Enthymeme's in Obama's 2008 election and the effectiveness on our Essay

Enthymeme's in Obama's 2008 election and the effectiveness on our current Y, technological generation - Essay Example Furthermore, it also tells about the successful strategies to use media or new media for reaching and engaging millennial generation towards some certain activities. â€Å"Obama comes out as a moderate American who is really different from his other party fellows. Although Obama convinces his listeners through reasoning and logic in almost his every political speech, his present speech is, from first to the last paragraph, full of the use of logical style of talking.† (Alvi and Baseer) Every president of the United States including the current president Barrack Obama constructs enthymemes according to their specific targeted audience or crowd. â€Å"This separation is evident in his minor premises both when he specifically addresses the target audience and when he uses a word or idea that suggests that he is trying to persuade a particular group. I am also contending that each president’s speech can be broken down into numerous major and minor premises that lead to one overarching conclusion in each speech that those premises support.† (Lawson, 7) THE CONCEPT OF ENTHYMEME â€Å"An enthymeme, while a type of syllogism, does not contain the same indisputable logical truths as the formal syllogism. It is a rhetorical syllogism, or informally stated syllogism, which contains same three elements as a complete syllogism: a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.† (Lawson, 8) However, one of these elements in an enthymeme is understood as it is already known as a general knowledge or some belief held by the audience as well. Basically, an enthymeme is considered as an unfinished argument in a way that not all the parts in this are exactly expressed or definitely stated. Therefore, it is dependent upon the previous mentioned assumptions which were the general knowledge or prior beliefs or knowledge regarding the subject. Furthermore, the speaker also relies upon the presupposition which helps them build their arguments in the futur e. This is the concept developed by the great Aristotle. According to his assumption and belief, enthymeme is an argument which basically opposes to an assumed idea or a topic which is either an indisputable fact or it is proved with the help of science and has science support. However, there is no one specific definition for the word ‘enthymeme’ as its meaning differs from person to person and what they think of this particular word. A recent study has shown that â€Å"Scholars have been trying to define and redefine enthymeme through various philosophical and literary readings of Aristotle’s texts. Each definition contains similar elements, but none of them are exactly alike.† (Lawson, 12) Because of this fact mentioned that ‘enthymeme’ has various definitions and analysis with respect to that particular enthymeme. One early scholar named E.M. Cope presented a definition that has been the core element for many different scholars when it come s to discussing enthymeme. Lloyd Bitzer, R.C. Seaton and Carol Poster are the few names who follow E.M. Cope regarding enthymeme. Seaton points out that â€Å"Cope bases his initial definition on another one set forth by Sir William Hamilton, and later ‘reverses his own decision in a note with the remark that the view given in the text „was adopted mainly in deference to the decided opinion expressed by Sir William Hamilton’ † (Seaton 114). But, Bitzer points out that Aristotle refutes this