Rhetorical Elements Research Articles

Hobbes and Kant: Materialism and Rhetoric

This article examines the subtle nuances of Hobbes’s and Kant’s perspectives on rhetoric and materialism, contextualising them within the broader framework of political philosophy. Despite both philosophers being critics of rhetoric, their approaches exhibit notable divergences. Hobbes, who advocated for monarchy, criticized rhetoric from the perspective of a materialist anthropology influenced by Lucretius. However, he paradoxically employed rhetorical strategies in his new scientia civilis. Despite critiquing both Lucretian materialism and rhetoric, Kant incorporated certain rhetorical elements compatible with his philosophical framework, particularly in relation to Epicureanism. This study analyses their interpretations of paradiastole and the implications for the political thought. The argument is that both thinkers, in seeking a rational foundation for the political order, anchor their notions of rationality in Epicurean materialism, by reconfiguring rhetorical elements to suit their respective philosophies. The article elucidates Kant’s republican proclivities and his aspiration to maximize the citizens’ autonomy, which contrasts with Hobbes’s monarchical orientation. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the early modern political thought and its relevance to the contemporary republican and democratic theory.

Target Situation Analysis (TSA) To Examine The Expert Viewpoint About The Academic Writing Demands To Author A Research Thesis In Social Sciences: A Review Study In English For Academic Purposes

Target Situation Analysis (TSA) is used in this review study to investigate the expert opinion about the requirements for academic writing when producing a social science research thesis, specifically about English for Academic Purposes (EAP). According to Basturkmen (2010) and Dudley-Evans & St. John (1998), task-specific assessment (TSA) entails determining the particular tasks, abilities, and language requirements of students in the intended academic setting. This article focuses on the expectations of examiners in EAP, important academic norms for thesis writing, and linguistic and rhetorical elements that can help ESL students overcome obstacles. In order to fulfill the demands of ESL students doing social science research, this TSA intends to inform effective instructional approaches and support systems by reviewing the body of existing literature. These writing requirements were assessed using a systematic literature review methodology and a qualitative design. Themes including thesis writing, the function of the social sciences, academic expectations, and the flow and structure of the thesis were identified through thematic analysis of scholarly guides and studies. Important findings show that writing with precision, consistency, and clarity is still quite difficult, especially for non-native speakers. In order to produce high-quality theses, social science researchers need certain abilities including critical thinking and good communication in addition to language[1] competency. The results underscore the necessity of customized assistance, including focused writing training, mentorship, and peer evaluation, in order to improve research thesis quality in Pakistan and foster scholarly distinction. Future studies should concentrate on efficient teaching strategies, the influence of language ability on the caliber of theses, and the creation of assessment instruments to help students even more. By addressing these unmet requirements for academic writing in Pakistan, researchers will be better equipped to do excellent work that makes a significant contribution to their areas.

Digital storytelling in teacher education: Developing pre-service teachers’ critical thinking

Digital storytelling is a pedagogical strategy that relies on constructing digital artefacts, such as videos, to develop skills like critical thinking. However, clear actions that students need to engage in to develop these skills are often lacking. Therefore, in this qualitative study, we aimed to explore pre-service teachers' perceptions of the relationship between creating a digital story and developing critical thinking. More specifically, we examined pre-service teachers' reported actions and experiences used to build their digital stories, analysing how critical thinking skills were brought into play during this process. The analysis of the interviews showed the actions pre-service teachers take when creating a digital story and how these actions, in turn, promote the development of critical thinking. The results suggest that (a) a wide range of critical thinking skills are at play when constructing a digital story and (b) the most reported skills are those related to planning and design, solving emerging challenges to pursue a critical argument and representing ideas with the use of rhetorical elements. Furthermore, we discuss the implications for pre-service teachers' training. Finally, we address the limitations of this study and provide suggestions for future research. Implications for practice or policy: Student teachers and teacher trainers can count on a set of actions that will allow them to visualise the development of critical thinking when their students create digital stories. Teacher trainers can benefit from a pedagogical strategy that can facilitate the development of critical thinking in pre-service teachers.

The Study of Stylistics in the Novel Phosphorus, the Man Who Finds the Most Beautiful Place of Retno Mawarni’s Work

The aim of the research is to analyze the use of language styles in literature. The research method uses descriptive methods. The data source used is the novel Phosphor, Men Who Look for the Most Beautiful Places by Retno Mawarni, published by Sabil Yogyakarta in July 2013, with 370 pages. Based on the research results, it is known that there are eight types of imaging available; All types of imagery are used by the author in the novel Phosphorus, the man who found the most beautiful place by Retno Mawarni, namely visual imagery, auditory imagery, olfactory imagery, taste imagery, thought imagery, motion imagery, tactile imagery, and feeling imagery. Apart from imagery, a stylistic study based on rhetorical elements, namely the language style in the phosphorus novel, The Man Who Found the Most Beautiful Place by Retno Mawarni, shows that the comparative language style (figure of speech) used is the simile style (smile), the personification language style, and the allegorical language style. Contradictory language styles are hyperbole, language style, and irony. The overall style of language used by the author aims to increase the effect of the speech. The things that the author can put forward are: (1) for teaching literature in the results, additional teaching materials should be used in implementing Indonesian language and literature learning in schools; (2) for fans and lovers of literature, research results should be used as additional information as well as a reference in conducting literary research, especially regarding stylistics.

ANALYZING IMRAN KHAN’S POST-PREMIERSHIP SPEECHES: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE PERSPECTIVE

The primary objective of this study is to explore the speeches made by well-known political figure in Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, following his removal on April 10, 2022. The research explores the persuasiveness of Khan's speeches, spurred on by his considerable influence, especially among young people. The context of Fairclough's 3D model was used to analyze five carefully selected speeches that were given between June 19, 2022, and March 25, 2023. After being translated from Urdu into English, the speeches were examined. Using the 3D model required close examination of the discourse practices, text, and sociocultural background in order to reveal the complex relationships between language, power, and sociopolitical setting in Pakistan. The analysis shows how skillfully Khan uses rhetorical elements like irony, satire, and intertextuality to address important topics, advocate for change, and raise social consciousness. These findings shed light on wider issues of public opinion, government, and social standards in addition to helping to comprehend Khan's communication tactics. This research sets the stage for future discussions on discourse analysis, political communication dynamics, and the role of language in shaping political discourse, ultimately enhancing our understanding of modern political dialogue in Pakistan.

Stylistic and Rhetoric Elements on Memes in Education Context: A Critical Discourse Analysis

In this digital age, the presence of internet memes becomes a common way to share information online. People may use different stylistic and rhetoric elements to communicate their ideas and convey a particular meaning. This paper aimed to analyze stylistic and rhetoric elements employed in the selected memes in education context by using Van Dijk Critical Discourse Analysis. The data were forty memes related to education which were collected from four Instagram groups, namely itb.receh, school_life memoriess, 9gag.com, and memeindonesia.real. This research utilized descriptive qualitative method. The result showed that in stylistic, the most dominant dictions used were slang and denotative. The high frequency of using slang is done as a strategy to express a sense of familiarity to audiences and to show portrait of daily basis situation in students’ lives, while the use of denotative dictions conveys clear understanding and avoid misinterpretation toward these memes. Furthermore, in rhetoric elements, no metaphor is found in the selected memes while graphics is mostly used in the memes to highlight important parts. It was delivered through the production of words in bigger size, bold, different colour, different type of fonts, words which are crossed out, and the use of emoticon. Graphic provides a visual representation for audiences and these highlighted words help them comprehend messages and values which the writer is trying to deliver.

Keberagaman Gender di Indonesia (Analisis Wacana Pemberitaan Gender pada Suku Bugis)

Indonesia has had a diverse history of homosexuality and transgenderism for a long time. This contradicts general public knowledge, which assumes that this influence originates from the Western world. This research aims to find out more about news about gender diversity in the Bugis tribe in Indonesia. News is taken from online media Kompasiana.com and Goodnewsfromindonesia. Id, and Bbc.com. These three media were chosen because they have the same reporting theme. The method used in this research is a descriptive qualitative study using Teun A. Van Dijk's discourse analysis. This research shows that the three news items fulfill the elements of discourse as text, except for the rhetorical elements in the Kompasiana.com and Bbc.com news. The three news stories both use inductive pattern explanations. The results of the analysis found that the context of gender diversity in the Bugis tribe includes roles, behavior, thought patterns, and emotional characteristics inherent in humans. Apart from that, the news also reminded the government to pay more attention to the traditions of the Bugis tribe because the culture of Indonesian society is decadent and must continue to be preserved. Keywords: Gender; Homosexual; Diversity; Bugis Tribe

Memetization of the president’s speeches to the nation in South Africa as popular rhetoric elements

The proliferation of political memes in recent years allows us to assume that they are a new tool of political communication and that social networks increase the possibilities for civil society to express opinions and intervene in the debate on matters of public interest. This article aims to examine the memes that have been disseminated on Twitter since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa in the wake of the president’s speeches to the nation to discover whether one can speak of a political rhetoric in memes and their argumentation. To this end, the research uses a qualitative-quantitative approach to classify the taxonomy of memes according to their content, combining the thematic classification of memes and the typology of images in digital discourse to discover the existence of the use of popular political rhetoric. The final sample comprises 351 memes, and the analysis shows that they used humour as a means of escape rather than as an effective way of sending political messages. Thus, the results reflect the existence of a resignification of popular culture that transcends memes as persuasive elements based on the inertia of popular rhetoric in contemporary political communication.

Critical Discourse Analysis of the Speech of Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the United Nations General Assembly

The research study entitled “Critical Discourse Analysis of the Speech of Recep Tayyip Erdogan at United Nations General Assembly” aims to analyze and find out the ways used by Recep Tayyip Erdogan in delivering his political speech using the Critical Discourse Analysis theory proposed by Fairclough and the theory of Persuasion postulated by Aristotle. During a political speech, the leader tries to express, declare, commit, emphasize, or motivate the listeners by using one’s ideology and power. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is considered an effective approach to exploring the use of power and hidden ideologies in a text. The method applied in this research is the descriptive qualitative method. The transcript of Erdogan’s speech was taken from the mentioned web page (America Times News Service September 21, 2022) and the video (with subtitles) from YouTube which has 30 30-minute time duration. Both the transcript and video of the speech were used in the investigation of the data. His speech of Erdogan has been analyzed to show how using language, he motivated and persuaded his followers to comply with his cause. Based on the study's findings, it can be concluded that figurative language, modal auxiliaries, and personal pronouns are used very efficiently and widely in the persuasive discourse of Erdogan, and the rhetorical elements that most frequently have been applied are a combination of appealing using ethos and pathos.

An analysis of some ethical argumentation about genetically modified food

We present an analysis of ethical argumentation and rhetorical elements in an article on the debate about growing genetically modified food (GMF), an issue of current interest in environmental ethics. Ethical argumentation is argumentation that a certain action is permissible, forbidden, or obligatory in terms of ethical intuitions, principles, or theories. Based on analysis of argumentation in the article, we propose several argumentation schemes for descriptive modeling of utilitarian arguments as an alternative to using more general schemes such as practical reasoning and argument from consequences. We also show how the article promoted its pro-GMF stance using rhetorical elements such as quotation, argument from expert opinion, and ad hominem attacks. Pedagogical and computational implications of the analysis of argumentation and rhetoric are discussed.

Language and Persuasion: An Exploratory Analysis of Rhetorical Elements in Celebrities’ Social Media Posts

This paper adapted the framework of rhetorical devices developed by Michalik-Suchanek to examine the language used in social media posts of Ghanaian celebrities, focusing specifically on the use of rhetorical elements. Instagram and Twitter were chosen as the primary platforms for analysis due to their popularity among Ghanaians. The dataset consisted of posts from 15 Ghanaian celebrities, sourced from either one or both platforms. The study adopted the embedded mixed-methods approach. A total of 130 celebrity posts from Instagram and 70 from Twitter, all from April 2022, were collected using mobile phones and laptops through an observational guide. Through a critical analysis of the sampled data, 22 rhetorical devices were identified, with syntactic devices being the most commonly used. The study revealed that most Ghanaian celebrities prefer to use Standard English in their posts. It was also revealed that these rhetorical devices were employed by celebrities to establish unique relationships with their followers, persuade them to take action, express intentions, caption videos and pictures, and enhance the overall meaning of their posts. The research showed that the use of rhetorical devices was effective in enriching the language of the posts. Based on these findings, it was recommended that further studies be conducted to explore the use of rhetorical elements in social media posts of politicians, businesspeople, entertainers, and other public figures in Ghana. Such studies would contribute to a deeper understanding of how rhetorical strategies are employed in the digital communication landscape. This study contributes to existing knowledge on social media research conducted in Ghana. Keywords: Rhetorical Elements, Language, Persuasion, Celebrities, Social Media, Ghana

Fighting the “Terrible Poison” of Terrorism: Marine Le Pen's Rhetoric of Ethnicism and Islamophobia

Abstract This essay outlines the rhetorical elements and discursive strategies used to perpetuate cultural racism, or ethnicism, in contemporary political discourse. Using Marine Le Pen's Islamophobic discourse as a case study, this essay demonstrates how Le Pen deploys ethno-nationalist rhetoric to highlight the dangers that she believes Muslim terrorists pose to French national identity. She portrays Muslim terrorists as rootless wanderers capable of causing irreparable damage to France, which enables her to craft herself as a protector of the French home using populist reasoning. In doing so, Le Pen's discourse stokes fears of clandestine terrorists hiding among the French Muslim and migrant populace, which constitutes the Muslim terrorist—and by extension, all Muslims—as major security and cultural threats to the nation. Consequently, Le Pen portrays French national identity as incompatible with all forms of Islam.

The Global Institutionalization of Human Rights Discourse: A Cross-national Analysis of the Language used in the International Labour Conference during the Cold War

ABSTRACT Although human rights discourse has become a central element of international political rhetoric, the process through which it came to reach its contemporary importance is disputed. In this article, that process is examined by conducting a cross-national analysis of the language used at sessions of the International Labour Conference during the Cold War. Although the mainstream understanding is that human rights discourse diffused ‘from the West to the rest’, here it is argued that the global proliferation of human rights discourse can best be explained by the existence of world culture in which actors engage in ‘epistemic governance’. In other words, to advance their own aspirations actors try to shape the way in which others perceive reality by utilizing well-respected values in their argumentation. The values invoked become increasingly institutionalized and thus more useful for epistemic governance, leading to a synchronization of those discourses in international politics. Although actors from different ideological, cultural, and political backgrounds have emphasized different rights and topics when invoking human rights, these invocations almost exclusively drew from the same globally shared understanding of human rights’ importance and essence.

Deciphering Deception: How Different Rhetoric of AI Language Impacts Users’ Sense of Truth in LLMs

Users are increasingly exposed to AI-generated language, presenting potential deception and communication risks. This study delved into the rhetorical aspect of AI-generated language influencing users’ truth discernment. We conducted a user study comparing three levels of rhetorical presence and four persuasive rhetorical elements, using interviews to understand users’ truth-detection methods. Results showed that outputs with fewer rhetorical elements posed challenges for users in distinguishing truth from false, while those with more rhetoric often misled users into false truths. Users’ AI expectations influenced truth judgments, with responses meeting expectations perceived as more truthful. Casual, human-like responses were often deemed false, while technical, precise AI responses were preferred. This research emphasizes that rhetorical elements of AI language can significantly bias individuals regardless of a statement’s actual truth. For enhanced transparency in human-AI communication, it is advisable for AI designs to thoughtfully integrate rhetorical elements and establish guiding principles aimed at minimizing the potential for deceptive responses.

Gendered Moral Geopolitics in Hungary: Continuities and Discontinuities since the 1950s in the Symbolic Gender Politics of the Orbán Regime

ABSTRACT In this article, I explore the continuities from the 1950s onward along which the Orbán regime has organized its own symbolic gender politics. My key concept is gendered moral geopolitics, and I demonstrate that from the 1950s onward, the various hegemony-building projects expressed their relationship to other geographical areas, most notably the “Western” core, through symbolic gender politics, and the comparison of domestic gender relations with gender relations in the core was a prominent rhetorical element of these symbolic politics. This historical analysis helps to reveal the structural historical roots of the symbolic gender politics of the Orbán regime.

Conspiracy or Incompetence? The Resolution of Inconsistencies in Discourses about Covid-19

This article shows that analyzing how incoherence is resolved in discourse makes it possible to identify clues revealing the “conspiracy” nature of a specific discourse and to distinguish it from a “non-conspiracy” one. It examines some of the main defining features of “conspiracism” in the scientific literature and, based on the analysis of three case studies drawn from interviews with people opposed to the French health policy during the Covid-19 crisis, shows how these features can be echoed in certain forms of resolution of incoherence in discourse. The study reveals that some elements of conspiracy rhetoric can function more as an occasional, or even opportunistic, strategy, than a total and systematic worldview.

A Rhetorical Deconstruction of Amanda Palmer's Poem on the Boston Marathon Bombing; 'Empathy is Nothing'

Terrorism in the United States, particularly highlighted by the infamous 9/11 attacks, continued to be a persistent concern. This study investigated the intricate relationship between terrorism and sporting events and examining the emergence of global-local terrorism, exemplified by the Boston bombers. Methodologically, this research incorporated Amanda Palmer's poem written in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing. Using qualitative analysis, the study examined the rhetorical elements and appeals employed in the poem to convey the emotional toll and complexities faced by individuals in the aftermath of terrorism. Thematic analysis reveals recurring rhetorical strategies, emphasizing the transformative influence of art and the human spirit during difficulty. The researcher employed classical rhetoric to dissect the poem, exploring ethos, pathos, logos, and other rhetorical elements to assess its persuasive and artistic effectiveness. This comprehensive analysis contributes valuable insights into the rhetorical strategies used by artists in addressing societal challenges and highlights the importance of empathy and compassion in artistic expression.

Stylistic Characteristics of Scientific News

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the stylistic characteristics of scientific news. It explores the unique lexical, syntactic, and rhetorical elements that distinguish scientific news writing from other forms of journalism. The essay categorizes vocabulary into technical, semitechnical, and nontechnical words, highlighting their strategic integration in scientific reporting. It also examines syntactic features such as the use of passive voice and parallel structures, which contribute to the clarity and precision of scientific news. Rhetorical techniques like metaphors and alliteration are discussed as tools for enhancing reader engagement and comprehension. The essay underscores the importance of these stylistic elements in effectively communicating complex scientific concepts to a broad audience, emphasizing their role in bridging the gap between specialized knowledge and public understanding.

Tacitova sentencioznost / Tacitus’ Sententiousness

This work focuses on sententia, a rhetorical element which Tacitus skillfully incorporated into Annals. The introduction provides a brief history of sententia and its definition in ancient and rhetorical theory. As Tacitus belonged to a specific literary style (Seneca’s “new style”), his way of writing was characterized by short and antithetical sentences, stylistic and rhetorical embellishments, unusual word choices, and a predilection for proverbial or sententious observations. Such sententious expression, as a hallmark of the sublime style, reinforced the impression of truth in Annals. In a pessimistic tone, the historian speaks about human greatness as well as weaknesses, and their role throughout history. To better understand Tacitus’ sententiousness, the second chapter discusses the general aspects and specificities of sententiae in Annals. The general aspects include themes and social issues, i.e. social deviations that the historian dealt with in his sententiae. As sententiae were used to reveal deeper truths, their use has been called “rhetoric of disclosure” by some, while others, due to their connection to historical context, call it “sociological rhetoric”. The specificities of Tacitus’ sententiae relate to their form, grammatical-syntactical, and stylistic properties. The third chapter deals with the structuring technique of sententiae in Annals, which in Tacitus’ case, is related to historical context. Their function was to portray various historical personalities, as well as for the historian to express his own view of history. Wth that in mind, they were classified as sententiae in the speeches of historical personalities or sententiae used in direct narration. In addition to classification, a linguistic-stylistic analysis was carried out, revealing many stylistic and rhetorical figures, as well as poetic expressions. Based on the analysis of selected material, certain conclusions about sententiae were drawn. In addition to their moral and ethical content, we noticed the general, as well as specific aspects of sententiae, their structuring technique, function, and classification, as well as their epigrammatic and poetic stylization in Tacitus’ Annals.

DISCOURSE OF TOLERANCE: FRAME ANALYSIS IN BARACK OBAMA’S SPEECHES

The knowledge of lexical, grammatical, stylistic, and syntactic can help with political speeches allowing deconstructing the principal messages originally laid down in the address. The right uses of tolerance help to create an idea of a political leader, including based on their verbal manifestations. The use of frame analysis is relevant in modern linguistics since the world is undergoing considerable transformations. The formation of an idea of the discourse of tolerance in the modern world is necessary for every member of society, since through political texts and the introduction of implicit meanings in them, one can achieve a considerable influence on the audience. Framing analysis is the young method in the world of mass information that helps to form framing with public opinions. With this method there is the opportunity to manipulate people, when there is a potential threat or important information. The decoding of linguistic mechanisms allowed forming the main semantic, grammatical, and stylistic guidelines for the identification and interpretation of symbols, images, and meanings in a political context. The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning of tolerance evoked by frames in particular contexts, to form the principal semantic prototypes within the political text and their structural implementation. The subject of the study was the final address of B. Obama (2016a) at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, on September 20, 2016, considered from the standpoint of the discourse of tolerance. To understand the genealogy of the discourse of tolerance there were used other political speeches of B. Obama. For the research were used such methods as discursive (for evaluation of final address of the B. Obama speeches), linguistic (analyse of verbal constructions), contextual and frame analysis, which include such stages as content analysis to quantify tolerance, framing each form of tolerance and context analysis. Semantic elements of tolerance with practices and knowledge became the main problem of this research. In the basis of the article lie Fillmore’s views that frames activate background knowledge containing scenes and situations; scenes are related to texts; word semantics is connected with text semantics. The research is designed systematically to locate tolerance and its forms quantitatively, contextually to textual interpretation which incorporates analysis of linguistic, discursive, pragmatic, and rhetorical elements. Also, it was defined that in the speeches B. Obama used four concepts of tolerance: in positive (A) (is a product of other human value) and negative (B) (emphasizes to tolerate) meanings, verbs in passive voice (C) (direct object) and adjective (D) (describe object founded around the world). Another feature of reference is the specification of a particular type of tolerance resulting from another human virtue, i.e., respect. In this utterance conjunctions of extension: two types of variation: alternative and replacive conjunctions are used. The following groups of synonyms are distinguished: “patience”, “forbearance”, “admittance” categories, etc.; hyponyms are arranged as “superior” and “inferior” components. In componential analysis, respect is in inferior relation to tolerance. However, in current utterance, respect is in superior relation to tolerance. The complex nature of tolerance discourse, showcasing its multifaceted linguistic expression, was investigated. Through various linguistic forms and contextual cues, the tolerance frame activates scenarios of conflict and crisis, offering itself as a solution against negative trends like intolerance. The research outlined how tolerance is strategically implemented into political addresses, invoking principles of respect, diversity, equity, and human rights to address challenges, including religious conflicts and societal disparities. The results of the research further can be used to create programs for semantic prototyping, placing frame markers in automatic mode, and developing language patterns.