摘 要随着经济和科技的迅速发展，国际间的交流与合作日益加强，不同的国家有着不同的政治、经济与文化，形成了不同的价值观。美国作为一个超级大国，在世界上有着举足轻重的作用，了解美国的价值观对促进跨文化交际有着不可替代的作用。价值观有多种表现形式，总统的就职演讲可以更好的反映出一国的价值观，本文从一个新的角度通过奥巴马就职演讲来探析美国价值观。本文主要通过解读法和文本分析法来研究美国价值观。了解美国的价值观可以帮助人们理解美国人，不仅仅是在与人交流时，还在欣赏影视作品和文学著作方面都有着重大作用。20948
毕业论文关键词：美国价值观；奥巴马就职演说；个人主义
Abstract
With the rapid development of economy and scientific technology, the communication and cooperation between nations are becoming more and more frequently. Different countries have different politics, economy and culture, so it forms different values. As a superpower, America plays a decisive role in the world, so knowing American values has a great significance to the intercultural communication. Values have various presentations, and it can be better reflected by president’s inaugural address. This paper studies American values from a new point of view — Obama’s inaugural address. The main methods of this paper are close-reading and text analysis. Knowing American values can help people understand American. It is crucial not only in the communications with others, but also in the appreciation on the films and television programs and literature works.
Key words: American values; Obama’s inaugural address; inpidualism
Analysis of American Values from Barack Obama's Inaugural Address
Contents
摘 要 i
Abstract ii
I. Introduction 1
II. Values and American Values 2
2.1 The Concept of Values 2
2.2 Values in American Society 2
Ⅲ. American Values Embodied in the Inaugural Address of Obama 3
3.1 Inpidualism and American Dream 3
3.1.1 Inpidual Freedom and Self-reliance 5
3.1.2 Equality of Opportunity and Competition 5
3.1.3 Material Wealth and Hard Work 6
3.2 Reform and Innovation 7
3.3 Future Goals 8
3.4 Directness and Frankness 9
Ⅳ. The Origin of American Values 9
4.1 Puritanism 10
4.2 The Western Enlightenment 11
4.3 The Westward Movement 11
Ⅴ. Conclusion 12
Bibliography 13
Acknowledgements 14
I. Introduction
Values are conceptions of what is desirable. They are the underlying assumptions by which inpidual and social goals are chosen. Different countries have different politics, economy, culture and religion, so they have different values. The values of a country can be seen everywhere. The president’s inaugural address can better reflect a country’s values. When Barack Obama inducted American President, America was facing serious international affairs crisis and domestic financial crisis. People laid their hopes on the first Black President in American history. Facing with such a huge pressure, Obama relied on his speech ability, inspired the hearts and minds, complied with the aspirations of the people, and soothed the popular discontent. His speech was very passionate and exciting. This is a powerful speech that every sentence is likely to be carrying a certain meaning, fully embodying American values. With the development of the global economy, the communication and cooperation between countries are becoming more and more frequently. The intention of this paper is to understand American values and the thinking patterns through Barack Obama’s inauguration speech and have more efficient communication and realize the communication aim in intercultural communication. The paper includes two parts. One is about the inauguration speech of Barack Obama. Most of scholars studied it from rhetoric devices and linguistic aspects. The other is about American values. American values have been studied both at home and abroad. Some scholars studied it from politics, economic, and religion. Some studied it from films and television programs and literature works. Some studied the difference from view of marriage, family values between Chinese and American. This paper will study American values from Barack Obama’s inaugural address. 从奥巴马就职演说中探析美国价值观:http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_12928.html