Analysis

Here are the elements which will help you with your analysis of David Cameron’s Speech on Radicalization, Islamic Extremism, and the Failure of State Multiculturalism.

The rhetorical situation is that the speaker is David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He delivers his speech during the 47^th Munich Security Conference in 2011, in front of an audience consisting of heads of state, military experts, and high-ranking politicians from over 70 countries.

The composition of David Cameron’s speech can be split into six parts, according to the topics Cameron addresses.

Cameron’s style of language is mainly formal, as he addresses a serious topic. He introduces figurative language at times, which adds an emotional component to his speech and which highlights the urgency of taking measures to deal with terrorism.

Some of the rhetorical devices that Cameron uses in his speech are repetition and parallelism. Direct address is also used, which creates a connection between Cameron and his audience.

Cameron uses all three main forms of appeal in his speech. He uses ethos when he talks from his position as Prime Minister. Sometimes, he also uses pathos to create a sense of urgency. However, Cameron mainly relies on logos to express his ideas and to engage his audience.

You can read a full analysis of the speech on the following pages.

Engelsk

Speech analysis

I denne vejledning får du Studienets hjælp til, hvordan du analyserer, diskuterer og perspektiverer en tale (speech eller address) i engelskfaget. Kort fortalt handler det typisk om, at du skal lave en retorisk analyse af talen.

Excerpt from the study guide:

Cameron’s speech looks at the idea of talking action through the use of repetition: “Yes, of course we must tackle them. Of course we must tackle poverty. Yes, we must resolve the sources of tension…”. In this case, the repetition of “we must” shows that Cameron admits that they should indeed be taking action and changing Western foreign policy in the Middle East, even though, in his opinion, that is not the real cause of terrorism.