“A STUDY OF RHETORICAL ELEMENT AND POLITICAL PERSUASION IN TRUMP’S SPEECH AT UNGA 74TH SESSION: A POLITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS”

Abstract

The present research pertains to political discourse analysis that seeks to explore the political persuasion strategies employed by political leaders in their speeches. The persuasive strategies employed by Donald Trump in his speech delivered at the United Nations General Assembly 74th session provide primary data for this qualitative study. The study critically analyzes the ways to project political ideologies through the propagation of self-presentation and political persuasion. Political leaders make use of rhetorical fallacies, more specifically, the pretentious use of language to garner support from the masses and so is the case reflected by Trump’s speech. As a world leader, due to enormous political power wielded by the US, the speech under reference provides valuable insights into the ways how language is linked with power. The present study employed the political discourse analysis (PDA) model proposed van Dijk and Dunmire. It is a descriptive study that Employs purposively sampling technique to figure out the elements of political ideology contained by the speech. The analysis of discursive elements shows that Trump’s speech under reference is well-rooted in the US political ideology of declaring non-aligned countries as threats to international peace and US allies as partners to peace. This self-proclaimed positive self-presentation and negative others-presentation are employed politically, transforming the perception and political views of people.