This email is from a name I do not recognize, but the address ends in ".BarackObama.com" so I know it will be asking me to make a donation to the campaign. The subject is "Barack needs your help in Pennsylvania"... This subject says a lot. First, I get the impression that the writer wants to make a personal connection with me by using the word "your." Barack needs my help. Secondly, the writer wants to make me feel that I am powerful, by telling me that Barack needs my help. According to this writer, I have the opportunity to make an impact for Barack Obama. This phrase "needs my help," puts me in a dominant position because I have something that Barack needs. By using "Barack" rather than Obama or Barack Obama, the writer intends to make the candidate seem more personalable and accessibile, because we refer to our friends by their first names, and we use last names for people in positions of authority or for public figures or people that are otherwise very distant to us.
The first thing I notice about the body of the email is that the font is slightly bigger than usual, and this gives it a slight feel of advertisement, and for me makes it less personal. However, they address me by saying "Dear Cassandra," again to make me feel as if they have a personal connection with me. The first sentence of the body says, "In the past few weeks, thousands of people from all across the country have traveled to Pennsylvania to help grow our movement." This line is meant is meant to emphasize the strength of supporters of the Obama campaign, and to also create a feeling of solidarity among the supporters and myself by saying "our movement."
To paraphrase, the next paragraph says that the campaign has registered thousands of new Democrats that will help Barack win the primary, thanks to voters like me. This paragraph is again intended to make me feel special, in letting me know that I had a hand in Barack's future success. After this paragraph of praise, there is a separation from the next sentence which says, "Now we need to make sure all these new voices are heard." I feel that the separation of this sentence creates a sobering effect from the thanks and praise of the former. This sentence kind of says, "However, we still have business to take care of."
The next paragraph asks me to take a trip to Pennsylvania and help "Get Out the Vote for Barack:" The fact that the first letters of these last few words are capitalized give me the sense that this is some kind of slogan. The colon informs me that they are going to provide me a means to sign up for this trip, which they do, with a link below. This past paragraph also informs me that I was wrong about my first assumption that this email would be asking for campaign donations.
The next line says that the campaign has always relied on grassroots supporters to spread their word. This again, gives a personal touch, says that the individual, ordinary person can make a difference. I feel it's necessary to include the next paragraph: "The steps that we're taking right now will help us do more than win an election -- they will empower ordinary Americans to join with their friends, family, and neighbors in believing that together we can make a difference." This paragraph gives at once empowerment of the individual and the campaign, as well as patriotism and unity as the writer joins together "friends, family, and neighbors." This instills a sense that I can be part of a meaningful movement, an agent of change.
In the next paragraph, in bold letters, says: "No prior political experience is necessary." The writer says all you need is enthusiasm. The fact that the sentence is bold, of course, emphasizes its importance. It lets the reader know that this campaign is accepting, accessible, and wants to put you at ease that your support is welcomed, no matter what your experience. I am thanked again for my support, and the same link is provided again. This repetition emphasizes the importance that I sign up. The writer gives her name and position, and the email closes with "Paid for by Obama for America" with an icon that I can't make out. The "paid for.." lets me know this is an official email from the Obama campaign, and the icon just reminds me that my email doesn't properly reduce pixels of images.
Well, that was certainly longer than I expected.
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This close reading does fine work in bringing out the subtle demands of intimacy in the original text. (Too, the force of the demands is clearly conveyed by your use of italics.) The attention to the form of the email--the larger fonts--as well as individual word choice ("Cassandra") are balanced well against your observation of larger structures of meaning: the transition in tone between past accomplishment and future agenda.
Perhaps most subtle and powerful is your work in bringing out the mediation between the email's use of the single individual and the group as two arenas of focus and agency. Overall a terrific balance of larger and smaller patterns of discourse in close reading. (Too, your tracking of your own *mis*perception of expectation regarding the email's intent is unusual and laudable: good work.)
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