I think the thesis of Obama's State of the Union Address is that though America is currently in a poor state of affairs, our government is currently working harder than ever to improve the lives of the American people.

He supports this thesis by proposing many government acts and reforms, such as the Recovery Act, "a fee on the biggest banks," and a New Jobs Bill, throughout the entire speech.

Obama also says that he isn't just going to do what's popular, but what's best for the American people.

He also gives an entire spiel on all the tax cuts that the government has issued in order to help working class families.

Brain:
The State of the Union Address relies primarily, and almost solely, on the neocortical brain. We must listen to what Obama is saying and then process it in order to understand the impact of his words.

8 Trends:
Watching this speech on YouTube represents a huge epistemological shift. Instead of hearing this speech on the radio, or reading it on the internet or wherever, we are able to see the video. This means that we get to see all of Obama's facial expressions and nonverbal cues. We also get to see the audience stand up and applaud various statements that Obama makes.

Obviously this represents a technological shift as well. Some years ago, our only chance to watch this speech is when it was originally aired on television.

The fact that this speech is available on YouTube represents a personal shift since people can comment on it as well as view and respond to the comments of others.

The availability of this video can also be seen as a cultural shift; anyone with access to the internet can watch this speech.

7 Principles:
This media experience definitely plays on "reality" construction. Obama is not trying to idealize the current state of our country; it seems to me that he is actually trying to convey the present reality of life in America.

Given that this is a speech with only one main "character" and one setting, I thought this video made excellent use of production techniques. For the most part, obviously, the camera is focused on Obama, but I thought it was interesting how they showed the audience every time he received a standing ovation. Also I noticed while embedding the video on my personal blog, that it was available to watch in HD.

Like many presidential speeches, Obama's State of the Union address contained many value messages about the American spirit and how important it is for us to not give up hope as a nation.

Regarding ownership, all I can say is that I noticed we were watching the video from the White House's YouTube page, so I feel fairly confident that it hasn't been edited or tampered with as I guess it could have been had we watched it through another source.

As with any speech, we're left to determine our own individual meanings regarding what our president says.

Though the video itself has little emotional transfer, Obama makes various emotional appeals when he refers to all of the Americans who have been affected by our poor economy and current state of affairs.

29 Techniques of Persuasion:
Throughout his State of the Union address, Obama uses many of the 29 persuasive techniques we've studied in class.

One of the major techniques used is group dynamics. The most obvious use of this technique is at the very beginning of the speech when Obama refers to his audience as "fellow Americans." Throughout the entire speech, Obama refers to the "state of our union," "our nation," "our government," etc.

Obama also makes attempts at humor when he refers to something being "about as popular as a root canal," and also when, after receiving a standing ovation for a particular statement made says "I thought I would get some applause on that one."

Obama employs the straw man technique when he says of a certain proposal "I know Wall Street isn't too keen on this idea, but if these firms can afford to hand out big bonuses again..."

Another technique Obama uses is hyperbole. He calls this year "one of the most difficult" in history.

Obama also scapegoats the banks by blaming much of our current economic state on them, saying "the banks that caused this crisis."

Obama also makes great use of scientific evidence. He gives various numbers and statistics regarding certain issues including "1 in 10 Americans still cannot find work," and "We cut taxes for 95% of working families. . . We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college."

Plain folks is also a technique that Obama relies heavily upon in this speech. He repeatedly refers to the letters that he receives from millions of Americans that he "reads nightly." At one point, he even quotes one of these letters. He also makes references to small towns across America.

He also plays upon warm fuzzies when he mentions the letters he receives from children asking why they have to move away from their home and why their parents still don't have jobs. This also gives his speech enormous emotional appeal.

In a way, Obama also plays with simple solutions. In this address, he proposes the Recovery Act, as well as "a fee on the biggest banks." Though these proposals are, in no way, simple in their governmental workings, they sound simple when listening to them in the context of Obama's speech.

Symbols are also used since we can see the huge American flag directly behind Obama.

One can also argue the use of beautiful people since many women consider Obama very handsome.