Ted Kennedy's Eulogy by Obama

From watching the eulogy I learned that Ted Kennedy had a unique attitude to service. He seemed to make every bad situation better with his warm spirit. After 911 Ted Kennedy contacted and consoled each family who had lost a loved one on board United Flight 175. Ted Kennedy shared his experience with dealing with lost family members to help comfort 177 effected families. Although Ted Kennedy had a serious side, he had a joking and fun loving side as well. In the eulogy Obama tells stories of times where Ted Kennedy used his wonderful sense of humor to do good. One event that stood out to me was the time when a reporter called him one of the greatest senators of all time along with Webster. Kennedy replied, “What did Webster do?” With this unique sense of humor Ted Kennedy helped to write more than 300 bills and change the Democratic Party forever.

The use of videos and pictures during the eulogy brought Obama’s words to life and gave them added poignancy. However, the use of photographs, videos, and live shots in the church were restrained to avoid eclipsing Obama’s words. One of the first images was a happy picture of a young Ted Kennedy with his brothers, Robert and John, before they were assassinated. There were also live shots of the crowd in the church specifically showing members of Ted Kennedy’s family reacting to the eulogy as it was spoken. Obama’s final uplifting words were describing a video playing with a joyous shot of Ted Kennedy sailing with his wife at an old age.

One of the reasons that Obama is considered to be one of the world’s strongest public speakers is because of his ability to convince the audience. In the case of Ted Kennedy’s eulogy he is speaking to an audience composed of the friends and family of Senator Ted Kennedy. To help describe the achievements and lifestyle of Ted Kennedy, Obama uses rhetoric. The most used of any kind of rhetoric used during the eulogy was contrast. Obama continuously contrasts Ted Kennedy’s private life and his career as a senator. It is explained that Ted Kennedy was a serious Senator as well as a caring surrogate father to the children of his brothers. Obama also uses repetition when he repeats “we carry on”. He repeats this near the end of the eulogy. As he repeats “we carry on” his words seem to echo through the church. With this repetition Obama makes his words twice as powerful and meaningful.