A Rhetorical Analysis Of Trump's Inaugural Address From The Perspective Of Appraisal Theory

The research on political speeches has been prevailing in the past few decades.As a kind of political speeches,presidential inaugural address refers to an administrative speech delivered when the candidate has won the election and is going to assume power.A successful speech is bound to appeal to the audience through appropriate linguistic means.Based on appraisal theory and rhetoric,the study analyzes specific linguistic resources in Trump's inaugural address to explore the rhetorical effects achieved.Two questions will be solved in this study.1)How are the linguistic resources of Attitude,Engagement and Graduation employed in Trump's inaugural address? 2)What are the rhetorical effects achieved through these resources?The findings of the research are as follows: 1)Among these appraisal resources,Attitude resources are the most frequently used category,accounting for 52.5% of the whole evaluative resources.With Attitude sub-system,Judgement resources take up the largest proportion.The rhetorical effects are realized mainly through constructing the ethos of Trump's confidence and bravery and resorting to the pathos of interacting with the audience.2)In Engagement sub-system,the frequency of Dialogic Contraction resources is almost the same as that of Dialogic Expansion resources.Disclaim and Entertain are used more frequently than other resources in Dialogic Contraction and Dialogic Expansion respectively,which help the speaker better express himself and show his strong confidence towards the future of America.In Engagement resources,Trump mainly mobilizes the feelings of the audiences through creating a good atmosphere,thus,the rhetorical effects are achieved by resorting to pathos.3)In Graduation sub-system,the number of Force resources is much higher than that of Focus resources.Quantification and Sharpen are abundant resources in the aspect of Force and Focus.These linguistic resources can strengthen Trump's position and stance,thus enhancing the persuasion and objectivity of the language.In terms of Graduation resources,Trump mainly constructs the consistency of the discourse,in other words,the rhetorical effects are achieved by constructing logos.This study broadens the application of appraisal theory and rhetoric.Appraisal resources provide a new angle of investigating rhetorical effects in speeches.This study also presents some rhetorical techniques to make the opinions more convincing and more easily accepted,which is beneficial for the learners to deal with the reading and writing tasks.