Rhetorical devices
Rhetorical devices are language tools and techniques used to make arguments sound more appealing, persuasive, or memorable. In Donald Trump's presidential announcement speech, the most frequently used rhetorical devices are repetitions, allusions, and rhetorical questio…
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Allusions and direct references
An allusion is an indirect reference to another event, historical moment, person, or media that the speaker considers relevant for the points he makes in the speech.
For example, the speaker mentions the Obamacare website, which cost a lot of money to set up and originally did not work properly, to suggest that…
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Analogy
An analogy is a kind of comparison in which the speaker associates two seemingly unrelated events that he finds similar. One example of analogy from the speech is: “There's too much— it's like— it's like take the New England Patriots and Tom Brady and have them play your high school football team. That's the difference between Ch…
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Direct address
Throughout the speech, you will notice numerous instances of direct address, because the speech was delivered in front of a live audience. Some examples are: “They are not our friend, believe me. But they're killing us economically.” (ll. 20-21); “And our real unemp…
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Repetition and enumeration
In the speech, you will notice numerous instances of repetition, often combined with enumerations. The purpose of using these devices together is to give structure to the speech and make it memorable: “We need a leader that can bring back our jobs, can bring back our manufacturing, can bring back our mil…
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Humor and irony
The speaker frequently uses humor and irony, mainly with the purpose of criticizing other politicians, regardless of the political party they belong to.
For example, he compares other Republican candidates with sweating dogs: “And, I can tell, some of the candidates, they went in. They didn't know the air-conditioner didn't work. They sweated like dogs.” (ll. 6-7). This doesn’t make very much sense …
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Imagery, metaphors, similes, and hyperbole
In the speech, Donald Trump also uses imagery (conveying mental images), created through similes and metaphors.
He mentions Chinese “bridges that make the George Washington Bridge look like small potatoes” (255-256) to emphasize the ide…
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Rhetorical questions
Donald Trump’s speech is constructed using many rhetorical questions. Such questions have several purposes. One is to engage the audience; another is to suggest he is stating something obvious and to gain the audience’s approval: “When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let's say, China in a trade deal? They kill us.” (…
