metaphor in political language--obama vs. mccain

2009:038BACHELORTHESISLinguisticfeaturesinpoliticalspeeches-howlanguagecanbeusedtoimposecertainmoralorethicalvaluesonpeopleLenaKuloLuleåUniversityofTechnologyBachelorthesisEnglishDepartmentofLanguageandCulture2009:038-ISSN:1402-1773-ISRN:LTU-CUPP--09/038--SEAbstractThetopicofthisessayisthewayinwhichstrategiesofpersuasioninpoliticalspeechescanbeusedtoimposecertainmoralorethicalvaluesonpeople.Theaimofthestudyistoelucidateimplicitstatementsinthelanguageofpoliticsseeingthatpoliticalspeechesarenotprimarilyprosperousbecausetheyarecorrectortrue,instead,itmaybemoredependentonhowvalidtheargumentsseem.TwospeechesduringtheAmericanpresidentialcampaignof2008areanalyzed:onespeechbytheDemocraticpresidentcandidateMr.BarackObamaandonebytheRepublicancandidateMr.JohnMcCain.TheaudienceisAmericanmilitaryveteransandthespeechesconcerntheAmericanforcesinIraq.Themethodofanalysiswastolocateexpressionswherelinguisticchoicesseemtohavebeenmadeinordertoconveycertainviews.Thefollowingrhetoricalstrategieswereanalyzed:metaphors,metonymies,analogies,pronouns,theactiveorpassivevoiceoftransitiveverbs,sound-bites,three-partlistsandcontrastivepairs.ItisarguedinthisessaythatbothspeakersuserhetoricalstrategiestoconveytheirideasofmoralityandtheirviewsofthewarinIraq.McCain’smainargumentisthatthewarinIraqisrightandshouldcontinuewhileObamaarguesthatthewarinIraqiswrong.However,warinitselfisnotwrong,hencetherightwaroughttobefoughtsomewhereelseaccordingtoObama.Theconclusiontobedrawnfromthisstudyisthatitisimportanttobeawareofhowpoliticiansuserhetoricalstrategiesinordertoconvinceanaudienceoftherectitudeofwar.TableofContents1Introduction................................................................................................................11.1Languageinfluencesofpoliticalspeeches..........................................................11.2Aim......................................................................................................................11.3Methodandmaterial............................................................................................22Background.................................................................................................................32.1Politiciansandrhetoric........................................................................................32.2Metaphors............................................................................................................32.3Metonymies.........................................................................................................42.4Analogies.............................................................................................................52.5Pronouns,voiceandsound-bites.........................................................................62.6Three-partlistsandcontrastivepairs...................................................................73PresentationandAnalysis...........................................................................................93.1RemarksbyJohnMcCaintotheMembersoftheVeteransofForeignWars(VFW)April7,2008................................................................................................93.1.1Metaphors.....................................................................................................93.1.2Metonymiesandanalogies.........................................................................113.1.3Pronouns,voiceandsound-bites................................................................123.1.4Three-partlistsandcontrastivepairs..........................................................143.2RemarksofSenatorObama:ASacredTrustKansasCity,MOAugust21,2007..................................................................................................................................163.2.1Metaphors...................................................................................................163.2.2Metonymiesandanalogies.........................................................................173.2.3Pronouns,voiceandsound-bites................................................................183.2.4Three-partlistsandcontrastivepairs..........................................................203.3Comparisonbetweenthespeeches....................................................................214.SummaryandConclusion........................................................................................24Listofreferences.........................................................................................................25Appendix1JohnMcCain'sspeech..............................................................................26Appendix2BarackObama'sspeech...........................................................................321Introduction1.1LanguageinfluencesofpoliticalspeechesCitizensofdemocraticcountrieshavetheoptiontogototheballotboxesonelectiondaysandvoteforonepersonoroneparty.Whethertheirdecisiongoesalongwithapoliticalconvictionornot,itismostlikelybasedoncommunicationthroughla