Barack Obama - The New American Idol
There is a new reality show on TV and those of us who are tapping onto American Cable TV news will know what I mean. The race for the Democratic Presidential Nominee is more exciting than the finals of any American Idol season so far and that is because Senator Obama appears to be the first Presidential candidate to fully understand the power of the Internet and to take to the stumps like a Anthony Robbins electrifying the crowds. Such is Obama's appeal that his campaign is flush with donations; you can read about Obama's phenomenal down-up fund-raising ability in virtually every political website.
But I want to talk about his speeches and his ability to make grown men cry at his huge rallies. He has been compared to John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." The balance in substituting the subject with the object of the previous clause is what makes the sentence so satisfying to the listener. Obama's rhetoric has similar lilting patterns of suggesting half an idea and offering the other half.
There are countless examples in his website but I have chosen this speech (go to the link above)after the Iowa caucus.
A word for my students: I have always said that you have to catch the news when it breaks because when it passes, and it becomes history, you would have missed the chance to appreciate how it seized the common imagination of the day and you would be none the wiser why it even mattered. English teachers won't tell you but when they mark your essays, they are not only assessing how impressively you write but judging how well you think.
Enjoy his speeches and - don't say I didn't remind you - seize the moment.
But I want to talk about his speeches and his ability to make grown men cry at his huge rallies. He has been compared to John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." The balance in substituting the subject with the object of the previous clause is what makes the sentence so satisfying to the listener. Obama's rhetoric has similar lilting patterns of suggesting half an idea and offering the other half.
There are countless examples in his website but I have chosen this speech (go to the link above)after the Iowa caucus.
A word for my students: I have always said that you have to catch the news when it breaks because when it passes, and it becomes history, you would have missed the chance to appreciate how it seized the common imagination of the day and you would be none the wiser why it even mattered. English teachers won't tell you but when they mark your essays, they are not only assessing how impressively you write but judging how well you think.
Enjoy his speeches and - don't say I didn't remind you - seize the moment.
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