Unit15 Obama's Victory Speech

Unit15 Obama

’

s Victory Speech

I.

Background

This

is

the

speech

delivered

by

Barack

Obama

to

some

600,000

supporters

in

Grant

Park,

Chicago, when he won the election as the first Afro-American president of the United States.

Obama is generally acclaimed as a powerful speaker, and this short speech is a good example.

Many commentators found it forceful and lyrical.

II.

Structure

The speech is well organized. In the opening part (paras.1-4), Obama hails

招呼

his election

as a victory for American democracy. In the central part (paras.5-28), he first looks back on

the

21-month-long

campaign

and

expresses

his

gratitude

to

all

those

who

have

supported

him. Then he looks into his future role and calls on all Americans to join him in rebuilding the

nation. In the concluding part (paras.29-31), he maps out goals for the United States.

III.

Text Analysis

I.(paras.1-4)

The

introduction

:

Obama

hails

his

election

as

a

triumphant

victory

for

American

democracy.

II. (paras.5-28) The body

1.

(paras.5-13) He reviews the 21-month- long campaign and expresses his gratitude to people

concerned.

A.

(paras.5-6)

He pays tribute to his opponents in the election.

B.

(paras.7-9) He expresses gratitude to those who have supported him in the campaign.

C.

(paras.10-13) He owes his election mostly to the broad masses of American people.

2.

(paras.14-28) He looks ahead to his new job confidently.

A.

(paras.14-16) He appeals to American people to join him in remaking the nation.

B.

(para.1-20)

He

urges

American

people

to

unite,

displaying

a

new

spirit

of

patriotism,

fighting partisanship(

党派偏见

), and sticking to the ideals of the nation.

C.

(paras.21-28) By sharing the story of a 106-year-old black woman who has witnessed the

nation

’

s progress in the past century, he conveys to all Americans his confidence in the

nation.

III.(paras.29-31)The conclusion: He sets ne goals for the United States.

Iv. Language points

1.

Wonder if: we can say

“

wonder whether

”

or wonder if

”

except in the following cases when

“

whether

”

is preferred:

1)

When followed by an infinitive: He didn

’

t know whether to leave or stay.

2)

When used as a clause of a preposition: They talked about whether to close down that

nuclear power station.

3)

When followed by

“

or not

”

: You must go whether you like it or not.

2.

Stretch: Here it is used as an intransitive verbs, meaning to continue for a certain distance.

Note: It can also be used as an transitive verb (to stretch one

’

s neck, to stretch one

’

s arms,

etc.)

3.

Better off: This is

“

well off

”

in the comparative degree. It means

“

in a better situation

”

or

“

having more money

”

.