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Critical Discourse Analysis Essay

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Critical Discourse Analysis Essay
Academic Statement of Purpose
The need for critical discourse analysis is crucial now more than ever because of the sheer mass of information our society encounters on a daily basis. I hope to demystify some of these messages through the use of critical discourse analysis in both my future research and my career. My work in discourse analysis seeks to identify those who are powerful, the construct of power they rely on, the social indexing employed, and the implications of their words for those without power. Currently, I am analyzing the American presidential campaign announcement as a speech genre. Using Tannen’s (1998), van Dijk’s (1997), Chilton’s (2004) and Fairclough’s (2013) frameworks for political discourse analysis, conscious manipulation of collective mental models through thematic, rhetorical, and indexical structures can be observed in this speech genre. This particular speech act is an introduction to where the candidate believes the locus of power is how the candidate can persuade an audience into their narrative, and what shared social cognition is necessary to support this candidate. I believe critical discourse analysis of
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(2004). Analysing political discourse: Theory and practice. Routledge.

Fairclough, I., & Fairclough, N. (2013). Political discourse analysis: A method for advanced students. Routledge. Hoffman, C., & Tyler, A. (2008). United States legal discourse: Legal English for foreign LLMs. St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West.

Tannen, D. (1998). The argument culture: Moving from debate to dialogue. New York: Random House.

Tannen, D. (2006). You're wearing that?: Understanding mothers and daughters in conversation. New York: Random House.

Van Dijk, T. A. (1997). What is political discourse analysis. Belgian journal of linguistics,
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