Intention
Donald Trump’s immigration speech explores the topic of illegal immigration in the US, focusing on the negative consequences of illegal immigration and the speaker’s proposed solutions to this problem if he is elected President.
As the speech is part of an electoral campaign, the overall intention of the speaker is to gain more voters by convincing them to accept his views and measures and by discrediting his opponent, Hillary Cli…
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Convincing the audience that illegal immigration is a security threat and an economic burden
Throughout the speech, one of Donald Trump’s main intentions is to convince the American audience that immigration – particularly illegal immigration— has only negative consequences for the US. To achieve this intention, Donald Trump relies extensively on logos, using statistics about crimes committed by illegal immigrants or about their impact on the US economy.
Here are only a few such examples: “According to federal data, there are at least 2 million criminal aliens now inside the country.” (ll. 154-155); “…
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Convincing the audience to accept his measures on immigration
By discrediting his opponent and presenting the negative consequences of illegal immigration, Donald Trump paves the way for his third important intention: convincing American voters to accept his platform on immigration. He pursues this intention by creating a sense of urgency and using repetition: “This is it. We won’t get another opportunity – it will be too late.” (l. 404); “Now is the time for these voices to be heard. Now is the time for the media to…
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Convincing the audience that he is the better candidate and to vote for him
The overall, final purpose of the speaker us to persuade the audience that he is the best presidential candidate and to persuade them to vote for him. To achieve this intention, he appeals to ethos, presenting himself as reliable and trustworthy: “Because I am not a politician, because I am not beholden to any special interest, I will get this done for you and your family.” (ll. 354-355); “If we only enforce the laws against crime, then we have an open border to the entire world…
