A scrutining handling of Trumps speech demonstrate some of
the features of his argument. He used pronouns quite variably, ranging from the collective we to the individual I. He also reiterates the use of the simple sentence structure. Additionally, he resorts to metaphoric conceptions to actualize his ideas. Furthermore, he stressed the economic problems and aspirations without foregrounding the division Hillary Clinton in her reply between the wealthy and the working classes. Finally, he weaves his ideological underpinnings by using the argumentative techniques of repetition, adherence and naturalization of his ideological visions and the accusation of the democratic administration. a- The use of pronouns: Trump uses diexsis aptly in his response. From the very beginning, he uses them to establish a group with the audience. He said, Our jobs, our country, our product, and our trade deals. Here, he implicitly appeals to the audiences inferences about the democratic administration. Accordingly, he shifted to we to represent what he is going to do with the help of the participants, we cant allow it to happen anymore; we have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us; and, we have to stop our companies from leaving. Finally, he used the first person pronoun I to pledge to stand up to these problems brought about by the democratic administration, Ill be reducing taxes tremendously, I look very, very much, forward to doing it. Talking about his opponent, Trump chooses the pronoun we. This pronoun stresses his familiarity with her and her vision. He also addresses her by her first name. This apt use of pronoun reflects his insight about the nature of the participants he is targeting in the discourse practice. Regarding the sentence structure that he uses repeatedly, Trump opts to choose the simple sentence structure. One clearly notices that he prefers this structure since it is more eccentric,
focused and resonant. Hardly, one can find examples of complex
or compound sentences in his speech. This reveals the mindset of the salesperson to transfer his intended message to the audiences, Companies will come. They will build. They will expand. Another remarkable aspect of his style is the use of parallel structure repeatedly. This parallel structure is strengthened by ending the sentence by more strong, informative content words. For example, in the last paragraph, he says, Companies will come. They will build. They will expand. Here, the use of the same word order and ending all the three sentences with more informative lexical item represents another unique aspect of trumps style. To naturalize his ideological underpinnings, Trump chooses three main elements. The first has to with the use of the metaphor. The second is related to depending upon a very organized argumentation. The third is highlighting the difference between his party, the republic, and the other party, democratic, and his opponent. Regarding the first element, Trump employs the conceptual metaphor only in his answer to the question. Unlike his opponent who uses three types of metaphor, Trump instances a number of the conceptual metaphor. For example, he uses this type of metaphor to highlight the tough situation that the country is suffering under the democratic administration. In the first line, he states, Our jobs are fleeing the country. He also highlights the countrys problem via conventionalizing it as a piggy bank. Additionally, he includes the metaphor to introduce his future policy, we have to stop our jobs from being stolen. He also uses some qualifier to assert the fruitfulness of his policies Ill be reducing taxes tremendously. The second element is related to the use of argumentatively organized discourse. A closer look at the text will reveal that Trump uses the multiple argument pattern. He employs the cooperative and subordinative argumentations, the former refers
to using different argument to support his claims and the latter is
related to embedded arguments. This type of argument can be shown in the following diagram:
He uses the coordinated types of argumentation to stress the
countrys problem. He wisely attempts to direct the participants in the discourse practice to their countrys suffering. Additionally, he uses the subordinative arguments to introduce the proposed solution he has for their problems. Another persuasive tool employed by Trump is the ability to address the participants doubts about his claim. For example, in the third paragraph, he claims our jobs [are] being stolen from and our companies [are] leaving the United States. To address the doubtful audience, he presents an evidence to his speech in the following line, all you have to do (to address the raised doubts) is to take a look at Carrier air conditioning in Indianapolis. They leftfired 1400 people. They are going to Mexico. Then, after addressing his audiences doubts, he generalize and normalize his strategy via presenting it through common sense, so many hundreds and hundreds of companies are doing this.
The third element that Trump employs efficiently is the use
of the dichotomy us vs. them. At the very beginning, he highlights the countrys troubles which are jobs are fleeing theyre going to Mexico, are threats that need to be addressed since theres nobody in our government to fight them. Here, he represents the democratic government as weak and unable to defend the country against its enemies. Therefore, he urges the participants that we have a very good fight. And we have a winning fight. He attributes the negative traits to the them, his opponents party which letting the countrys enemies to use the country as a piggy bank to their benefits. This is an implicit attack of his opponent and an unexpressed warning to the participant of voting for her opponent. To sum up, Trump wittingly uses his resources and presents himself as a very focused and persuasive in his argument. He also uses promises to present himself as a savior to the struggling country and to the discourses participants. He ends with, New companies will startwe have to negotiate our trade deals, and we have to stop these countries from stealing our companies and our jobs. His promises are used to tantalize the participants who are struggling under the democratic policies.