The change of American exceptionlism in Obama’s rhetorical speeches
In ‘The Rhetorical Dimensions of Obama’s Foreign Policy (Zarefsky, 2014), David Zarefsky puts forth a crucial idea that the outdated belief system American exceptionalism, which served as a doctrine in American history, has lost its potential impact in the era of interdependence. Zarefsky also states that Obama faced a predicament in terms of foreign policy between global audiences who are apt to a mutilateral cooperation and domestic audiences whose mindsets are deeply influenced by their supreme status deriving from the god. Furthermore, he argues that Obama somehow neglected the value of exceptionalism, which helped Americans overcome the fear of the unknown and justify…show more content… He acknowledges the value of exceptionalism in American history as well as the contemporary foreign policy focusing more on international cooperation rather than working alone. By providing the long existence of exceptionalism as well as its huge influence on Americans’ mindsets, he succesfully substantiates that it is imperative for Americans be united under the broad meaning of exceptionalism. In additon, Zarefsky brings out the contradiction that Obama faced when he was enacting the foreign policy and the deficiency when he was executing this policy. Unlike Obamas’ proposition to correct the wrongness of exceptionalism and to eradicate it, Zarefsky came up with a creative solution to solve the rhetorical problem by adjusting the exceptionalism. His idea on redefinition of American exceptionalism indicates that he considers the interests of different audiences. This idea can be linked to Parrish’s(1954) means of persuasion, which is to appeal to interests, desires and emotions of the hearers. Furthermore, he states that with the belief that they are working out the god’s plan, people are willing to act and become more firm in what they are doing. Therefore, he insists that people’s exceptional status originates in serving their jobs. Zarefsky assumes that Americans have been deeply influenced by god, which is consistent with Parrish’s(1945) lofty ideas and White’s(2002) rhetorical structure ‘indicative and