Rhetorical Analysis of Ivanka Trump’s Address in World Assembly for Women

【Abstract】This paper analyzes Ivanka Trump’s Address in World Assembly for Women from the perspective of rhetoric， which aims to explore the effects of rhetorical strategies. We all college students even more people thereby get a way of our own by following and learning these successful rhetorical practices.

【Key words】Rhetoric; address; rhetorical; strategies

【作者簡介】陈云慧（1992-），女，汉族，山西临汾人，西安外国语大学英文学院2017级在读研究生，研究方向：应用语言学。

1. Introduction

Based on the theory of rhetoric originated from ancient Greek， this paper chooses Ivanka Trump’s Address to the World Assembly for Women as research subject. The address will be examined from the perspective of rhetoric， specifically intrinsic and extrinsic proofs. By analyzing the text， the author attempts to find the rhetorical points reflected in the address. It is hoped that the research can help college students improve their performance in daily rhetorical practices.

2. Theoretical Guidance of Rhetorical Analysis in Address

Rhetoric refers to the art of effective speaking and writing to persuade or influence people. Under the guidance of the theory of rhetoric， the author analyzes Ivanka’s address from two aspects： intrinsic proofs and extrinsic proofs. Firstly， intrinsic Proofs： in the Rhetoric， Aristotle first proposed this concept and divided proofs into two kinds： intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic proofs refer to three kinds of arguments： logos， ethos and pathos. Secondly， extrinsic Proofs： In modern times， students are usually taught that there are only two kinds of extrinsic proofs， namely testimony and data. Testimony refers to a written or spoken statement given by a witness about some event or state of affairs. Data refers to the statements of facts or statistics that related to the situation.

3. Rhetorical Analysis of Examples in Ivanka Trump’s Address

3.1 Three Appeals

Logos： In the address， Ivanka narrated her experience of work and family—as a professional with three young children， which can close the distance with the audience to great extent and resonate with them. For example，

（a） I joined the government informed by my experiences in the private sector…

（b） As a young professional with young children， despite the help I am able to have at home;

Ethos： Credibility is the prerequisite of the success for address， which comes from the audience’s recognition to character， reputation and capabilities of the speaker.

Ivanka， as the first daughter of US， the audiences even more people show great respect for her. Thus they were more willing to listen and accept the information she attempted to convey. Many her words in the address suggest her noble and respectable identity. For example，

（d） That is why after my father’s election， I decided to leave my business and work in government to advance…

Pathos： Ivanka， as a feminist， has a strong desire for the development of womenomics. We can see that from the address. For example： （f） Womenomics recognizes the centrality of women， who represent roughly half of our global population.

These points catered to the emotions of the audience especially more women. The pathetical appeal could make audience make immediate response and have more participation in the address.

3.2 Extrinsic Proofs

Compared with the intrinsic proofs， extrinsic proofs just account for a small portion in the address. Ivanka used some statement of facts， such as data， especially， when she reviewed the history and changes of workforce for women. For example，

（g）Currently， an estimated 49 percent of women across the world participate in the global workforce.

（h）… 45percent of women worked outside the home. Today， 66 percent …in the workforce.

As we all know， the data provide strong support for the topic and make the audience witness the changes and achievements in over the years. However， the sources of the information are not reflected in the address.

4. Conclusion

In our daily rhetorical practices， like speech， we should take the proper rhetorical appeals and statements of facts into consideration. More attention should be paid to the authorities and reliability of the source of information to achieve our desired purpose. In addition to， other rhetorical aspects like style also should be concerned.

References：

[1]Crowley， S. & Hawhee， D. Ancient rhetorics for contemporary students （4th ed.）[J]. New York： MacMillan，2009.

[2]郭夢宁.唐纳德·特朗普政治修辞特征分析[D].苏州大学，2017.