Rhetorical devices

Allusions and direct references

The interview “Hillary Clinton Speaks” by Jane Pauley includes numerous direct references to people and events connected to the topic but also a few allusions (indirect references).

For example, the text directly references the “concession speech the day after losing last year’s presidential election” (ll. 3-4) or “…Donald Trump, a political novice who had previously defeated GOP primary challengers” (ll. 66-67). Such direct references put the interview into context and offer the audience more details about what is being discussed.

Another example of direct reference is “And then the Russians. American intelligence began picking up signals that Moscow was attempting to influence the election…” (ll. 73-74). This reminds the audience of the Russian interference in the US elections in 2016.

Other examples are “the financial crash” (l. 80) of 2008 which frustrated Americans or “the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape” (ll. 90-91) in which we see Trump “admitting and laughing about sexually assaulting women” (l. 102). Most of these references suggest that there were a variety of factors and issues at play that influenced the outcome of the elections.

An example of allusion is “You called the President?” (l. 22). In this case, Barack Obama is not mentioned directly but only referred to as the President. The mention of the “second Clinton Administration” (l. 54) is an allusion to the fact that Hillary Clinton’s hus...