Comparison of the speeches

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In previous chapters, all speeches were described and commented on by qualitative approach. Such analysis, however, sometimes incline to be a bit subjective. This is the main reason why, in the following chapters, all speeches are evaluated also by quantitative approach. The aim is to find out, on the base of particular paragraphs, Obama's approach to the domestic and foreign audience and to trace possible similarities or differences.

The focus is put on the main goal or intention of these paragraphs and whether the stress is put on persuasion by presenting the facts from the past, description of recent situation or the steps that have been done and have affected the time of the speech itself, promises for the future or various proposals; moreover, the concern of analysis is also focused on investigation of the usage of reference, inference or entailment in order to gain more interest of the audience to act accordingly to Obama`s will. Entailment is a common feature of political speeches because it facilitates highlighting of particular information; therefore, the purpose is to compare whether Obama is also able to manage sometimes even without it. By reference, it is understood speaking about concrete people, steps or actions and by inference, on the other side, general hints to unnamed people or common traits or features of particular group or nation, such as in the statement: “We have fought fiercely for our beliefs. And that’s a good thing. That`s what a robust democracy demands. That`s what helps set us apart as a nation“. There is no reference to concrete actions or people and thus the message of this passage must be inferred or decode. The aim is therefore to Compare how the explicitness differs in all Obama`s speeches as well.

The results are presented not only as the counts of the paragraphs, but, more practically, especially to the fact that not all speeches have the same length, also in per cents. All results are summarized in particular tables as well. The results in per cents are always approximated to centesimal numbers.

President Obama's victory speech contains all features that would be expected in such speech: acknowledgements to everybody who helped him win his battle, projection of the general past events that help to bound US citizens together, retelling of a concrete story, general promises to the future and some general proposals. In other words, all examined features could be found here. All results are summarized in tables 1-3.

More than four fifths of paragraphs, concretely 26 of total 30 and therefore 86.67 per cent, contain entailment. As it has been stressed out the use of entailment belongs to the key features of political speeches; and as Obama's presidential carrier was only starting at that time, it could hardly surprise that he used it so frequently. He probably wanted to support his arguments more emphatically.

A significant space in the speech is occupied by retelling of the story of 106 years old Ann Nixon Cooper and listing of significant changes that the United States have gone through this time. Above all, this influences especially the fact that the proportion of the paragraphs with reference and inference is totally rated by 50 per cent, i.e. exactly 15 paragraphs with reference to the rest 15 paragraphs with inference. Although the paragraphs in the passage dealing with the story of Ann Nixon Cooper are marked as explicit and based on the past event, it must be repeated here again what has been commented on in chapter 3.2.1: Obama wanted to gain the sympathy of the audience by stressing of the steps that he personally could not influence yet; the whole passage may thus also evoke the impression of generality.

Retelling of the story also raises the overall number of paragraphs dealing with the past events. This thus reaches 11 paragraphs, i.e. 36.67 per cent. As the number of paragraphs dedicated to the contemporary situation is 10 of 30, i.e. one third, it is quite surprising that promises and proposals occur altogether in 10 paragraphs, i.e. again only in one third of paragraphs.

The occurrence of Entailment is the most characteristic feature of Obama's inaugural speech as well. It appears also in 26 paragraphs; however, as inaugural speech consists of 31 paragraphs, entailment is represented in a slightly less per cents than in the previous case, concretely in 83.87 per cent of paragraphs. Both speeches are from the beginning of Obama's presidential career and therefore they may trace the very similar aims, such resemblance of presence of entailment does not have to be perceived as something too much extraordinary.

Both speeches, however, differs more significantly in the proportion of their paragraphs with inference and reference. Unlike equal proportion of these features in victory speech, in his inaugural speech, on the contrary, Obama is speaking about general topics in 23 paragraphs, which means 74.19 per cent. This result may be considered to be more expected in such kind of speech, and as he is not talking about one topic so long as in the case of Nixon Cooper`s story in victory speech, it seems to be also more presumable because he has not yet made such significant steps which he could have tried to show or explain.

The difference might be seen also in the proportion of topics. The most prominent range of paragraphs is dealing with the present events. Obama is talking about them in 48.39 per cent of paragraphs. The rest 16 paragraphs thus make just a bit more than one half of the whole speech and yet are divided among the remaining topics. The main attention dealing with past events is represented in 8 paragraphs which is the same range as the number of paragraphs dealing with promises and proposals together. In other words, it is 25.81 per cent in each case.

The results of features in Obama`s inaugural speech are summarized in the following tables 4-6.

Barack Obama's address to the joint session of US congress represents rather a different kind of speech. First of all, the speech is much longer than two previous ones; nevertheless, the speech also differentiates in other aspects. Tables 7-9 bring together their summary.

The most characteristic feature of this speech is relatively high degree of concreteness. Altogether 59 paragraphs refer to concrete entities, i.e. 64.84 per cent. The speech thus brings much more information that could be marked as helpful in order to draw a clearer picture of Barack Obama's intentions.

Also in this case, entailment is a feature that appears in the majority of paragraphs, however, its occurrence is significantly lower than in two previous cases. Only 51.65 per cent of paragraphs uses it, which means 47 of 91. This result supports the suggestion that the whole speech is more informative and does not need just to focus on inexplicit hints.

As far as the topics are concerned, the number of paragraphs dealing with present situation and paragraphs dealing with promises together with proposals is the same, i.e. 38. It means 41.76 per cent in both cases. This result influences especially a higher occurrence of promises in 29 paragraphs, i.e. 31.87 per cent of the whole speech.

In terms of the number of paragraphs, Barack Obama's state of the union 2010 address is the longest speech not only among the domestic speeches, but in the whole corpus of speeches. It consists of 105 paragraphs. Their overview is summarized in tables 10-12.

The raising tendency to refer to concrete entities is also among the characteristic features of state of the union 2010 address. Explicitness appears in 60 paragraphs and that means 57.14 per cent. Obama spent the first year in his office and thus might introduce more concrete steps that he had made during this time. Moreover, also his promises have solider background and clearer features. These facts thus may explain such high degree of explicit references.

Unlike the address to the congress, the usage of entailment is again a component of the significant amount of paragraphs. Entailment appears in 75 paragraphs, i.e. in 71.43 per cent. Although this number is a bit lower than in the first two speeches, such high occurrence confirms the suggestion that the use of entailment belongs to the key characteristics of political speeches.

For the first time in this research, the promises together with proposals reach a high degree of occurrence. Some kind of promise or proposal for the future occurs in 45 paragraphs; it means more than two fifths of them, concretely 42.85 per cent. Yet the highest occurrence is again reached by speaking about the current situation itself, it dominates in 41 paragraphs, i.e. 39.05 per cent.

Nearly coincident proportion of occurrence of paragraphs with reference and inference might be traced in Barrack Obama's states of the union for the years 2010 and 2011. In the later one, 61 paragraphs refer to concrete entities, and this means 58.65 per cent. The rest 43 of total 104 paragraphs try to strengthen the mutual unity by referring inexplicitly to people or events and therefore, the hidden message has to be inferred by the audience. The resemblance among the two states of the union addresses enforces the theory that such speeches are relatively concrete and informative and not just merely persuasive.

The similarity among these two states of the union addresses might be seen also in the case of occurrence of entailment. State of the union 2011 address consists of 71 paragraphs where entailment is represented. In other words, only 31.73 per cent of paragraphs manage entirely without it.

A relatively high degree of proposals in this speech is quite surprising. In other words, 26 paragraphs, and this is directly one quarter of them, contains some kind of proposal. Yet together with various promises, they reach just 49.04 per cent and therefore do not prevail in the speech. Also in this case, referring to the current events is the most favorable theme, it occurs in 41 paragraphs, i.e. 39.42 per cent. Tables 13-15 bring together summary.

As it has been pointed out, Obama`s foreign speeches come not only from various countries but they were also intended for various events and audience. This is the reason why not only Obama himself but also the others were speaking; nevertheless, the parts of the transcripts of these other speakers were not taken into consideration. Therefore, the parts of the transcript where, for instance, the speech of Victor Medvedev or the question of the member of the audience is recorded, were not analyzed and included in total number of analyzed paragraphs. Moreover, also Obama`s instructions for the audience or his greetings were omitted from overall analysis as well.

Obama`s speech in Strasbourg’s Town Hall bring together results that confirm some suggestions that are valid also for his domestic speeches; on the other hand, some features are rather specific only for this speech. The results are summarized in tables 16-18.

Also for this speech, the most characteristic feature is the use of entailment in the majority of paragraphs. Some pieces of information are stressed out by this language device in 54 paragraphs of total 84, which means 64.29 per cent. Yet the result indicates that its use does not reach the score of some of Obama` domestic speeches.

The speech intends to be a relatively concrete and informative. In 49 paragraphs, Obama is trying to provide and explain concrete facts that might not be clear or that should be highlighted. The speech thus does not offer just plain hints to the past, simple proposals or promises. Yet even inexplicit hints are represented and occur in the rest 41.67 per cent of paragraphs. The explicitness is therefore distinctive for approximately three fifths of paragraphs.

Although the speech is mainly concrete, it is also a quite persuasive. The majority of paragraphs, concretely 45, try to promise or propose some Obama's future steps. Especially proposals are quite frequent, they appear in 41.67 per cent of paragraphs. Yet, as it has been previously pointed out, Obama efforts to introduce concrete problems which he want to solve. The second most represented theme is pointing to the present situation. It occurs in 28 paragraphs, which also means one third of them in the whole speech. However, this fact is not such surprising as these hints were frequent also in Obama's domestic speeches.

Barack Obama` speech at New Start Treaty meeting was significantly shorter than the previous speech. It consists of just 43 paragraphs. Yet it is possible to trace some general features. Their summary is compiled in tables 19-21.

First of all, this speech is characterized by yet more degree of explicitness than it was in previous speech. Together, 30 paragraphs intend to bring concrete information or description of necessary steps. In other words, it is more than two thirds of paragraphs, exactly 69.77 per cent. As it has been mentioned in the description of this speech, all discussed problems and issues were negotiated and agreed on prior to this final signing of the treaty so both politicians were not afraid to speak openly. Conversely, the main purpose of this meeting was to acquaint with their aims also uninitiated laymen.

However, Obama`s purpose was not to talk about the past. Although the reference to present situation is a component of the most of paragraphs, concretely 17, i.e. 39.53 per cent, also various proposals and especially promises appear nearly in the half of the paragraphs. Together, they appear in 21, and promises on their own in 14 paragraphs; therefore, the occurrence of promises reaches 32.56 per cent. The speech is thus quite persuasive; yet this does not mean that these promises or proposals are just unclear and not concrete. Conversely, the explicitness together with persuasiveness is a common feature of both foreign speeches which have been so far analyzed.

In this speech, entailment occurs in 28 paragraphs, i.e. 65.12 per cent. Again, these numbers support the hypothesis that entailment is a necessary component of political speeches.

Obama's speech for Chinese students is again a longer one, it consists of 72 paragraphs. Tables 22-24 bring together complete results of occurrence of particular features.

Unlike two previous speeches, this one belongs to those which message is not so clear and precisely stated. Statements that just offer such inexplicit message appear in 42 paragraphs, which is 58.33 per cent. This result approves the validity of the description of this speech in chapter 3.2.3. It means that Obama was rather cautious and he carefully chose what to say and how.

Reference to present situation is also in this case the prevailing theme. Current topics appear in 45 paragraphs, i.e. 62.50 per cent. On the contrary, promises occur only in 8 paragraphs. When speaking about the future, Obama rather prefers offering some kind of proposal in this case. Proposals thus appear in 12 paragraphs, which is 16.67 per cent. Such approach confirms the suggestion that Obama tried to be very cautious.

A high degree of inexplicit statements is supported also by more frequent use of entailment. Obama uses it in 55 paragraphs, which is more than three quarters of them, exactly 76.39 per cent of all paragraphs. The persuasiveness of this speech is therefore rather based on highlighting of particular part of the statement. And it is mainly on the audience to decode the message or to find what Obama had in the mind when he was speaking.

Obama's speech in China seems to be rather a bit exceptional as the speech that he delivered in Canada again resembles more the other foreign speeches that have been analyzed so far. This resemblance is either in the explicitness or occurrence of entailment. Tables 25-27 summary all aspects of this speech.

The speech is extraordinarily explicit as the reference to concrete events or steps has reached the highest rate so far, i.e. 86.93 per cent. In other words, only 9 paragraphs of 69 contain the message that is not concrete and must be inferred. The speech thus offers a considerable amount of information.

Again, this does not mean that Obama describes only the steps that he has made or topics that deal only with present situation. Conversely the highest rate is reached by paragraphs with proposals. They occur in 24 paragraphs, i.e. 34.78 per cent. Together with another 13 paragraphs with promises, the hints to the future reach even the majority of the paragraphs. Obama`s attention to present situation was focused on in 31.88 per cent of paragraphs. The speech is therefore quite persuasive and simultaneously informative. These features have prevailed in the majority of so far analyzed speeches.

A high proportion of explicitness is again accompanied by lower occurrence of entailment. Although it again appears in the majority of paragraphs, it is just 56.52 per cent of paragraphs, which is a bit less than in previous examples.

Finally, Obama`s speech in the United Kingdom would be analyzed. Generally, all analyzed aspects reach rather average rates. The results are summarized in tables 28-30.

The speech is again quite explicit, Obama talks about concrete steps in 29 of 51 paragraphs. Yet another 43.14 per cent of paragraphs consist of the statements where the message should be inferred. Reference and inference are therefore quite balanced in this speech.

The use of entailment is also in this case the most characteristic feature of the speech. It occurs in 39 paragraphs, i.e. 76.47 per cent of them. Yet its occurrence does not reach the highest rate of the speeches that were analyzed. This results also particularly confirms the suggestion that the speeches that are too explicit does not rely so much on entailment and vice versa.

The hints to the present situation occur in 19 paragraphs, i.e. 37.25 per cent. Thus, they are again the most represented topic. On the other hand, promises and proposals appear together in 22 paragraphs. Therefore, the effort to persuade others about the future steps is also in this case the main purpose of the speech. This result is influenced especially by various proposals which appear in 16 paragraphs, i.e. 31.37 per cent of them.