analysing Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural speech. For this exam, you will have to compare Trump’s discourse with Joe Biden’s discourse in his 2021 inaugural speech.
To what extent do both speeches display populist and nationalist discourses?
Question to be answered above but use questions below for analysis
– analysis 1200 (but no more than 1500) words, dealing with the ‘Seven Additional Questions’ 8 to 14 from the Course Book (pp. 18-20), in order to provide an answer to the following question:
Use these questions to analyze text to answer question:
Seven Additional Questions
8. Distinguish thematically linked word groups (nouns, verbs) and important concepts (and their connotations) that occur in the text.
9.How does the text present the different actors (including author and audience)? To what extent (and to what effect) are passive phrases (that do not define any actor) used? Who are presented as the protagonists and who as the antagonists and how are they characterised through adjectives and adverbs? Does the text explicitely or implicitly say something about the author and the audience? How are pronouns (I/me, You/your, We/our, They/their) used in the text? To what extent do these grammar features create imbalanced binary distinctions in the text?
10. Which metaphors, allegories, similes, idioms, and proverbs are used, and what is their specific function for the argument made in the text? Are any other rhetorical devices (such as hyperboles) used?
11. Does the text use quotes of paraphrases from other texts or authors? Why (these)
12. Which modalities does the text use: does the text talk about what should, must, could, or will be done? To what effect.
13. Which evidentialities does the text present? Which statements of facts or state of affairs are mentioned or presented as evident? Does the text report factuality, actively demonstrate it, or merely suggest it as self-evident? Does it “naturalize” certain statements as “common sense” or “fact”, even if such statements are actually controversial.
14. What is the overall emplotment (storyline) of the text and what is the intended reality effect?
To what extent do both speeches display populist and nationalist discourses?
Provide quotes to convincingly demonstrate your arguments
– refer to the line numbers in the speeches by Trump and Biden, see the versions reproduced below)
Inaugural Address by President Donald Trump, January 20, 2017
[1] Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans and people of the world, thank you.
[2] We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people.
[3] Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come.
[4] We will face challenges, we will confront hardships, but we will get the job done.
[5] Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition.
[6] They have been magnificent.
[7] Thank you.
[8] Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people.
[9] For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.
[10] Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth.
[11] Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed.
[12] The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.
[13] Their victories have not been your victories.
[14] Their triumphs have not been your triumphs.
[15] And while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
[16] That all changes starting right here and right now because this moment is your moment, it belongs to you.
[17] It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America.
[18] This is your day.
[19] This is your celebration.
[20] And this, the United States of America, is your country.
[21] What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.
[22] January 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.
[23] The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.
[24] Everyone is listening to you now.
[25] You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before.
[26] At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction that a nation exists to serve its citizens.
[27] Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves.
[28] These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public.
[29] But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
[30] This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
[31] We are one nation and their pain is our pain.
[32] Their dreams are our dreams.
[33] And their success will be our success.
[34] We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
[35] The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.
[36] For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; subsidized the armies of other countries, while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military.
[37] We’ve defended other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own.
[38] And spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.
[39] We’ve made other countries rich, while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.
[40] One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind.
[41] The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.
[42] But that is the past.
[43] And now, we are looking only to the future.
[44] We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.
[45] From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.
[46] From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first.
[47] Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families.
[48] We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.
[49] Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.
[50] I will fight for you with every breath in my body and I will never ever let you down.
[51] America will start winning again, winning like never before.
[52] We will bring back our jobs.
[53] We will bring back our borders.
[54] We will bring back our wealth.
[55] And we will bring back our dreams.
[56] We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation.
[57] We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.
[58] We will follow two simple rules; buy American and hire American.
[59] We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.
[60] We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example.
[61] We will shine for everyone to follow.
[62] We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth.
[63] At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.
[64] When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.
[65] The bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.
[66] We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.
[67] When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.
[68] There should be no fear.
[69] We are protected and we will always be protected.
[70] We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement.
[71] And most importantly, we will be protected by God.
[72] Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger.
[73] In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving.
[74] We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining, but never doing anything about it.
[75] The time for empty talk is over.
[76] Now arrives the hour of action.
[77] Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done.
[78] No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America.
[79] We will not fail.
[80] Our country will thrive and prosper again.
[81] We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.
[82] A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions.
[83] It’s time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget, that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots.
[84] We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms and we all salute the same great American flag.
[85] And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the wind-swept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they will their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty creator.
[86] So to all Americans in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words.
[87] You will never be ignored again.
[88] Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams will define our American destiny.
[89] And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
[90] Together, we will make America strong again.
[91] We will make America wealthy again.
[92] We will make America proud again.
[93] We will make America safe again.
[94] And yes, together we will make America great again.
[95] Thank you.
[96] God bless you.
[97] And God bless America.
[98] Thank you.
[99] God bless America.
The text can be checked on: https://www.bartleby.com/124/pres70.html
Inaugural Address by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr, January 20, 2021.
1. Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans.
2. This is America’s day.
3. This is democracy’s day.
4. A day of history and hope.
5. Of renewal and resolve.
6. Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.
7. Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.
8. The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.
9. We have learned again that democracy is precious.
10. Democracy is fragile.
11. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.
12. So now, on this hallowed ground where just days ago violence sought to shake this Capitol’s very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.
13. We look ahead in our uniquely American way – restless, bold, optimistic – and set our sights on the nation we know we can be and we must be.
14. I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence here.
15. I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
16. You know the resilience of our Constitution and the strength of our nation.
17. As does President Carter, who I spoke to last night but who cannot be with us today, but whom we salute for his lifetime of service.
18. I have just taken the sacred oath each of these patriots took — an oath first sworn by George Washington.
19. But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.
20. On “We the People” who seek a more perfect Union.
21. This is a great nation and we are a good people.
22. Over the centuries through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we have come so far.
23. But we still have far to go.
24. We will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and possibility.
25. Much to repair.
26. Much to restore.
27. Much to heal.
28. Much to build.
29. And much to gain.
30. Few periods in our nation’s history have been more challenging or difficult than the one we’re in now.
31. A once-in-a-century virus silently stalks the country.
32. It’s taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II.
33. Millions of jobs have been lost.
34. Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed.
35. A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us.
36. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.
37. A cry for survival comes from the planet itself.
38. A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear.
39. And now, a rise in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.
40. To overcome these challenges – to restore the soul and to secure the future of America – requires more than words.
41. It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy:
42. Unity.
43. Unity.
44. In another January in Washington, on New Year’s Day 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
45. When he put pen to paper, the President said, “If my name ever goes down into history it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it.”
46. My whole soul is in it.
47. Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this:
48. Bringing America together.
49. Uniting our people.
50. And uniting our nation.
51. I ask every American to join me in this cause.
52. Uniting to fight the common foes we face:
53. Anger, resentment, hatred.
54. Extremism, lawlessness, violence.
55. Disease, joblessness, hopelessness.
56. With unity we can do great things. Important things.
57. We can right wrongs.
58. We can put people to work in good jobs.
59. We can teach our children in safe schools.
60. We can overcome this deadly virus.
61. We can reward work, rebuild the middle class, and make health care secure for all.
62. We can deliver racial justice.
63. We can make America, once again, the leading force for good in the world.
64. I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy.
65. I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real.
66. But I also know they are not new.
67. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, and demonization have long torn us apart.
68. The battle is perennial.
69. Victory is never assured.
70. Through the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setbacks, our “better angels” have always prevailed.
71. In each of these moments, enough of us came together to carry all of us forward.
72. And, we can do so now.
73. History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity.
74. We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors.
75. We can treat each other with dignity and respect.
76. We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.
77. For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.
78. No progress, only exhausting outrage.
79. No nation, only a state of chaos.
80. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.
81. And, we must meet this moment as the United States of America.
82. If we do that, I guarantee you, we will not fail.
83. We have never, ever, ever failed in America when we have acted together.
84. And so today, at this time and in this place, let us start afresh.
85. All of us.
86. Let us listen to one another.
87. Hear one another.
88. See one another.
89. Show respect to one another.
90. Politics need not be a raging fire destroying everything in its path.
91. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war.
92. And, we must reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.
93. My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this.
94. America has to be better than this.
95. And, I believe America is better than this.
96. Just look around.
97. Here we stand, in the shadow of a Capitol dome that was completed amid the Civil War, when the Union itself hung in the balance.
98. Yet we endured and we prevailed.
99. Here we stand looking out to the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream.
100. Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protestors tried to block brave women from marching for the right to vote.
101. Today, we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office – Vice President Kamala Harris.
102. Don’t tell me things can’t change.
103. Here we stand across the Potomac from Arlington National Cemetery, where heroes who gave the last full measure of devotion rest in eternal peace.
104. And here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, and to drive us from this sacred ground.
105. That did not happen.
106. It will never happen.
107. Not today.
108. Not tomorrow.
109. Not ever.
110. To all those who supported our campaign I am humbled by the faith you have placed in us.
111. To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we move forward.
112. Take a measure of me and my heart.
113. And if you still disagree, so be it.
114. That’s democracy. That’s America.
115. The right to dissent peaceably, within the guardrails of our Republic, is perhaps our nation’s greatest strength.
116. Yet hear me clearly: Disagreement must not lead to disunion.
117. And I pledge this to you: I will be a President for all Americans.
118. I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.
119. Many centuries ago, Saint Augustine, a saint of my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objects of their love.
120. What are the common objects we love that define us as Americans?
121. I think I know.
122. Opportunity.
123. Security.
124. Liberty.
125. Dignity.
126. Respect.
127. Honor.
128. And, yes, the truth.
129. Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson.
130. There is truth and there are lies.
131. Lies told for power and for profit.
132. And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders – leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.
133. I understand that many Americans view the future with some fear and trepidation.
134. I understand they worry about their jobs, about taking care of their families, about what comes next.
135. I get it.
136. But the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don’t look like you do, or worship the way you do, or don’t get their news from the same sources you do.
137. We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.
138. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.
139. If we show a little tolerance and humility.
140. If we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes just for a moment.
141. Because here is the thing about life: There is no accounting for what fate will deal you.
142. There are some days when we need a hand.
143. There are other days when we’re called on to lend one.
144. That is how we must be with one another.
145. And, if we are this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future.
146. My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we will need each other.
147. We will need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter.
148. We are entering what may well be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus.
149. We must set aside the politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation.
150. I promise you this: as the Bible says weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.
151. We will get through this, together
152. The world is watching today.
153. So here is my message to those beyond our borders: America has been tested and we have come out stronger for it.
154. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.
155. Not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s.
156. We will lead not merely by the example of our power but by the power of our example.
157. We will be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress, and security.
158. We have been through so much in this nation.
159. And, in my first act as President, I would like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer to remember all those we lost this past year to the pandemic.
160. To those 400,000 fellow Americans – mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
161. We will honor them by becoming the people and nation we know we can and should be.
162. Let us say a silent prayer for those who lost their lives, for those they left behind, and for our country.
163. Amen.
164. This is a time of testing.
165. We face an attack on democracy and on truth.
166. A raging virus.
167. Growing inequity.
168. The sting of systemic racism.
169. A climate in crisis.
170. America’s role in the world.
171. Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways.
172. But the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with the gravest of responsibilities.
173. Now we must step up.
174. All of us.
175. It is a time for boldness, for there is so much to do.
176. And, this is certain.
177. We will be judged, you and I, for how we resolve the cascading crises of our era.
178. Will we rise to the occasion?
179. Will we master this rare and difficult hour?
180. Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world for our children?
181. I believe we must and I believe we will.
182. And when we do, we will write the next chapter in the American story.
183. It’s a story that might sound something like a song that means a lot to me.
184. It’s called “American Anthem” and there is one verse stands out for me:
185. “The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day.
186. What shall be our legacy?
187. What will our children say? …
188. Let me know in my heart, when my days are through
189. America, America, I gave my best to you.”
190. Let us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our nation.
191. If we do this then when our days are through our children and our children’s children will say of us they gave their best.
192. They did their duty.
193. They healed a broken land.
194. My fellow Americans, I close today where I began, with a sacred oath.
195. Before God and all of you I give you my word.
196. I will always level with you.
197. I will defend the Constitution.
198. I will defend our democracy.
199. I will defend America.
200. I will give my all in your service thinking not of power, but of possibilities.
201. Not of personal interest, but of the public good.
202. And together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear.
203. Of unity, not division.
204. Of light, not darkness.
205. An American story of decency and dignity.
206. Of love and of healing.
207. Of greatness and of goodness.
208. May this be the story that guides us.
209. The story that inspires us.
210. The story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history.
211. We met the moment.
212. That democracy and hope, truth and justice, did not die on our watch but thrived.
213. That our America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world.
214. That is what we owe our forebearers, one another, and generations to follow.
215. So, with purpose and resolve we turn to the tasks of our time.
216. Sustained by faith.
217. Driven by conviction.
218. And, devoted to one another and to this country we love with all our hearts.
219. May God bless America and may God protect our troops.
220. Thank you, America.
Text copied from:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/01/20/inaugural-address-by-president-joseph-r-biden-jr/Links to an external site.
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