Rhetorical Analysis Of President Trump's Inaugural Address

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President Trump’s inaugural address was a speech many have called short, brutish, but effective. While being shorter than the average inaugural address, falling nine-hundred and two words behind President Obama’s second inaugural address, it took only those one-thousand four-hundred and thirty-three words to reach out in an attempt to unite the divided American people. Trump’s speech effectively offers a new vision of our government, by connecting to people emotionally and logically, however lacking many facts and playing more off his credibility, many people questions his point in saying “empty talk is over.” In his speech, Trump used ethos, logos, and pathos, to try and further connect to the audience. Ethos is the use of reputation, or experience as a way of convincing people to trust in what the speaker is saying based on their credibility. This seems to be Trump’s favorite kind of proof as he uses it heavily over the others. Pathos is the use of …show more content…

“Today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.” With this statement, Trump had set the tone for his entire speech, and exhibits another of his main points in uniting the American people. “Rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young students deprived of knowledge.” Trump’s use of descriptive language, to create vivid imagery for the audience here is one of the most powerful statements he makes in his speech. The emotional response Trump is able to strike in the listener, and the feelings he creates with his appeals to pathos throughout the speech is a big part of what makes this an effective inaugural

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