2024年4月7日发(作者：)

奥巴马总统竞选演讲稿修辞学研究

AcknowledgementsFirst and foremost, I would

like to express my special and sincere gratitude to my

supervisor Zhang Jisheng, who has been taking care of my academic

study through

the past three years and has always enlightened me with his valuable

insights. His

invaluable advice, constant encouragement and thoughtful comments at

every stage of

the project have helped greatly to shape this thesis My gratitude also

goes to the teachers of the English Department of Foreign

Languages School of ECNU, especially Professor Shan Junyi, whose

informative

inspiring lectures benefit me greatly in the process of the thesis

writing. It is the

knowledge they have imparted to me that leads to my academic interest

in my studies

and provides a sound foundation for my thesis My heartfelt thanks are

also due to my friends and my parents. Without their love

and support, this thesis would not have been possible i Abstract

This thesis aims to provide a rhetorical analysis of Obama’s

presidential campaign

speeches. In the past two years, Barack Obama has caught the eyes all

over the worldHis eloquence in public speeches is often compared with that

of the great orators such

as President Lincoln and Martin Luther King. Obama’s success can be

attributed to

many factors, of which the rhetorical factor can by no means be omitted.

He is a

proficient master of both the traditional and modern rhetorical

techniques. This thesis

bases its theory on Aristotle’s three artistic proofs, namely the

ethical appeal ethos,

the pathetical appeal pathos and the logical appeal logos. The

application analysis

of the three appeals will be conducted both qualitatively and

quantitatively, as some

analysis involves computer-based counting. The analyzed examples are

all selected

from the ten speeches that the author deems to be the most

representative. In the

second half of the thesis, the author will analyze the application

of rhetorical devices

figures of speech and attempt to explain how these figures of speech

help Obama

achieve the effects of ethos, pathos and logos. In the thesis, all

the rhetorical devices

are generalized into roughly three categories: lexical devices,

syntactical devices and

phonetic devices. Also in the thesis, a rhetorical explanation is

suggested to explain

Obama’s declining approval rating

In the thesis, Chapter one is on the purpose, organization and

research questions

of the present study. Chapter two involves the literature review which

mainly deals

with the rhetorical tradition of American political speeches and

reviews the previous

studies on Obama speeches. Chapter three presents the method and data

used in the

thesis. Chapter four goes in details in elaborating the definitions

of the three appeals

and how Obama has employed them to in persuasion. Chapter five

analyzes the three

categories of figures of speeches and shows how they are helpful in

achieving the

effects of ethos, pathos and logos. Chapter six is conclusion, which

deals with

Obama’s approval rating and other findings as well as the

restrictions of the thesisKeywords:Obama speeches; rhetorical analysis;

three appeals of persuasion;

figures of speech; approval rating

ii 摘摘摘摘要要要要

本文旨在从修辞学的角度研究奥巴马的总统竞选演讲。在过去的两年中,奥

巴马吸引了全世界的目光,他雄辩的演讲征服了亿万听众。人们常常把他和

过去

的林肯总统以及马丁?路德?金相提并论。奥巴马的成功因素有很多,但是修

辞

的因素功不可没。不管是古典的,还是现代的修辞手法,他都信手拈来,运用

自

如。本文研究的理论依据就是亚里士多德的经典修辞理论,即他的三种劝说

诉求

手段:品格诉求,情感诉求以及理性诉求。本文采取定性与定量的研究手段,

并

采用一定的运算方法统计分析他演讲中的用词频率。并本文中所有研究语料

都来

自作者精选的十篇最具代表性的奥巴马演讲稿。在文章的后半部分,作者具

体研

究分析了修辞格在奥巴马演讲中的运用,并初步探究了修辞格的运用对于奥

巴马

实现亚里士多德三诉求的作用。在本文的研究中,修辞格被分成语义层面,

句子

层面以及语音层面三个大类。

本研究全文分为六个部分。第一章是介绍部分,讲了本次研究的目的,意义

以及论文的新颖之处。第二章是文献综述,此部分概述了美国政治演讲的传

统特

点,回顾了前人关于奥巴马演讲的分析研究。第三章介绍了本研究采取的理

论方

法以及文中所用的语料及数据来源。第四章和第五章是全文重点部分。第四

章详

细阐述了亚里士多德三种诉求的涵义,并用具体实例来分析这三种古典劝服

方式

在奥巴马演讲中的运用。第五章进一步研究了奥巴马演讲中采用的各种修辞

格,

以及这些修辞格是如何帮助实现三种诉求的。第六章是结论,简要分析了奥

巴马

支持率下降与修辞学研究之间的关系以及本论文的其他主要发现及不足之

处。

关关关关键键键键词词词词:奥巴马演讲稿;修辞学分析;亚里士多德三诉求;

修辞格;支持率iii Table of Contents

Acknowledgements„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„„..„„

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ii

Abstract in

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ii

Chapter One Introduction. 1

1.1 A Brief Introduction..1

1.2 Purpose of the Study.1

1.3 Organization of the Thesis.2

1.4 Research Questions..2

Chapter Two Literature Review. 4

2.1 Background..4

2.1.1 About Aristotelian Rhetoric.4

2.1.2 Traditional Features of American Political Speeches.5

2.1.3 A Brief Introduction to Obama’s Political Career6

2.2 Previous Studies on Obama Speeches.7

2.3 Contribution of the Study..7

Chapter Three Method and Data.9

3.1 Method.9

3.2 Primary Data and Context of The Study.9

Chapter Four Application of the Three Appeals in Obama’s Speeches.

12

4.1 Understanding the Ethical Appeal and its Application in Obama

Speeches..12

4.1.1 Ethos by Showing Competence..13

4.1.2 Ethos by Displaying Sound Character.15

4.1.3 Ethos by Establishing Common Ground with the Audiences by

Pronouns..17

4.2 Understanding the Pathetic Appeal and its Application in Obama

Speeches20

4.2.1 Pathos by Appealing to National Pride and American Dream.20

4.2.2 Pathos by Appealing to Audiences’ Personal Woes and Pains.22

4.3 Understanding the Logical Appeal and its Application in Obama

Speeches.25

4.3.1 Logos by Logical Organization of Sentences..25

4.3.2 Logos by Listing Statistics as Evidence.27

Chapter Five Rhetorical Devices Applied in Obama’s Speeches 30

5.1 Semantic Devices in Obama Speeches.31

5.1.1 Application of Metaphor31

5.1.2 Application of Similes.33

5.1.3 Application of Irony.34

5.1.4 Application of Hyperbole..35

5.1.5 Application of Metonymy.36

5.2 Syntactical Devices in Obama Speeches.37iv 5.2.1 Application of

Antitheses..37

5.2.2 Application of Parallelism.39

5.2.3 Application of Rhetorical Questions41

5.2.4 Application of Repetition..43

5.2.5 Application of Tricolon..44

5.3 Phonetic Devices in Obama Speeches..45

5.3.1 Application of Alliteration.46

5.3.2 Application of Assonance..47

5.3.3 Application of Consonance..48

5.3.4 Application of Pun.49

Chapter Six Conclusion 51

6.1 Obama’s Approval Rating Analysis51

6.2 Summary.52

Bibliography. 55

Appendix 58

v Chapter One Introduction

1.1 A Brief IntroductionThe United States of America is a nation with

a unique political rhetorical

tradition. For more than two hundred years, American presidents have

been

employing rhetorical techniques to make their points and to outline

their positions on

important issues before the nation. The 2008 Presidential Election

is said to be the

fiercest between presidential candidates. First Obama gained

Democratic Presidential

Nominee by defeating Hillary Clinton, and then he reached Presidency

by defeating

his opponent John McCain. This analysis centers on the ten selected

speeches

delivered in this context, and attempts to provide a rhetorical

explanation for his

success. The rhetorical study is based on three modes of appeals

proposed by Aristotle

translated by Lawson-Tancred 1991 and three categories of figures of

speech

classified by Zhang 2005

1.2 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a rhetorical study of Obama’s

ten public

speeches delivered between the year 2008 and 2009 with one speech

delivered in

2004 and try to shed a light on the understanding of his short journey

from an

unknown community organizer to the most powerful man in the world.

His speeches

are interesting to examine linguistically because the words in his

speeches are

carefully chosen and hidden persuasive features are not obvious at

a first glance. By

analyzing Obama’s speeches, the study tries to reveal these hidden

features in a

systematic way and present the author’s own interpretation of the

importance of

rhetoric in Obama’s speeches in his political life There are three

purposes that this thesis aims to achieve: a The thesis aims to provide

a detailed analysis on how the three appeals, which1were proposed by

Aristotle 2,300 years ago, are applied in modern political speeches b The

thesis aims to analyze the importance of figures of speech in Obama’s

speeches and show how they strengthen the effects of pathos, ethos

and logosc The thesis tries to demonstrate the relation between rhetorical

analysis and

Obama’s declining approval rating1.3 Organization of the Thesis

The organization of the thesis can be subdivided into the following

six parts

Chapter One introduces the background, significance of the study and

the

questions the study intends to answer

Chapter Two is the literature review on the Aristotelian rhetoric and

his three

artistic proofs ethos, pathos, logos and the three categories of

rhetorical devicesChapter Three provides the method and data employed by

this thesis. The analysis

is made in the thesis according to Aristotelian rhetoric and the focus

of the analysis is

on the rhetorical devices used in Obama’s speeches

Chapter Four presents a systematic analysis of the rhetorical

techniques in the

speeches. Aristotle’s three appeals of ethos, pathos and logos will

be explained at

length to explain how Obama uses these three appeals to persuade his

audience into

accepting his political policies

Chapter Five goes further in analyzing the three categories of

rhetorical devices

figures of speech used in Obama’s speechesChapter Six is a conclusion,

which briefly analyzes Obama’s declining approval

rating from a rhetorical point of view and summarizes the main

contribution of this

thesis as well as some implications for us1.4 Research Questions

This thesis will review the main rhetorical figures employed in

English speeches

and try to offer my own point of view in examining the rhetoric in

Obama’s public

speeches and its relation with his political success. Through out the

thesis, these2following three issues will be discussed at length:

Question 1: What are Aristotle’s three appeals of pathos, ethos and

logos and their

application in Obama speechesQuestion 2: What rhetorical devices

figures of speech has Obama used in persuading

the voters to vote for himQuestion 3: How can we understand Obama’s

declining approval rating from the

rhetorical point of view 3Chapter Two Literature Review

2.1 Background

2.1.1 About Aristotelian rhetoricThe term rhetoric is derived from

the Greek word rhetor which means orator or

speaker. Aristotle defined rhetoric as the art of discovering the

means of persuasion

available for any subject Hu, 2002, p.27. He proposed five

non-artistic proofs and

three artistic proofs. According to him, for non-artistic proofs,

orator did not have

to invent these, they just used them. He named five non-artistic

proofs: laws,

witnesses, contracts, tortures and oaths. While for artistic proofs,

Aristotle named

three proofs: logos, pathos and ethos, which is the theoretical

foundation of the

present thesis. As Beard 2000 and Halmari 2004 suggests, even though

Aristotelian rhetoric was outlined more than 2,300 years ago, many

people still refer

to it when discussing and analyzing the subject of persuasion

Roughly speaking, ethos refers to the character and credibility of

the speakerAristotle said that the ethos of the speaker had to be

demonstrated in performing the

speech. Ethos can spring from the speaker’s authority, good

reputation. Also as

Cassirer 1997, p.31 says, “Good intentions, character and

reliability should be

evident in the speech”. The second artistic proof is referred to as

pathos. Pathos

means “emotion” or “sympathy” and is the part of a speech where

the speaker tries to

arouse a certain emotional feeling in a crowd. The last artistic proof

is logos, which

can be translated into “reason” or “logic”. It can be described

as the appeal where the

speaker tries to structure the speech so that it makes sense to the

listeners and

persuade by logical argumentFurthermore, Aristotle held that

knowledge in the art of rhetoric is something

which everyone can gain from, not just those who wish to persuade an

audience with

rhetorical skills. His idea is that even a person, who only tries to

convey a true and

honest point, needs the tools and techniques of persuasion. That is

because even4though the speaker might possess great knowledge or

expertise in the subject he tries

to convey, it is not for sure that the audience will listen to him

and accept his message

as the speaker wishes them to2.1.2 Traditional features of American

political speeches

Ever since America was liberated from England, the nation has begun

to have its

own unique political rhetorical tradition Hu, 2002, p.90. American

political speeches,

in exception to carrying the above-mentioned classical rhetorical

features, have their

own unique features. Among them, one is religious value and the other

is the arousing

of patriotism, namely, the sense of national pride. National pride

usually goes in the

form of American Dream and the glorious achievements in democracy and

freedomSo it can be said that American rhetorical tradition depends

heavily on religion and

the victorious past of the nation

A typical example of early American political rhetoric is the famous

Gettysburg

Address which was made by Abraham Lincoln during the American civil

war: 1 But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate; we can not consecrate;

we can not hallow- this ground. [„] that we highly resolve that these

dead

shall not have died in vain- that this nation, under God, shall have

a new

birth of freedom- and that government of the people, by the people,

for the

people, shall not perish from the earth

------The Gettysburg Address

In this address, Lincoln used the phrase “under God”. We have

already seen

phrases like “under God” in many American political speeches,

especially

presidential speeches, which always end with “God bless you, God

bless America”More examples include President John F. Kennedy’s famous

words “Ask not what

your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”.

Ronald Reagan is

another great example of a politician who appeals to freedom and

religion in his

addresses: “They will go away because we, as Americans, have the

capacity now, as

we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve

this last and5greatest bastion of freedom” First Inaugural Address in

1981. There is no doubt that

the Presidents of the United States of America have relied on the

appeal to religious

values of the American people, as well as the history of the nation

when addressing

the public. It is also true that they have been doing so ever since

the first President2.1.3 A brief introduction to Obama’s political

career

The president Barack Obama is the sensation of the year 2009. His

success allows

Americans to feel hopeful again about their country when they

wouldn’t have been

with Bush in presidency. His election into the White House inspires

and empowers

many Americans to follow their own dreamsBarack Obama was born on

August 4, 1961. As the first African-American

president in the history of United States, Obama graduated from

Columbia University

and Harvard Law School. In Harvard Law School, he became the first

black person in

history to serve as President of the Harvard Law Review. He taught

constitutional law

at the Law School in University of Chicago between the years of 1992

and 2004Before serving at the seat of Illinois Senator 1997 to 2004, Obama

served as a

community organizer. After a failure in the bid for a seat in the U.S.

House of

Representatives in 2000, Obama began his campaign for the U.S. Senate

in January

2003. Following a primary victory in March 2004, Obama delivered the

famous

keynote address of “The Audacity of Hope” at the Democratic National

Convention in

July of the same year, which established his initial reputation as

a promising politicianHe was elected to the Senate in November 2004. Obama

announced his presidential

campaign in February 2007, and was formally nominated at the 2008

Democratic

National Convention. Throughout the one year plus long campaign,

Obama focused

on ending the Iraq War in a short time, increasing energy independence

and

advocating healthcare reform. “Change” was the constant theme in

his campaign

speeches62.2 Previous Studies on Obama Speeches

When the author of this thesis started the research on Obama speeches,

there were

not many studies available on Obama speeches, which is not strange

given the fact that

he came to be noticed in American politics only after his famous

keynote address to

the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Among the limited

available studies on

his speeches, some researches are finished from the political point

of view. Like

Atwater 2007, he studies Obama’s 2004 keynote speech and discusses

the origin

of Obama’s rhetoric of hope. Especially, Atwater discusses how Obama

develops a

“contemporary vision of an inclusive America and the American

dream”. In another

essay on Obama’s 2004 keynote speech, Rowland & Jones 2007 also take

a

political approach and detail on how Obama recasts the American dream

“from a

conservative to a liberal story”. Some other researches are

conducted in a linguistic

approach. Zhou 2009 makes a lexical analysis of Obama’s presidential

campaign

speeches. In this thesis, Zhou takes a corpus-based approach, which

concentrates on

the analysis of pronouns, modal verbs and connectives appearing in

Obama’s speechesHe tries to find how Obama uses these words to achieve

the interpersonal functionsUnlike Zhou, Su 2009 studies the Obama

speeches from the rhetorical point of view,

in which she analyzes Aristotle’s three modes of appeals pathos,

ethos and logos and

how they are applied in Obama’s speeches. Another scholar Gallo 2008

holds that

public speaking skills are critical to the success of every leader

and he suggests four

techniques that Obama has used. The four techniques are parallel

structure, alliteration,

rich imagery and confident body language. Higgins 2008 calls Obama

the “new

Cicero”, b