Gravitymaster 0 #1 January 25, 2012 President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934. The University of Minnesota's Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama's three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. "Obama's average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors," they conclude. "The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores," the University of Minnesota's Eric Ostermeier explains. Obama's use of simple language is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event. http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/01/state-of-the-union-registers-at-th-grade-reading-level-112236.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jclalor 12 #2 January 25, 2012 QuoteQuotePresident Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934. The University of Minnesota's Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama's three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. "Obama's average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors," they conclude. "The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores," the University of Minnesota's Eric Ostermeier explains. Obama's use of simple language is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event. http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/01/state-of-the-union-registers-at-th-grade-reading-level-112236.html The score is based entirely on the number of words and syllables per sentence? What a joke. The irony of a Republican making fun of the educational level of a Democrat. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
winsor 186 #3 January 25, 2012 QuotePresident Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934. The University of Minnesota's Smart Politics conducted an analysis on the last 70 State of the Union addresses and found that President Obama's three addresses have the lowest grade average of any modern president. "Obama's average grade-level score of 8.4 is more than two grades lower than the 10.7 grade average for the other 67 addresses written by his 12 predecessors," they conclude. "The Flesch-Kincaid test is designed to assess the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level. Longer sentences and sentences utilizing words with more syllables produce higher scores. Shorter sentences and sentences incorporating more monosyllabic words yield lower scores," the University of Minnesota's Eric Ostermeier explains. Obama's use of simple language is in part a reflection of his audience: the American voter in an election year. And it's part of a larger trend in simpler State of the Union language as the speech as transitioned from a simple address to Congress into a prime-time televised event. http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/01/state-of-the-union-registers-at-th-grade-reading-level-112236.html The rule of thumb in advertising when my father was active in the business was that exceeding an 8th grade level meant losing half your audience. By "audience" here, we are including only those who might be in the market for a car, house, beer and so forth, focusing on those beyond the 12th grade age group. Part of O'Bama's genius is being able to address morons without cluing them in to the fact that he is talking down to them. It is a pity that his genius is so severely limited in scope, given that his executive responsibilities pick up where his competence leaves off (not to pick on the little fella - this is true for most any current U.S. politician that comes to mind). BSBD, Winsor Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #4 January 25, 2012 Flesch-Kincaid is pretty well accepted as a valid measure of readability. Not surprising a Democrat wouldn't know that. Obama definitely reached his voters with this speech. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 0 #5 January 25, 2012 Quotethe little fella He's 6'-2", weighs 165 lbs. and has size 13 feet. He'd be a great tracker! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jclalor 12 #6 January 25, 2012 you do agree, on average, Republicans are less educated than Democrats? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_ideologies_in_the_United_States Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #7 January 25, 2012 Quoteyou do agree, on average, Republicans are less educated than Democrats? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_ideologies_in_the_United_States Did you somehow miss the box at the top of the page? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,400 #8 January 25, 2012 >President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an >8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test . . . Perhaps he was trying to reach republicans. During the last election, more people with a high school education or less voted for McCain; more people with postgraduate education voted for Obama. So perhaps he's saving all the higher level language (what republicans call snooty, elitist, out of touch etc) for speeches to democrats. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,625 #9 January 25, 2012 Quote>President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an >8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test . . . Perhaps he was trying to reach republicans. Or southerners.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #10 January 25, 2012 QuoteThe rule of thumb in advertising when my father was active in the business was that exceeding an 8th grade level meant losing half your audience. Bingo! It's called salesmanship. In the words of Malcolm X, "And in the few moments we have left, we want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand." It's salesmanship. Perhaps it's statesmanship. Ronald Reagan - the Great Communicator - was not known as being someone at risk of being held hostage by MENSA. However, he could always be clearly understood. It's a credit to the President and his speech writers that they understand this. Edited to add: Bush could increase his score easily by adding syllables to words. "The Democrats seek to impedify and obstructificate these tax cuts." My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #11 January 25, 2012 I seriously doubt he was trying to reach Republicans who he knows will not vote for him. More likely trying to shore up his base. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 3 #12 January 25, 2012 Two of my favorite quotes: "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway). "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" -- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner) I think Hemingway had it right. Whether you agree with the speech given last night or not, it was brilliantly written. I'll admit Obama's personal contribution to it was probably limited to sweeping themes and outlines, but the crew that actually did the writing, lead by Jon Favreau, did an amazing job. I challenge you to find a better use of metaphor in a State of the Union summation than what they came up with.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #13 January 25, 2012 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_reply_write;parent_post_id=4262581 worth following the links on the OP's citation. You see a rather clear trend. Ranking the last 13 Presidents on this metric (FDR to present), the last 5 have clearly shifted to a populist style. Shrub was no different ; he deliberately dumbed down his speech as part of his outsider persona. Kennedy and Eisenhower lead the pack, talking to the high school graduate. When you consider how quickly JFK often spoke in words per minute, you might need to add a year or two as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #14 January 25, 2012 QuoteQuote>President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an >8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test . . . Perhaps he was trying to reach republicans. Or southerners. Or the people waiting for the Obama money out of his stash.Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #15 January 25, 2012 “Plato was a bore.” – Nietzsche “Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal” – Tolstoy “I’m not going to get into the ring with Tolstoy” – Hemingway “Hemingway was a jerk.” – Harold Robbins “Robbins must have been a scumbag” – lawrocket My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 3 #16 January 25, 2012 Quote“Plato was a bore.” – Nietzsche “Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal” – Tolstoy “I’m not going to get into the ring with Tolstoy” – Hemingway “Hemingway was a jerk.” – Harold Robbins “Robbins must have been a scumbag” – lawrocket The point was not simply stringing quotes in some sort of elaborate six-degrees of separation game, although I will commend your attempts at getting to Plato in six, instead it was about what level of writing is not only appropriate, but perhaps more powerful.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhaig 0 #17 January 26, 2012 QuoteQuote>President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an >8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test . . . Perhaps he was trying to reach republicans. Or southerners. you've both made jokes about it, but what you're implying is (I believe) true. He's trying to reach the uneducated. Because, (again, this is what I believe) of the people who haven't decided already to vote for him or not, likely only the uneducated might be swayed by words alone.-- Rob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,123 #18 January 26, 2012 You have a point; either that, or simply the people with shorter attention spans (not that we know anyone like that here in skydiving ), who lose attention if it goes on long enough. Personally, when putting together talks, I'd always start out at about 12th grade level, and try to pull it down -- you lose a whole lot more audience by making them feel as though you're talking over their heads, than you ever do by being a little clearer than the audience needs. You can't sound condescending is the one thing, and I don't think the speech sounded condescending. Wendy P. There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
champu 1 #19 January 27, 2012 QuoteYou have a point; either that, or simply the people with- Look, whatever, I'm just here for the jokes about spilled milk. Anyone heard any lately? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #20 January 27, 2012 You mean like 2 peanuts were walking down the street and one of them was assaulted? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gravitymaster 0 #21 January 27, 2012 Or this? 1. Wake up in a happy mooo-d. 2. Don't cry over spilled milk. 3. When chewing your cud, remember: There's no fat, no calories, no cholesterol, and no taste! 4. The grass is green on the other side of the fence. 5. Turn the udder cheek and mooo-ve on. 6. Seize every opportunity and milk it for all its worth! 7. It's better to be seen and not herd. 8. Honor thy fodder and thy mother and all your udder relatives. 9. Never take any bull from anybody. 10. Always let them know who's bossy. 11. Stepping on cowpies brings good luck. 12. Black and white is always an appropriate fashion statement. 13. Don't forget to cow-nt your blessings every day. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybill 19 #22 January 27, 2012 Quote Quote the little fella He's 6'-2", weighs 165 lbs. and has size 13 feet. He'd be a great tracker! Hi Andy, and can you imagine the "Crater!!" Doc Johnson would have to pass the hat at the Bomb Shelter to get enough money to buy enough plaster of "Perris" to fill the divit to make the "bird bath!!" Those #13 feet are the clincher!! You shoulda' seen Nelsons' divit!!(The crater that Doc made the bird bath from!!) With that Sh*t eatin' grin of his, "bummer would leave enough teeth for a great "Crater Lurk!!" 'Wonder if his ears would fold back after his carcass exceeded ground level???SCR-2034, SCS-680 III%, Deli-out Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
