Paper #2 Rhetorical Analysis
Rhetoric by definition means “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or
writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional
techniques”. Inherent in the definition the goal of the author
is to persuade. Ways to accomplish persuasion are to appeal to human values.
While these very values are subject to individuals bias there are overarching
approaches that are more or less effective based on the individual. Ethos is an appeal to ethics, and it is a
means of convincing someone that they can be trusted based on their character
and reputation. Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is a way
of convincing an audience through raising an emotional response while Logos is an appeal to logic. These tools are
used in literary settings to argue a point and as evidenced by President Trump
can be used to create strong arguments if utilized well.
I have chosen a post from the president of the United States,
Donald Trump. Based on his personal preferences Trump chooses to utilize the
social media site “Twitter” for both personal and political posts. The platform
Twitter has a character limit of 140 per post. The character limit effects the
way the platform is used. Being limited to 140 characters means that this
platform doesn’t have the utility that a book or a blog provides due to the
limiting of space. This limit its safe to say forces the user to condense their
posts and makes the focus on diction even greater if they are attempting to
argue a point that would require more that the allotted space. This point is
exceedingly valid by pointing out that a book or other non-character restricted
platform allows the benefit of infinite space to the author in which they could
use to construct an effective Ethos, Pathos or Logos oriented argument. Another
effect of condensing arguments is that it allows and even encourages exaggeration,
as evidenced by the multiple exclamation points and single word accusations
that in any unrestricted platforms would be unacceptable. With these points in
mind well see how Trump create strong arguments despite platform constraints.
The post is as follows
““One of the most effective
press conferences I've ever seen!" says Rush Limbaugh. Many agree. Yet
FAKE MEDIA calls it differently! Dishonest”. This post by President Donald
Trump came in response to public and media testimonies that his speech on 17 Feb 2017 was for lack of a better term “bad”. There are
multiple levels on which this particular post can be dissected and due to
Trumps Emphasis on the “FAKE MEDIA” I will also have to provide context to this
accusation, while the context is still on his twitter account it is however on
a separate twitter post which I will also provide a link to. To begin Donald
Trump Quotes Rush Limbaugh and his opinion on his speech in response to the
accusations. In the sphere of politics Rush Limbaugh summarized is a conservative political commentator who works on Fox News
(also known to be of conservative leaning) and who’s party alignment coincides
with Trump’s own. This is telling in who the audience of this tweet. Rush
Limbaugh is a very well-known and respected figure in republican media and as
such his opinion would hold significant weight with those who agree with him
and have developed a following so the target audience is republicans. This is a
tactical move on Trumps part, by actively including Rush Limbaugh he is using
his reputation to solidify his own while appealing to their Republican
audience! This is a direct example of ethos use.
Donald Trump in the first half of his point defends his speech and
himself as I’ve argued and for the second half he employs an Ad Hominem attack
on the “FAKE MEDIA”. To build on that first we must look at what an Ad Hominem
attacks is. An ad hominem attack is a
logical fallacy in which
an argument is diverted or ignored by attacking the character, motive, or other
attribute of the “person” making the argument, or persons associated with the
argument, rather than attacking the meat of the argument itself. President
Donald Trump employs this attack to discredit the news outlets involved in
covering the negative response to his speech. By employing ad hominem, he
discredits them by attempting to call into question their bias and
truthfulness. By doing this he can if his argument is accepted invalidate the
criticism towards him while turning the tables and being the attacker himself.
This use of literary techniques allows him to ignore the attacks on himself
while creating the narrative that he is correct and his position unshaken. This
appeal to his readers falls outside the realm of just an appeal to ethos, it exemplifies
Logos. This can be evidenced by the very last word “Dishonest”. Logos is an appeal to logic and by accusing the “fake media” to be dishonest
it would imply that the logical conclusion would be to dismiss all criticisms
of this “fake media”. Thus, it is safe
to say that by analyzing just a few of trumps tweets we can formulate that he has
a firm grasp on rhetoric and employs it to suit his needs in his life and
business.
Quote
Analyzed
Context
to “FAKE NEWS”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/832708293516632065
"One of the most effective press conferences I've ever seen!" says Rush Limbaugh. Many agree.Yet FAKE MEDIA calls it differently! Dishonest— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017
