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In his 2012 State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama said:


"Nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy. We've opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration, and more than 75% of our potential offshore oil and gas resources. Right now, American oil production is the highest that it's been in 8 years. Last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past 16 years.


But with only 2% of the world's oil reserves, oil isn't enough. This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy—a strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs."


Is this excerpt from President Obama’s speech an example of argument or persuasion? Provide at least two reasons to support your answer. Answer in complete sentences.

User Jinhua
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2 Answers

3 votes

Answer:

This excerpt is an example of argument. This is because we can see President Obama using data and statistics in the first paragraph, "We've opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration, and more than 75% of our potential offshore oil and gas resources. Right now, American oil production is the highest that it's been in 8 years. Last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past 16 years." These are all examples of how Obama uses data and statistics as a transition to the next paragraph, where he states, "But with only 2% of the world's oil reserves, oil isn't enough. This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy—a strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs." This is where Obama begins to deepen his appeal to the listener/reader's sense of logic. We can see this becoming more apparent in the final few sentences, where he says that "This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy—a strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs." This is a mix of an appeal to the reader's sense of logic—Obama says that with only 2% of the world's oil reserves, oil isn't enough, which is absolutely logical when phrased in that manner—and sense of emotion in the final sentence—He says "A strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs." This will encourage citizens of the United States to take a part, since he is promising them new job vacancies, cleaner and more efficient electricity, and all of which is for a cheaper price.

User Scott Daniel
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5 votes

Answer:

The correct answer is: Persuasion.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this excerpt, President Obama evidently uses persuasion, one of the most important rhetorical means, in order to convince the audience that the U.S. needs a strategy to provide better sources than other countries.

He also appeals to their emotions, by involving the audience into the scenario, as he considers the U.S. citizens responsible for all achieved efforts and invites them to accept his proposal.

User ChrisJD
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