TOW #9 - Remarks by the President in Eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney

On the night of June 17, 2015, a man opened fire at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina.  The attack killed nine, and brought once again the terror of gun violence to the front of the hearts and minds of the American people.  In his eulogy for slain Reverend Clementa Pinckney,  Barack Obama paid tribute to the victims of the attack, and also purposefully tugged at the emotions of all those American citizens whom he knew were listening.  The nation was listening closely to President Obama's carefully crafted words, and they absolutely paid off in the end.  In his eulogy, President Obama utilizes first person plural pronouns. By using sentences such as, "To the families of the fallen, the nation shares in your grief.  Our pain cuts that much deeper because it happened in a church", Obama is able to reveal to his immediate audience of those directly affected by the tragedy that the nation stands behind them.  His use of first person plural pronouns does not place the tragedy in his hands or the hands of those in the church, it places the tragedy in the arms of the nation as a whole.  Obama's use of first person plural pronouns also serves to challenge the nation in saying that gun violence is an issue that effects every single person, and we must make a change.  In his eulogy, Obama also tugs at the heartstrings of his entire audience when he pauses in his speech and then breaks into a solo singing of Amazing Grace.  The well-known song forced the entire room into emotional tears and, in the video of the event, shows the room break into a standing applause.  By deviating from the expected in his speech, the President showed off a different side than the more formal one that is usually exposed to the public.  He was able to honor the victims of such a terrible attack, challenge the nation to tighten their control on gun violence, and bring out a different side to himself than is normally seen.  Overall, the President achieved his purpose to the fullest extent.

The President breaking into song