Analysis

Here is a short presentation of our analysis of Boris Johnson's speech on the EU referendum. This analysis will be inspired by the rhetorical pentagram and will give you an overview of the speech.

We will look at the overall topic—the EU referendum—and at the way the speaker explores it by contrasting the advantages of the UK leaving the EU with the disadvantages of being an EU member by looking at economic and political aspects.

We will discuss the speaker’s background as a British politician and supporter of the Leave camp and whether he manages to come across as credible to the audience which is the British public—particularly those of a liberal orientation.

We will help you assess the speaker’s intention of convincing the audience that they should vote to leave the EU and of rejecting the arguments in favour of staying in the EU. Then, we will look at the circumstances of the speech—at the campaign for the EU referendum and at the causes that triggered it.

Finally, we will look at the way the speaker uses language elements such as rhetorical devices and forms of appeal to make his speech more convincing and to appeal to the audience’s reason and trust so that they will decide to vote for leaving the EU.

You can find our full analysis in what follows.

Further help

Do you want additional help with analysis of speeches? See our guide to speech analysis: