Personal and Possessive Pronoun
Table 4.15. The Distribution of Pronoun „We‟ from the First and Second Address
Address Pronoun „We‟
Sample Sentence
A Inclusive 54
36. This is the journey we continue today. XI, a 44. We, the people, still believe that our obligations as
Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. XV, a
Exclusive 8 75. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we
waver in its defense. XX, a 76. And for those who seek to advance their aims by
inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken -- you
cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. XX, a
B Inclusive 66
57. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war; who turned sworn enemies into the
surest of friends -- and we must carry those lessons into this time as well. XVII, b
67. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law for if we
are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. XXI, b
Exclusive 2 62. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa, from
the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those
who long for freedom.XIX, b
63. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice
–- not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the
constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity, human
dignity and justice. XIX, b
The inclusive ‗we‘ is chosen for addressing what Obama wants. The distance between Obama and the audience is greatly shortened regardless of their
disparity in age, social status and professions, etc. It permits both Obama and the citizen to come into the same arena and make them feel close to his points so that
it can make them sense that they share a common objective. He maintains and promotes equality among the citizen altogether. The sense of equality intensely
persuade the audience to share the same proposal that is to take actions to go
through the challenges in issues of war, environment and energy crisis, and the financial crisis.
The exclusive ‗we‘, on the other hand, is the way Obama defines the line between America as a nation home and other country abroad. So the exclusive
‗we‘ is mostly used in addressing the discourse of international political affairs. It is a way to differentiate how America acts upon other nations. They appear in
small portion in the address for a reason. The reason is that Obama see how the strength of America lies on the economic growth at home rather than abroad.
There is also a significant use of possessive pronoun ‗our‘. The table shows the use of ‗our‘ is about 74,2 in the first address and 85 in the second
address . The use of ‗our‘ inclusively binds the Obama as a president and the
citizen. Obama can freely attach things, events, and ideas so that they belong to all American. This sense of belonging helps Obama to drive the people into the
desired attitude that is purposed as a form of obedience to the government parameter. Possessive ‗our‘ attached to a slightly different way in both addresses.
‗Our‘ is attached to the nominalized beliefs and to the noun describing event related to crisis. Within this choice of linguistic feature, Obama promotes the
Optimism throughout the citizen despite the difficulties they may face during the process of resolving crises.
Table 4.16. The Distribution of Pronoun „Our‟ from the First and Second Addresses
Our + N Address A
Address B Amount
Amount Nominalization
of Idea 40
58 55
72 Sample N
Ancestor, forebear, nation, land, liberty, history, way of life
Democracy, faith, creed, conscience, founding document,
most ancient value, individual freedom
Nominalization of Crisis
29 42
21 28
Sample N Economy, health care, school,
commerce, system, business, gross domestic product
Tax code, deficit, planet, crop land, obligations, workers
Total 69
100 76
100
What can be inferred about the use of ‗our‘ from the table is a salient proof that Obama takes more consideration on the ideas rather than the crises. However,
this strategy allows the ideological notion to be easily absorbed in the mind of the people. It is need to be easy since the ideology will base the attitude and how
people react to the crises because more talking on ideals will raise a positive attitude while dwelling in critical issues could possibly grow a social anxiety
which later contribute instability during his term of office.