The Art Of Rhetoric And Noam Chomsky’s Political Discourse

Political rhetoric is a longstanding topic in the history of rhetoric.Avram Noam Chomsky is famous for not only his linguistic research but also his political contribution.In the "2005 Top 100 Public Intellectual Poll" conducted by Foreign Policy[1]and Prospect,Chomsky ranked first on the list,which proves Chomsky’s lofty standing in today’s world.Although as a dissent in America,his political discourse is greatly marginalized by mainstream media and intellectual community governed by the Establishment,he is capable of "turning the tide" to convince others to believe in his political thoughts and get more and more supporters and followers,which obviously depends largely on his rhetorical competence in constructing and elaborating his political discourse.As a typical example of successful rhetoric,his political discourse is worth being researched and analyzed.Hence,this thesis conducts a rhetorical analysis of Noam Chomsky’s political discourse.The thesis analyzes the art of rhetoric that informs Chomsky’s political discourse in three parts.The first part discusses it from a general perspective.It analyzes the principle of self-effacement in Chomsky’s political discourse,Chomsky’s adaptation to audience and the ethos he projects to his audience.The second part offers an analysis of his rhetorical art from a specific perspective.It focuses on pathos and logos applied in Chomsky’s political discourse,figures of speech,strategies for identification and subtle pressurizing employed in his political discourse.The last part introduces two cases to illustrate Chomsky’s proper response to rhetorical situation.On the basis of thcse analyses,the paper concludes that Chomsky is not only an excellent linguist and political activist,but also an extraordinary rhetor.He consistently applies to his discourse the principle of self-effacement,has a keen awareness of audience,makes full use of rhetorical resources and skillfully employs rhetorical strategies.Chomsky’s success sets a good example for other rhetoric practitioners.By exploring the art of rhetoric that informs Noam Chomsky’s political discourse,the thesis shows how Chomsky succeeds in the rhetoric "war" in a difficult situation,shedding some light on possible ways to improve discourse practitioners’ rhetorical competence,deepening readers’ understanding of rhetoric and hopefully,offering some inspirations for further studies of political rhetoric.