Language

Choice of words

When looking at the choice of words in the interview “Hillary Clinton Speaks” by Jane Pauley, it is important to differentiate between Pauley’s and Clinton’s choice of words.

In the interview, Pauley speaks very little compared to Clinton, but uses powerful words and phrases such as: “false information” (l. 75), “memorable verbal gaffes” (l. 85), “infamous Access Hollywood tape” (ll. 101-102), “gob-smacked” (l. 119), “proud” (l. 120), etc. These words are both positive and negative and have the effect of making her statements more memorable to the audience.

Clinton uses many descriptive words in relation to herself or Trump: “complacent or resolved” (l. 8), “loss of feeling and direction and sadness” (ll. 29-30), “hard transition” (l. 33), “gob-smacked, wiped out” (l. 34), “white nationalist gut” (ll. 42-43), “deplorable manner” (l. 89), “discombobulating” (l. 107), etc. These words convey Clinton’s feelings and have the effect of making the audience more likely to empathise with her situation and attitude.

Since the material is an interview, both Clinton and Pauley speak in the first-person (“I”):

Jane Pauley: So I’m wondering, how are you?
Hillary Clinton: I think I am good. (ll. 7-8)

However, there are occasions when Clinton uses the first-person plural (“we”): “We have a reality show that leads to the election of a president.” (l. 122); “That’s not what we heard at all” (l. 45). This has the effect of creating ethos, of suggesting the American nation shares her opinions.

Sentence structure

The transcript of the interview includes passages in italics to mark that thes...