Rhetorical Analysis of Michelle Obama's Final Speech as First Lady

[A]s I end my time in the White House, I can think

of no better message to send our young people in my

last official remarks as First Lady. So, for all the

young people in this room and those who are

5

watching, know that this country belongs to you—to

all of you, from every background and walk of life. If

you or your parents are immigrants, know that you are

part of a proud American tradition—the infusion of

new cultures, talents and ideas, generation after

10

generation, that has made us the greatest country on

earth.

If your family doesn’t have much money, I want

you to remember that in this country, plenty of folks,

including me and my husband—we started out with

15

very little. But with a lot of hard work and a good

education, anything is possible—even becoming

President. That’s what the American Dream is all

about.

If you are a person of faith, know that religious

20

diversity is a great American tradition, too. In fact,

that’s why people first came to this country—to

worship freely. And whether you are Muslim,

Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh—these religions are

teaching our young people about justice, and

25

compassion, and honesty. So I want our young people

to continue to learn and practice those values with

pride. You see, our glorious diversity—our diversities

of faiths and colors and creeds—that is not a threat to

who we are, it makes us who we are. So the young

30

people here and the young people out there: Do not

ever let anyone make you feel like you don’t matter,

or like you don’t have a place in our American

story—because you do. And you have a right to be

exactly who you are.

35

But I also want to be very clear: This right isn’t just

handed to you. No, this right has to be earned every

single day. You cannot take your freedoms for

granted. Just like generations who have come before

you, you have to do your part to preserve and protect

40

those freedoms. And that starts right now, when

you’re young.

Right now, you need to be preparing yourself to

add your voice to our national conversation. You need

to prepare yourself to be informed and engaged as a

45

citizen, to serve and to lead, to stand up for our proud

American values and to honor them in your daily

lives. And that means getting the best education

possible so you can think critically, so you can

express yourself clearly, so you can get a good job

50

and support yourself and your family, so you can be a

positive force in your communities.

And when you encounter obstacles—because I

guarantee you, you will, and many of you already

have—when you are struggling and you start thinking

55

about giving up, I want you to remember something

that my husband and I have talked about since we first 2

started this journey nearly a decade ago, something

that has carried us through every moment in this

White House and every moment of our lives, and that

60

is the power of hope—the belief that something better

is always possible if you’re willing to work for it and

fight for it.

It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope

that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt

65

and division, of anger and fear that we have faced in

our own lives and in the life of this country. Our hope

that if we work hard enough and believe in ourselves,

then we can be whatever we dream, regardless of the

limitations that others may place on us. The hope that

70

when people see us for who we truly are, maybe, just

maybe they, too, will be inspired to rise to their best

possible selves.

That is the hope of students like Kyra 1 who fight to

discover their gifts and share them with the world. It’s

75

the hope of school counselors like Terri and all these

folks up here who guide those students every step of

the way, refusing to give up on even a single young

person. Shoot, it’s the hope of my—folks like my dad

who got up every day to do his job at the city water

80

plant; the hope that one day, his kids would go to

college and have opportunities he never dreamed of.

That’s the kind of hope that every single one of

us—politicians, parents, preachers—all of us need to

be providing for our young people. Because that is

85

what moves this country forward every single

day—our hope for the future and the hard work that

hope inspires.

1 a student who worked with school counselor Terri

90

Tchorzynski

2 Terri Tchorzynski, the 2017 National School Counselor

of the Year and honoree of the event