur overnight, and that “tough choices” will be

debated on. In the low points of this speech Obama does declare that we make mistakes and that

we can become discouraged that the American Dream is an empty promise; however, he plans to

help Americans have the chances to make their dreams come true.

Throughout his speech he does a good job at addresses issues that he believes need to be

changed as well as stating some plans for change; however, he does acknowledge that change

will not occur immediately. Many Americans like to blame the President for everything wrong

that has occurred; however, the president is not the only person who is involved in the decision

making processes of the country. Throughout his speech he does use many rhetorical devices to

persuade his listeners by adding personal stories of citizens and by using the phrases such as “let

get it done,” “our,” and “we” to make every American feel that he is talking to them. I believe

that President Obama did a good job on addressing his desires and plans to Congress for the

upcoming year and hopefully the American Dream will be realistic to achieve.