Reproduction Rights: Rhetorical Analysis
Deborah Jane Potts
Dr. Wickman
English 1127
30 November 2012
Reproduction Rights
Introduction
Based on an analysis of speeches on Reproduction Rights, I will argue that through the use of rhetoric, many people are being persuaded to have a certain opinion. I will be looking at speeches made by Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and Hilary Clinton. I am researching this to consider the affects that rhetoric has on an audience and whether or not it is used effectively to achieve the speaker’s goals. By researching this topic I hope to better educate those who are unwittingly influenced by politicians, and teach them how to recognize and avoid it in the future. All of the rhetors I have analyzed use certain rhetorical strategies and vocabulary to persuade the public and target specific groups.
Scholarly Literature Review
An article from the Journal of Communication discusses the rhetoric used when debating abortion. The authors, Adam Simon and Jennifer Jerit, examine …show more content…
For instance, many rarely appreciate that they are speaking metaphorically when saying things such as, “I’ve never won an argument,” and “He shot down all of my arguments.” These phrases support the conceptual metaphor that Argument is War (Lakoff and Johnson 454). Lakoff and Johnson also identify the terms of source domain and target domain. The source is the term that is concrete, which is used to better understand the other phrase, being war in this instance. The target is the abstract term, or one that needs to be understood by another term or phrase, which would be “argument” in this case. Metaphor is typically present in all forms of rhetoric and discourse to persuade the audience and allow it to see one side of an issue in a certain
Dr. Wickman
English 1127
30 November 2012
Reproduction Rights
Introduction
Based on an analysis of speeches on Reproduction Rights, I will argue that through the use of rhetoric, many people are being persuaded to have a certain opinion. I will be looking at speeches made by Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and Hilary Clinton. I am researching this to consider the affects that rhetoric has on an audience and whether or not it is used effectively to achieve the speaker’s goals. By researching this topic I hope to better educate those who are unwittingly influenced by politicians, and teach them how to recognize and avoid it in the future. All of the rhetors I have analyzed use certain rhetorical strategies and vocabulary to persuade the public and target specific groups.
Scholarly Literature Review
An article from the Journal of Communication discusses the rhetoric used when debating abortion. The authors, Adam Simon and Jennifer Jerit, examine …show more content…
For instance, many rarely appreciate that they are speaking metaphorically when saying things such as, “I’ve never won an argument,” and “He shot down all of my arguments.” These phrases support the conceptual metaphor that Argument is War (Lakoff and Johnson 454). Lakoff and Johnson also identify the terms of source domain and target domain. The source is the term that is concrete, which is used to better understand the other phrase, being war in this instance. The target is the abstract term, or one that needs to be understood by another term or phrase, which would be “argument” in this case. Metaphor is typically present in all forms of rhetoric and discourse to persuade the audience and allow it to see one side of an issue in a certain