Evaluation as a persuasive tactic in the 2012 Obama-Romney debates
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Helena Halmari
Abstract
The focus of this article is the deictic evaluative construction that’s, as used by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential debates. A summative clause, often toward the end of a discourse turn, opened by the distal demonstrative pronoun that, has a persuasive function, evaluating the immediately preceding discourse content. This construction allows the speaker to evaluate his own message positively and the opponent’s message negatively; it also structures the content clearly and concisely, helping to portray the speaker as one with a strong and clear agenda. A quantitative comparison of the usage of the that’s construction with regard to Obama and Romney shows that both used it equally during the first debate; however, in the second debate, Obama doubled its use. This chapter brings together a concept from narrative theory (evaluation) and a concept from rhetoric (the persuasive function of language), as these two concepts intersect within the persuasive genre of presidential debates.
Abstract
The focus of this article is the deictic evaluative construction that’s, as used by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential debates. A summative clause, often toward the end of a discourse turn, opened by the distal demonstrative pronoun that, has a persuasive function, evaluating the immediately preceding discourse content. This construction allows the speaker to evaluate his own message positively and the opponent’s message negatively; it also structures the content clearly and concisely, helping to portray the speaker as one with a strong and clear agenda. A quantitative comparison of the usage of the that’s construction with regard to Obama and Romney shows that both used it equally during the first debate; however, in the second debate, Obama doubled its use. This chapter brings together a concept from narrative theory (evaluation) and a concept from rhetoric (the persuasive function of language), as these two concepts intersect within the persuasive genre of presidential debates.
Chapters in this book
- 日本言語政策学会 / Japan Association for Language Policy. 言語政策 / Language Policy 10. 2014 i
- Dedication v
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Structures in discourse 1
- Evaluation as a persuasive tactic in the 2012 Obama-Romney debates 18
- How pragmatically (in)definite are you and one ? 36
- Amazing – The use of English in texting between a Finland-Swedish high school girl and friends 58
- The uses of laughter in epideictic radio interviews 83
- Temporality in reaction GIFs as multimodal virtual performatives 103
- Emoji and illocutionarity 124
- Revisiting adaptability 156
- Vernacular voices in the public sphere 176
- Contributor bios 202
- Index 205
Chapters in this book
- 日本言語政策学会 / Japan Association for Language Policy. 言語政策 / Language Policy 10. 2014 i
- Dedication v
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Structures in discourse 1
- Evaluation as a persuasive tactic in the 2012 Obama-Romney debates 18
- How pragmatically (in)definite are you and one ? 36
- Amazing – The use of English in texting between a Finland-Swedish high school girl and friends 58
- The uses of laughter in epideictic radio interviews 83
- Temporality in reaction GIFs as multimodal virtual performatives 103
- Emoji and illocutionarity 124
- Revisiting adaptability 156
- Vernacular voices in the public sphere 176
- Contributor bios 202
- Index 205
