Hillary Clinton Oxymoron Rhetorical Analysis

Hillary Clinton Rhetorical Analysis Essay The 2016 election has been said to be one of the most dramatic elections of our day and age. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have taken every opportunity to criticize each other in almost a comedic form. At the Al Smith dinner in New York on October 20th, 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton employs a humorous tone, paired with many oxymorons and an allegorical form of diction to give a light, informal speech at an event for needy children with his Eminence, members of the clergy, and other distinguished guests. Hillary’s humorous tone creates a high spirited, light delivery behind the dark topic of needy children. She refers to Al Smith as a “fiery populist” and notes the irony in that term, which makes the audience laugh while remembering him in his absence. She switches from that sadness laced phrase to say she “took a break from her rigorous nap schedule to be here.” Her use of this oxymoron “rigorous nap schedule” creates a good laugh for the audience while also crediting her for her hard work in this election. She also talks more about her hard work by saying “It’s a treat for all of you, I usually charge a lot for speeches.” Not only does this make the audience laugh but it also makes for a conversational tone with a hint of humour.

In fact, Hillary makes the audience laugh a total of 41 times, which is pretty impressive for a 20 minute speech. She only has an average of 2-3 lines in between each laughter-filled pause. She usually only get about 15 seconds before another burst of laughter interrupts her speech. This creates a very positive outlook on her, and the speech as a whole. Her informal diction and tone creates a more relatable persona around her, making us say “Wow, she is funny. Perhaps she is a good person after