Speeches made by Sarah Palin and Joe Biden

Both Sarah Palin and Joe Biden made their speeches at the height of political campaigns. From what they both talked about, they are people who value their families in many ways. During the time that they made their speeches, their families remained a point of reference. Joe was especially touched by his mother’s sacrifice and words of wisdom especially when he was a young man. Palin used the opportunity to speak of his son who was heading to Iraq for war. She also referred to one of her nephews who had special needs. By doing this, she managed to draw two groups of people: those who had a family member who was fighting in the war and those who had to deal with the difficulty and the struggle of taking care of a child or adult with special needs. Biden managed to draw some sympathy when he recalled the fond memories he had of his father.

He talked of how far he had come and how much his father would be proud of him. Palin’s speech was mainly geared to her opponents attack. She constantly referred to what her opponents were doing and offered her objections to their plans. Although she did talk about McCain and his achievements, she also dedicated a large part of her speech to her achievements when she was mayor and the rest of her political career. Biden on the other hand started by highlighting Obama’s achievements. He detailed out some of Obama’s achievements as a senator and what they intended to do as a government. From the speeches delivered both Palin and Biden loved their spouses. They appreciated who they were and what they meant in their lives. I find the speech made by Joe Biden better since it was credible and logical. By Palin focusing on her opponent’s side, much of what she said is lost and one tends to forget other issues that she addressed.

Political songs written before and after 1975

The song “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan is a good example of a song written before 1975. The song was written in 1962 but was released in 1964. The song speaks against racism. Dylan used the melody of another song, which was commonly sung by black slaves, and he added his own words to the song. It commends those who see it, hear about it, and yet do nothing about it. Dylan was only twenty-one when he wrote the song. He asked how many people would die before somebody did something about it. He said that the answer to all his questions lay in the wind. When he started singing the song, Dylan told the people that it was not a protest song. This was to change as more people listened to the song and they made their own judgments. Many people took it to be a protest song and most thought it spoke against racial discrimination, which was rampant at that time. He inspired other singers such as Cooke who went ahead and wrote more protest songs.

The hip-hop song “Fight the Enemy” was written in 1989 by Public Enemy. It calls for people to have awareness and for them to realize that they ought to have freedom of speech. The song also notes the racial imbalance in the states. It talks about black people not being given recognition. It gives the example of postage stamps where no black person appears. Although the issue of racial discrimination has come a long way, there is still a lot more to be dome. The two songs have one thing in common. They are fighting for a cause. They are both talking against racial discrimination. However, they are different in that the first song by Dylan does not see a solution to the problem.

In the second song, there is a solution to a problem. All that people need is to become aware of their rights including freedom of speech. The first song was released at a time when people were not used to that type of music. Many people therefore welcomed it. The second song was released at a time when hip-hop was gaining ground. The song lyrics are very strong and the writer did not hide the cause for which he was using. Although it used strong language, the song was appealing to those it targeted. Both songs delivered the message that they were supposed to. The first song was more effective than the second song. Not many people understood rap and hip-hop and the message was therefore lost to some.