The Devices Used In Political Rhetoric: Linguistic Manipulation?

989 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Sociolinguistics Essay

Introduction
This research paper investigates recent research into the sociolinguistic devices employed by politicians in the course of political rhetorical. It includes a variety of input from different parts of the globe and from persons of diverse background and ethnicity.
Gunta, R. & Karapetjana, I. (2009). The Use of Language in Political Rhetoric: Linguistic Manipulation. Journal of Social Sciences. May 2009. Edition 19, pp. 111-122. University of Latvia.
The authors attempted to show that political regimes make use of various linguistic devices to further their goals. They focused their research on the use of allusion, metonymy and metaphor in political rhetoric. The authors concluded from their research that linguistic manipulation could be considered an influential instrument of political rhetoric. They found that, because political discourse is primarily focused on persuading people to take specified political actions, politicians commonly made use of rhetorical devices such as phrasal allusions, metonymy and metaphor. In doing so, they …show more content…

Kerry –the favorite Democratic Party candidate for the US presidency in the 2004 presidential elections– in four public events (two debates and two speeches) leading up to election day. His study focused particularly on the analysis of a series of rhetorical patterns and linguistic devices employed by the senator in order to empower his argumentations., namely: three-part statements, contrastive pairs, lexical and syntactic repetition, purposive selection and use of pronouns, addressing formulae, introductory formulae for personal opinion and ideology, and the usage of discourse organizers. The author concluded that the study presented conclusive evidence that behind the apparent spontaneity of Kerry’s oral delivery there was a selective use of linguistic devices, which must have been the product of prior consideration and thoughtful discourse

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of Persuasive Symbols in Ronald Reagan's The Space Shuttle "Challenger" Tragedy Address

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    Politicians frequently receive negative publicity at the hand of their own use of language. Their uses of words as they relate to persuasion typically fall within one of the three dimensions of language functions, semantic or thematic. Often their persuasive language can be found to closely resemble any of these three categories simultaneously. There are many tools for analyzing persuasive symbols, many of which should be utilized when analyzing great communicators such as President Ronald Reagan. In response to the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion on January 28th, 1986 where seven brave American’s gave their lives. President Ronald Reagan made history with his famous speech, which didn’t only serve to address the great tragedy, but served as a focal point of comfort for the grieving nation. He commemorated the seven heroes who had fallen that morning in route to outer space; he expressed gratitude to NASA for their past developments and encouraged further explorations. Ronald Reagan was a great communicator, a charismatic persuader whose words delivered focus of the message through utilization of persuasive symbols. This paper aims not to be an all-inclusive guide for analyzing persuasive symbols, but will sufficiently guide the reader to be a more perceptive of persuasive language.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Appeals

    567 Words  | 2 Pages

    After reviewing this week’s episodes of serial, and given our topic, I found that the Rhetorical Appeals are directly linked to the court cases. These Rhetorical Appeals (Ethos, Pathos, and Logos), are used throughout both cases. From Jay’s case, it’s clear that Pathos and Ethos are two main elements supporting his defense. However in Adnan’s case, Logos was the prevalent appeal when defending his innocence.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Malala Yousafzai's Speech

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Former president Bush speech "Address to Joint Session of Congress Following 9/11 Attacks" and Malala Yousafzai's speech “Youth Takeover of the United Nation" both shows exemplary examples of how those in power can use rhetoric to affect society. Bush’s speech is right after the 9-11 attack so Bush uses rhetoric in a negative way because his focus is on war, Malala uses it in a positive way because she has just recovered from a getting shot for fighting for women’s education. So her focus is bringing people together and help focus on children and womens rights. The rhetoric appeals that they used frequently throughout their speech are diction, pathos, ethos, and logical fallacies. Rhetoric is a form of writing that authors, speakers use and

    Read More

  • Hillary Clinton Rhetorical Devices

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever wondered how influential people write great speeches that grab people's attention? They use a literary device called, rhetorical appeals. As supported in Hillary Clinton’s November 03, 2016 speech, uniting the American Public, will lead to an advantageous country. In her speech for the Democratic National Convention it states that, as elected for president, she will get everyone saying “We” instead of “I”. To reach out to the American Citizens and grab their attention, Clinton uses many rhetorical devices as she speaks. Using Logos, Pathos, and Ethos, the people of America jump on board with Clinton's ideas.

    Read More

  • The Rhetorical Analysis Of Kennedy And Clinton's Speech

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though Kennedy and Clinton addressed their audiences nearly thirty-two years apart, each rhetor faced a common rhetorical barrier – an American populace too heavily focused on the personalities within each respective presidential election rather than the true issues confronting the United States. To overcome that barrier, both Kennedy and Clinton utilize definitional strategies – in the form of association – as well as language strategies –specifically, historical allusions. Whether or not the speeches directly correlate with both candidates winning their presidential elections does not concern the examination; this paper observes how exactly the rhetorical devices used served to dissolve the barriers between the rhetor and the intended audience.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of the Rhetorical Elements of Political Campaign Advertisements

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    After this thorough analysis of broadcasts from both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party televised during the 2008 presidential election campaign, we can identify the most popular types of argumentative informal fallacies and how they can serve to appeal or attack the ethos, pathos and logos of an argument or the arguer himself or herself. It is important for the American electorate to be able to recognize them and dismiss them promptly, to abstain from making a decision as important as selecting the new president of the United States based on false or illogical arguments. Unfortunately, political parties and interest groups will continue to take advantage of these fallacies, it is up to the public to think critically in order to avoid being wrongly influenced or misguided by them. Works Cited BarackObamadotcom. James Taylor for Obama.

    Read More

  • The Mystery Of Iniquity Rhetorical Devices

    616 Words  | 2 Pages

    Time after time it seems like people have tried to depict what our society true and often hidden image represents. One artist, Lauryn Hill, executed this topic exquisitely in her song “Mystery of Iniquity” produced in 2002. In this song she incorporates several verses from the bible n her lyrics to relate the underlying corruption of the law system on society and how it affects people. The first few lines of the song incorporate the same lyrics in the title where it states, “It's the mystery of Inequity, said it's the misery of inequity, said it's the history of inequity.” Here we see she uses these lines to introduce what she will essentially be discussing throughout the song as this expression is found in the book of 2 Thessalonians 2:7 in

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Choices in Political Speeches

    1906 Words  | 4 Pages

    Every four years during any US Presidential election overzealous patriotism hits an all time high, and it truly shows with the citizen turnout at the newly elected President’s inaugural ceremony. In the months leading up to election day, Presidential candidates attempt to persuade voters to cast ballots in their favor through different forms of advertising which contains strategic rhetoric and political language. Political language otherwise known as “political propaganda”, is designed to influence masses of people within a nation, and even across the globe. As Harry S. Truman stated during the National Conference on Family Life on May 6th, 1948: “the principal power that the President has is to bring people in and try to persuade them to do what they ought to do without persuasion”(Truman,Worksheet). The power that Truman spoke of is undeniable during any President’s inaugural address, which highlights the beginning of their term as the newly elected President, while addressing their plans for the people of the United States during the next four years. These addresses contain propaganda techniques that most listeners wouldn’t recognize as propaganda, including: glittering generalities, transfer, plain folks, card stacking, bandwagon, and testimonials.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Strategies Used by President George W. Bush

    1815 Words  | 4 Pages

    On September 11, 2001, the Islamist terrorist group known as al-Qaeda launched a series of terrorist attacks on the United States of America, specifically in the New York City and Washington D.C areas. Nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four planes with the intention of using them as suicide attacks that would crash those planes into designated buildings, or targets. Two of the four passenger jets were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, both of which collapsed entirely within two hours of being hit. The third plane was crashed into the Pentagon, and the west side of the building, which is the Headquarters of the US Department of Defense, partially collapsed. The fourth hijacked plane was intended for the US Capitol Building in Washington D.C, but instead crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers of the plane interfered with the hijackers. The attack on September 11th was devastatingly fatal—almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, including all of the al-Qaeda hijackers and every passenger aboard the four planes.

    Read More

  • Rhetoric Analysis

    1860 Words  | 4 Pages

    The primary function of rhetoric is to find the best means available for persuasion and as a result, they have been divided into three types. Epideictic rhetoric, deliberative rhetoric, and forensic rhetoric epideictic rhetoric are sometimes referred to as ceremonial oratory, and this is considered as a rhetoric that is used to blame or praise during ceremonies (Sheard, 1996). The rhetoric of ceremony, declamation, commemoration, play, entertainment and self-display is mostly utilized in festivals and formal events for instance anniversaries such as births, marriages or death.

    Read More

  • The Use of Rhetoric in Everyday Life

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rhetoric is a significant part of our everyday lives. Whether it's convincing our friends to go to a concert on the weekend, to go to a certain place for lunch, or even convincing yourself to do something that you should but don't want to do. Rhetoric is all around us today. Billboard ads, television commercials, newspaper ads, political speeches, even news stories all try, to some degree, to sway our opinion or convince us to take some sort of action. If you take a step back to look and think about it, rhetoric, in all actuality, shapes our lives. Every day we have an array of options of things to do or things to buy. So every day, our opinion or actions are being influenced, however minutely, by rhetoric.

    Read More

  • Use of Rhetorical Devices in a Women’s Rights Speech

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    “We have met to uplift women’s fallen divinity upon an even pedestal with man’s. We now demand our right to vote.” With this forceful introduction, Elizabeth Cady Stanton pulls the injustice against women to light and demands it to be felt. Her speech is a call to change, a shout for justice in a sea of corruption. Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s speech, delivered at the First Women’s Rights Convention in 1848, appeals to emotion, ethics, and logic to affirm the necessity of equality for women.

    Read More

  • The Nature of Rhetoric

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rhetoric is the art of effective speaking or writing, and persuasion. Most people use rhetoric numerous of times in their everyday life without their concern or knowing.

    Read More

  • Rhetoric

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rhetoric, the art of speaking, is vital in everyday life. Whether it is to convince others of one’s worth as Sojourner Truth does in, “Ain’t I a Woman” or to pledge to a larger audience like Martin Luther King Junior in his “I Have a Dream” speech, rhetoric plays a significant role because it is the key that unlocks the door to self-expression. Without it, nobody would be able to convey his/her message or to get any thoughts across. A silent world, lacking communication, would therefore emerge. Trust would not be present as there would not be any words for someone to convince their beloved ones of his/her sincerity. Proper diction and syntax must be employed in order for one to effectively get others to share his/her beliefs, or at least to respect them.

    Read More

  • Reflection On Rhetoric

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the quarter progressed, these ten weeks into the course, writing 39C had taught me a lot about the true meaning of Rhetoric and Research. Earlier, in this course, I acknowledged that “Rhetoric” is the art of persuasion that is endeavored by the human beings to persuade individuals with their words. Moreover, as I acquired additional information about the research and rhetoric in this course, I also identified that rhetoric is always around us, but most of the time we do not happen to see it. We are always already in the rhetorical situation which we have used the rhetoric since the day we start living our first moment of our life. There is always someone who is trying to persuade us in some way. After few weeks of learning “what rhetoric

    Read More

More about The Devices Used In Political Rhetoric: Linguistic Manipulation?

Open Document