This final examination essay explores the content of Hillary Clintons 2008 Democratic National Convention speech. The examination of the speech will be conducted through critical analysis of 4 central areas; first, was Hillary’s speech appropriate for and clearly articulated to the audience, second, I will scrutinize 3-5 aspects that helped or hindered her with regards to nonverbal and verbal delivery to determine if her delivery was appropriate for the speech act, third, analyze and determine if the main points are clear, given the specific psychological context of the speech and if they are appropriate for the purpose of the spectators, and lastly, and analysis of the evidence she presented was suitable given the nature of the situation and purpose of the speech and weather citations offered appropriate for the context?
First, the speech appeared to be unmistakably voiced and was seamlessly appropriate for the audience even with the atmosphere hanging in the stadium from her losing the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama. Hillary was undoubtedly speaking to the audience as Democrats and not as devotees to exclusively her. This can be seen when Hilary states in her transcript from www.cfr.org, “Weather you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines” (Clinton, 2008, para. 3). I presume her purpose was to set aside her and all her followers’ emotions of losing to Barack and to try and unit her and Barack’s supporters together. She showed full support for Barack Obama and wanted her supporters to do the same. I felt this was accomplished by expressing to everyone that now the campaigning is over it all boils down to backing the Democratic Party as a whole, and not just as a Hilary Clinton supporter. Americans did feel that even given the surroundings and her so recent lose to Barack; Hilary was very thoughtful and well-spoken for the Democratic Party. According to an August 28, 2008 Gallup poll by Jeffery M. Jones, “Fifty-two percent of Americans -- and 83% of those who tuned in -- give Hillary Clinton's Tuesday night speech at the Democratic National Convention a positive review” (Jones, 2008, August 28).
Second, the delivery of her speech felt fitting given that she had just lost the Democratic nomination to Barack after 7 months of tiresome campaigning. She seemed very confident and showed no signs of bitterness or resentment. She was an honored Democrat that night, not the looser of the nomination. Considering the occasion Hillary gains my creditability just by the way she was dressed. By wearing the bright and sunny colored pantsuit, according to Tracey Lomrantz Lester at glamour.com “You can make us think you’re bright and sunny—and not at all disappointed that you’re not the one taking the nomination on Thursday—in tangerine or eschew traditional pearls in favor of a semi-precious multi-strand necklace, but underneath...
