Parallelism In Trump's Inaugural Address

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Parallelism is a very popular choice for presidential inaugural addresses. Obama, Kennedy, and Roosevelt all utilized parallelism when addressing the country at their inaugurations. It is a way to create flow while at the same time incite emotion. Parallelism paired with positive word choice repeatedly left viewers feeling empowered by their new president. Throughout his address, Trump focuses more on short, straight-to-the-point sentences, in contrast to the longer more poetic sentences that other presidents used. While other presidents focused on parallelism and an eloquent rhythm behind their words, Trump allowed himself to stand out by using different syntax in his inaugural address. Trump utilized parallelism very sporadically, while …show more content…

In Obama’s first inaugural address, he utilized parallelism a whopping number of times. He stated, “I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors”(Obama). Immediately, in the first full sentence of his address, Obama draws on the poetic and rhythmic effect of parallelism, by using words such as “humbled,” “grateful,” and “sacrifices” to show he is a man of the people, not there for power, but to help the common man. He continues to do this multiple times throughout his address. Again Obama utilizes parallelism stating, “...we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord”(Obama). Here the parallelism, again creates rhythm, while the words “hope” and “unity” also play to people’s feelings of a new beginning and comfort them. Contrasting Obama’s use of parallelism, but still using positive word choice, Trump states, “We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again”(Trump). The words “thrive” and “prosper” are an attempt to fill the American people with hope and comfort, that Trump will help solve the issues at hand. This combined with the short sentences makes it easy for the audience to understand what Trump is

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