Persuasive Devices Research Articles

Words as Powerful Weapons: Dysphemism in Trump’s Covid-19 Speeches

Covid-19 pandemic constitutes the greatest threat to the worldwide population and countries nowadays. Donald Trump, the president of the greatest country in the world, has frequently received heavy criticism as a result of his language use in the period of Covid-19. Therefore, the present paper examines dysphemistic expressions used in Trump’s discourse on Covid-19. A sample of dysphemistic examples adopted in Trump’s daily speeches in a crucial week of 11 th till 18 th of March 2020 was analysed. The researcher relied on the Critical-political Discourse Analysis by Van Dijk (1997; 2001), Conceptual Metaphor theory by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), and the concept of dysphemism by Allan and Burridge (2006). It has been found that Trump referred to strong language and war metaphors to defend himself and his point of view, to shape Americans’ thoughts and views, or to attack other countries or institutions. Several conceptual metaphors, including Covid-19 is a) an invisible enemy, b) a foreign enemy, c) a dangerous threat, and d) a global battle, were commonly used. The data analysis shows that Trump has a linguistic mastery of eloquent and persuasive devices in political discourse which permitted him to make a shift in Americans’ thoughts and opinions. For future research, the current paper suggests investigating Trump’s paralinguistic features in speeches, such as body language, facial expressions, tone and pitch of voice, eye movements, and hand gestures. Keywords: Dysphemism; Metaphor; Discourse Analysis; Covid-19; Donald Trump

Avaliação social como recurso persuasivo em discursos políticos: Clinton vs. Trump

RESUMO Mudanças políticas têm intensificado os debates sobre como certos discursos estabelecem agendas e influenciam eleitores. Nesse escopo, a Análise Crítica do Discurso e a Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional, juntamente com o arcabouço teórico-metodológico da Avaliatividade, demonstraram ser bem-sucedidas na investigação da ideologia em textos, bem como na abordagem de tópicos como a polarização política. Portanto, a presente pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar a avaliação social da Teoria da Avaliatividade como um dispositivo ideológico e persuasivo nos discursos de nomeação de Clinton e Trump, em 2016. Os resultados enfatizam usos de estratégias retóricas que podem levar os eleitores à preferência de certos conjuntos de valores e crenças. A análise revelou que, naqueles discursos, os candidatos usaram estratégias diferentes para persuadir os eleitores, construindo abordagens discursivas ideológicas negativas (Trump) e positivas (Clinton), aplicando a avaliação social como estratégia retórica central.

Exploring Visual Framing Strategies, Sentiment, and Product Presentation Modality in Instagram Posts of Fashion Influencers

A highly visual social media platform such as Instagram is incorporated by many companies in their marketing communications strategies to advertise their products and services employing digital visual rhetoric. The purpose of this study is to extend the current understanding of visual framing strategies, sentiment, and product presentation modality in the multicultural context by examining social media practices of influencers belonging to two cultural backgrounds, namely the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Arab Emirates. Using content analysis, this study reveals visual rhetorical strategies practiced by Instagram influencers that can equip digital marketing practitioners with effective devices of persuasion. The study provides a useful contribution to the theory of digital visual rhetoric.

Образы А.Ф. Керенского и политическая борьба в 1917 году (на примере газет А.А. Суворина)

The article examines the cultural forms of legitimation / delegitimation of authority of the Provisional Government. Particular attention is paid to the personal authority of Alexander Kerensky, including rhetorical (persuasive) devices and visual images which underlay the tactics of praising or condemning him. As the main source, the article uses the newspapers of A.A. Suvorin, namely Malen'kaya gazeta [Little newspaper], Narodnaya gazeta [People’s newspaper], Rus' [Rus], Novaya Rus' [New Rus]. These newspapers are compared with resolutions, letters and diaries, and with publications in other periodicals. The study clarifies some aspects of political isolation of the Provisional Government in the fall of 1917. By this time, the propaganda attack on Kerensky was conducted not only by the Bolsheviks and other left-wing groups but also by the right-wing and conservative publications. The propaganda of the left- and right-wing opponents was significantly different but they had a point of contact: both of them created the image of the “traitor” who was unworthy to remain in power.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Language of Persuasion Used in the Election Campaigns by American Parliaments

Persuasion can be defined as a scientific art which is closely connected with our life .Linguistically speaking, persuasion is achieved through many techniques termed "persuasive devices". These persuasive devices are covered in different domains of life. Accordingly, persuasion has been defined in various methods according to communication as ''a communication process in which a communicator searches to draw out a desired response from his receiver''. This paper investigates different strategies of persuasion used by different people in different domains of life and how those strategies differ when used in election parliament. The aim of this paper is to find out the strategies of persuasion used by different people and specifically in the election Campaigns. It is hypothesized that Americans use different strategies of persuasion in order to affect others by changing their beliefs, attitudes and so on. This paper explains what is meant by the term "critical discourse analysis", (henceforth CDA), elaborates on the political discourse analysis and shows how it differs from (CDA).Outlining persuasion with its strategies which are used to influence on the others. Besides, it analyzes the data selected for this study which is the speeches of Hillary Clinton and Donald trump through the polling, then discusses the results and conclusions.

Strategic Storytelling: When Narratives Help Versus Hurt the Persuasive Power of Facts

Stories are known to be powerful persuasive devices. Stories can capture attention, evoke emotion, and entrance listeners in a manner that reduces resistance to a message. Given the powerful persuasive potential of stories, one might deduce that it is best to embed one's facts within a story. In contrast to this perspective, the present research suggests that coupling facts with stories can either enhance or undermine persuasion. Specifically, to understand when facts benefit from the use of stories, this work provides a deeper examination of how counterargument reduction-a common explanation for the unique persuasive capabilities of stories-operates. Across three experiments, evidence is found for when it is more effective to embed facts within a story versus to use facts alone.

La construcción del espacio turístico a través de la fraseología metafórica

This article explores the metaphorical strategies conveyed by phraseological units in a subsection of the Linguaturismo corpus (Calvi 2011). Through a quali-quantative analysis, metaphorical phraseological units related to space were identified and classified, with a view to identifying the persuasive strategies necessary to create the image of the tourist destination in the reader/traveler's mind.The analysis followed a three-step methodology: a) semi-automatic elaboration of a list of potentially metaphorical N-grams; b) identification of phraseological patterns in the N-grams according to syntactic criteria (Corpas Pastor 1996); c) classification of metaphorical phraseological units based on the conceptual domain of space used as source domain, as target domain, and as both source and target domains (Lakoff/Johnson 1980).Results show that space metaphors in tourist texts rely on conventional linguistic patterns typical of general language. However, on a conceptual level, they display a functional specialisation as persuasive devices; by placing the readers/tourists at the centre of the communication, metaphors contribute to enhancing their sensorial perception, thus inviting them to visit a destination, buy a tourist service, or do a tourist experience.

Thinking Human Rights Through Metaphor

The present article argues that as legal scholars we need to attend to the many ways in which human rights are represented in metaphor because metaphor is jurisgenerative (ie metaphor is not simply a rhetorical or persuasive device but a juridical means of creating legal meaning and concepts). The article argues that metaphors constitute particular understandings of human rights and that these understandings come with political, legal, ethical, and affective consequences for legal thought and practice. The article pursues this argument through a reading and re-reading of three quite well-known metaphors: the metaphor of the trump card; the metaphor of the lingua franca; and, finally, the metaphor of the empty vessel.

Adopting Conceptual Metaphors as a Persuasive Device in Learners’ Argument

Conceptual metaphors are pervasive in both mass communication and interpersonal exchanges and can play an important role in persuasion. The persuasive power of metaphors is most evident in the field of politics where it is actively studied. As a pedagogical adaptation, Littlemore (2005) conducted a study which taught the use of conceptual metaphors explicitly for the purposes of persuasion in a class debate, which forms the basis of this study to demonstrate how explicit teaching of conceptual metaphors as a persuasive device changes EFL adult learners’ argumentation. As a pretest of learners’ argumentation capabilities, learners were asked to write their opinions on a given issue. Then, after having received instruction on utilizing conceptual metaphors as a strategy for persuasion, they were guided to make their arguments with the use of conceptual metaphors on the same issue. Through comparison and analysis of the results from the pre-test and post-test, the role that conceptual metaphors play in improving one’s persuasion was evaluated. The results show that the power of persuasion of both the pro and the con arguments is strengthened. This is consistent with the findings identified in the literature review, which theoretically illustrated the ways metaphors work as a persuasive device. In conclusion, this study contributes to the existing body of literature by verifying the persuasive power of metaphors with the addition of empirical evidence.

“It's Not the Whole Truth”. The Notions of Truth and Falsehood as Persuasive Devices in Polish and Swedish Parliamentary Talk

Abstract The article analyses references made to the notion of truth and falsehood in Swedish and Polish parliamentary talk. The results show that despite the mainstreaming of post-structuralism in contemporary society, the notion of truth – the central question of Western philosophy – is still present the parliamentary talk and in the ways in which MPs deliberate and engage in arguments. As the article argues, the MPs deploy discursive strategies exploiting mostly the classical or early modern objective theories of truth. Seeing truth as the ultimate value makes it expedient as a persuasive device and part of epideictic oratory. Apart from the similarities found in the Swedish and Polish parliamentary talk, the article shows differences mainly in how directly an accusation of lying can be voiced in the two parliaments.

PRE-SEQUENCES AND SPEECH ACTS IN CEBUANO RADIO HEALTH COMMERCIALS IN CEBU CITY

This research attempted to identify and analyze the Cebuano-Bisaya radio health commercials using Schegloff’s (2007) framework on pre-sequences with the support of Yule’s (1996) speech act theory. Thirty (30) Cebuano-Bisaya radio health commercials were gathered from two selected radio stations. The results revealed that representatives were the most dominant function in speech acts that reflected in pre-sequences specifically with pre-offers and pre-announcements through drama and testimonial categories which are often used in medicinal product commercials. In advertising strategies, Cebuano-Bisaya commercials use Representatives and Expressive as persuasive devices in addressing the advertisers’ intended message to the target audience. Also, Cebuano-Bisaya commercials used Representatives and Expressive as an appeal to suggest an intention for the listener to buy advertised products.Keywords: Cebuano, commercial, health, pre-sequences, radio, speech acts

Techniques of Strategic Political Communication: The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s Persuasive Devices

ABSTRACTThis research analyzes the entire range of Arabic language communiqués issued by the Muslim Brotherhood from July 2013–July 2017 in order to show how political Islamist movements utilize persuasive techniques to advance their strategic communication campaigns and achieve their political goals. Using agenda-setting as a theoretical framework and the seven devices developed by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA) in the late 1930s as a deductive tool, this article demonstrates that the Brotherhood’s communication strategy strongly aligned with the seven devices developed by the IPA: more than one technique was identified in 97% of the movement’s communiqués analyzed. These findings indicate that persuasive techniques are being used by the Brotherhood as strategic communication devices to serve the goals of 1) discrediting the current military regime; 2) winning the hearts and minds of Egyptians; and, 3) establishing themselves as a legitimate political actor. This case study advances second-level agenda setting theory by suggesting that the IPA’s persuasive techniques reveal the specific mechanisms through which the Brotherhood seek to achieve their communication goals. By raising awareness of these techniques as a critical means of setting the Brotherhood’s agenda, this article also seeks to empower domestic and regional audiences consuming these messages.

Rhetoric and Economics, Analysis and History

Rhetoric and Economics, Analysis and History

‘It's not good saying “Well it it might do that or it might not”’: Hypothetical reported speech in business meetings

This article examines the use of direct reported speech in business meetings that is framed by the speaker as hypothetical. While the past two decades have seen many empirical studies on direct reported speech (DRS) in spoken interactions, fewer have focused specifically on hypothetical reported speech (HRS). This study identifies and examines the discourse patterns and sequences used to perform HRS in a 1-million-word corpus of business interactions, and explores the reasons why HRS is used. As such, it is the first study to locate and examine this discourse phenomenon across a spoken business corpus. Through the application of an original methodology, HRS was found to occur as part of specific sequential patterns, and was used largely as a persuasive device, fulfilling a range of related rhetorical functions. Like DRS, HRS can project either a sense of involvement or detachment, but unlike DRS, also allows speakers to generalise; detachment and generalisability being particularly relevant to a business context. The research provides a theoretical contribution on the use of HRS, indicating that HRS is used strategically in professional contexts, often by senior employees, not only to persuade others but also to bring about change in action relevant to the professional practice of the organisation.

Making Transportable Identities Relevant as a Persuasive Device. The Case of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Concession Speech

Transportable identities are often extraneous in discourse, but they can be brought to the surface and made relevant, also as a means to persuade an audience. I discuss the case of the concession speech Hillary Rodham Clinton gave on June, 7th 2008 after she lost against Barack Obama in the Democratic Primaries. In order to successfully reposition herself from an opponent to a supporter of Obama, Clinton draws on several aspects of her transportable identity to stress the similarity between herself and Obama. Next to focusing on the fact that they are both Democrats, Americans and human beings, she zooms in on their membership of two powerless groups: namely that of women and African Americans. Both from a historical and a personal perspective, these two categorizations of herself and Obama are presented in a highly persuasive way and create unity between the two former opponents. As such, I not only show how identity, which relates to the concept of ethos in classical rhetorical terms, is discursively constructed in a speech, but also how it serves the argumentational goal of repositioning oneself entirely.

Metaphors We Travel by: A Corpus-Assisted Study of Metaphors in Promotional Tourism Discourse

ABSTRACTDespite the widely disseminated assumption that metaphors are the key persuasive devices in promoting tourist destinations, specifically those located in tropical regions, there has been to date no systematic research investigating the use of figurative language in tourism promotional discourse. Using a corpus-assisted approach to the identification and analysis of metaphors supported by Wmatrix, this study attempts to establish empirically whether promotion of destinations culturally and geographically faraway does deploy more metaphors than marketing of tourist places “closer” to home and what kind of conceptual mappings and metaphorical expressions are utilized. The results point to a significant increase of metaphor use in the descriptions of tropical destinations. Five domains—“BODY,” “NATURAL PRECIOUS ELEMENT,” “COLOR,” “TASTE,” and “RELIGION”—prove especially productive. The combinations of metaphorical expressions from these domains generate sensory fusions that appeal to multiple senses at once including vision, taste and imagination, and in doing so, potentially increase the “appetite” for “consuming” a destination. They also perform ideological work as devices in discourse that clandestinely perpetuates colonial legacies.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE OF METAPHORS IN THE HOLY QURAN

As a system of communication, language has literal and figurative meanings. In the case of literal language, words are used to express meaning as defined, while in the case of figurative language, words are used to provide room for interpretation. A profound contemplation done by some linguists shows that Holy Qur’an uses two kinds of meanings, they are haqiqi (literal language) and majazi (figurative languages). In this case, metaphors or figurative language is used as a persuasive device to strengthen Muslims’ faith in God and convince disbelievers to believe in God.

Metaphor and Simile as Communicative Devices in the Essays of Virginia Woolf

AbstractIn this article we argue that the rhetorical fi gures of metaphor and simile, as two persuasive devices that characterise the style of the essay of Virginia Woolf, possess a cognitive value different from the simple use of the identifi cation and contraposition of elements, in the case of metaphor, and the comparison in the case of simile. In the essays analysed, the use of these tropes imply the recognition of the grammatical elements and its meaning, which must needs transcend the textual level to enter the contextual domain as far as cultural and ideological traits that the reader should perceive and enjoy.Key words: Essay, discourse, Rhetorics, argument, rhetorical fi gure, metaphor, simile, Virginia Woolf.ResumenEn este artículo proponemos el análisis y posterior evaluación de dos tropos, la metáfora y el símil, como fi guras retóricas esenciales a la hora de caracterizar el estilo de los ensayos de Virginia Woolf. Destacamos en especial el valor comunicativo de estos dos recursos en que, a partir de la identifi cación y posterior análisis de los elementos gramaticales que los componen, debemos ir más allá del plano textual y adentrarnos en el contextual, donde abundan los matices ideológicos y culturales. Es en el reconocimiento de estas fi guras donde advertimos la manera novedosa que tiene la autora de encauzar al lector a la persuasión de las ideas que nos desea transmitir.Palabras clave: Ensayo, discurso, Retórica, argumento, fi gura retórica, metáfora, símil, Virginia Woolf.

Implications of the advertising phenomenon in the configuration of contemporary urban space. Case in study: Chapultepec Area, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

In the contemporary city, the advertising phenomenon, understood as the deployment of strategies, images, campaigns, phrases, messages and other persuasive devices with the aim of selling or making known messages or products, has been occupying a relevant position in the way which the cities of our days are conceived. The advertising phenomenon practically involves many of the circumstances that define characteristics of the places and people that inhabit urban spaces contained in the cities. Although commercial activity is part of the basic functioning of society in general, this type of actions have had to adapt to the dynamism of a market of consumption and consumerism that is driven precisely by the implementation of strategies and actions of the advertising order, both to small and large-scale, that seek to generate the validity of brands, products and services offered to a mass of citizens identified as consumers, through advertising speech whose fundamental interest is to generate emotional imbalances in individuals for the purpose of driving changes in their consumption behavior. To comply with the above, necessarily requires a place that serves as a support for the deployment of campaigns, advertisements and promotions of the advertising phenomenon. In the case of cities such as Guadalajara, the existence and transcendence of certain urban spaces is due to a use that the inhabitants themselves provide in relation to their interests and objectives. This relevance that the same citizen grants, is also identified as a business opportunity for companies seeking to meet their economic needs, which are linked directly with their own permanence in the commercial field. This document identifies some of the most important implications that the advertising phenomenon generates in an urban space representative of the city of Guadalajara: the Chapultepec Zone. To do so, a methodology is used that includes a commercial survey of the area, analysis of the opinions of pedestrians in the study area, social network users, as well as contributions from previous studies linked to commercial growth. In the final part of the document there are a series of reflections that show a common thread: the mercantile criterion above all things.

Orality in Persian Argumentative Discourse: A Case Study of Editorials

Languages have their own distinctive styles of argumentation. It seems some languages like Arabic and Persian have a preference for using the “oral” features of parataxis, formulaicity and repetition as persuasive devices in argumentation. The purpose of this article is first to examine these “oral” characteristics in Persian argumentation, and then to tie together the two areas of research: the study of orality and the study of metadiscourse. The article claims that these oral characteristics in Persian are means of gaining rhetorical effectiveness. Therefore, they should be considered as metadiscourse devices used to create a bond between writer and reader.