Intention

Overall intention

The overall, the open intention Jane Pauley has with the interview “Hillary Clinton Speaks” is to present Clinton’s version of the events that led to her losing the 2016 presidential elections. The interviewer achieves this intention by asking short questions that enable Clinton to speak openly and extensively about what happened. There are also a number of other intentions behind the interview, some of which are open and some of which are hidden.

Convince the audience that the outcome of the elections was influenced by many factors

The interview explores a variety of events that show some of the reasons that Clinton lost the election. These causes include both Clinton’s actions during the campaign, external influences, and Trump’s actions. By encouraging Clinton to speak about all of them, Pauley wants to show the audience that the outcome of the election cannot be explained by one single factor.

Pauley achieves this intention by including comments about Trump and the Russian influence, putting the whole campaign in a wider perspective: “Her opponent – real estate billionaire and reality TV star, Donald Trump, a political novice who had previously defeated 16 GOP primary challengers” (ll. 66-67). The comment gives Trump some authority (ethos) by presenting him as a popular TV figure who managed to beat traditional politicians.

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