A study of stylistic devices in US president donald j trump’s state of the union address

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled A study of stylistic devices in US President Donald J Trump’s State of th

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A THESIS

A STUDY OF STYLISTIC DEVICES IN US PRESIDENT DONALD J TRUMP’S STATE OF

THE UNION ADDRESSES

( Nghiên cứu phép tu từ trong các bài phát biểu Thông điệp Liên bang Hoa Kì của tổng thống Mỹ

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled A

study of stylistic devices in US President Donald J Trump’s State of the Union Address submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master

in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2020

Trần Thị Hoài Thu

Approved by SUPERVISOR

(Signature and full name)

Assoc Prof Dr HỒ NGỌC TRUNG Date:………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This task would not have been completed without the useful and practical assistance from many people

First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor

Assoc Prof Dr Hồ Ngọc Trung for his scholarly knowledge, precious guidance

and enthusiastic support regarding my study He has inspired and encouraged me during the steps of the thesis

I would like to convey my special thanks to all lecturers at Hanoi Open University for their helpful and interesting lectures that broaden my knowledge and lead me to

my work

Last but not least, I would like to send my thankfulness to my family and all of my close friends for their love, care, encouragement and financial as well as spiritual supporting for me to fulfill this thesis

ABSTRACT

Politics is always related to activities that influence the action and policies in government or society This activity will gain or keep power on it This research aims to analyze the features of stylistic devices namely: metaphor, metonymy, epithet, repetition, personification in the three State of the Union addresses by the

US Present Donald Trump from 2018 to 2020 There are three objectives of the research that are : (1) Investigating what stylistic devices are used in the three State

of the Union addresses made by US Present Donald J Trump; (2) Exploring the frequency of occurrence of the stylistic devices used by Donald J Trump in his State of the Union Addresses; (3) Making some suggestions for preparing public speeches in terms of stylistic devices Descriptive qualitative was applied as the method of the research and the data of the research were the State of the Union addresses made by the US Present Donald J Trump The result shows his way to deliver the speeches in gaining power where in power, there is an ability to express his opinion and control people which in line with his purpose to get American’s support for his State of the Union address

LIST OF FIFURES AND TABLES

Table 3.1: Features of Qualitative & Quantitative Research……… 28 Table 4.1: Distribution of metaphor in the three State of The Union

Addresses by President Donald J Trump 31

Table 4.2: Distribution of Metonymy in the three State of The Union

Addresses by President Donald J Trump 38

Table 4.3: The distribution of personification devices used in each speech 38 Table 4.4: The distribution of epithets used in the three State of The

Union Addresses by President Donald J Trump 41

Table 4.5: The distribution of epithets’ types used in the three State of

The Union Addresses by President Donald J Trump 45

Table 4.6: The distribution of structural epithets used in the three State

of The Union Addresses by President Donald J Trump 45 Table 4.7: The frequency of occurrence of stylistic devices used in the

three State of The Union Addresses by President Donald J Trump 49

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate of originality i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

List of figures and tables iv

Table of contents v

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 Methods of the study 2

1.5 Scope of the study 3

1.6 Significance of the study 3

1.7 Structure of the study 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW………4

2.1 Previous studies 4

2.2 Theoretical background 5

2.2.1 Style and stylistics 5

2.2.2 Classifications of stylistic devices 8

2.2.3 Metaphor 10

2.2.4 Metonymy 14

2.2.5 Personification 15

2.2.6 Epithet 16

2.2.7 Repetition 19

2.2.8 Political discourse 22

2.2.9 An introduction of State of the Union Address 23

2.2.10 Summary 25

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY……….27

3.1 Research approach 27

3.2 Methods of the study 27

3.3 Data collection and data analysis 28

3.4 Summary 30

CHAPTER 4: STYLISTIC DEVICES USED IN THREE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESSES MADE BY US PRESENT DONALD J TRUMP AND THEIR FREQUENCIES………31

4.1 Stylistic devices used in three State of the Union addresses made by US Present Donald J Trump 31

4.1.1 Metaphor 31

4.1.2 Metonymy 36

4.1.3 Personification 38

4.1.4 Epithet 41

4.1.5 Repetition 45

4.2 Frequency of occurrence of some stylistic devices in the three State of The Union Addresses by President Donald J Trump 49

4.3 Some suggestions for preparing public speeches in terms of stylistic devices 51

4.4 Summary 53

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION……….… 55

5.1 Recapitulation 55

5.2 Concluding remarks 56

5.3 Limitation of the research 56

5.4 Suggestions for further research 56

REFERENCES 57

APPENDIX 60

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, the world has become smaller and smaller due to the globalization This strengthens the need of communication to connect the world than ever Hence, the establishment of the global community has resulted in the greater challenge for English language teaching practitioners to help second language learners acquire not only grammatical competence but a total communicative competence

in the English language Correspondingly, research investigations in the field of linguistics and English language teaching have focused on the analysis of discourses which are used in different disciplines in order to find out relevant concepts in the field of linguistics Providing information with the use of language depends on a wide range of factors, especially in written language How to express points of view or opinions most effectively is of great importance which may influence or decide the effectiveness of the information given to the audience or readers That is the reason why language empowers men to control or manage the society In order to utilize the language in the best way, one of the factors which is usually applied is how to put stylistic devices into language, especially political speeches delivered by politicians

As one of the communication methods of conveying information, speech has been gaining no less importance whether in the past and nowadays or in the West and the East Thanks to its uniqueness from other kinds of talk and strong influence

on audience, politicians usually take full advantage of it to convince their targeted audience to achieve their political ends It is a cheap and effective way of gaining support Accordingly, politicians, for a long time, have used a wide range of stylistic devices in their speeches to deliver the political messages to audiences persuasively and vividly to the receivers and be able to bring the political issues forward in different media and arenas This inspires me to explore stylistic devices used in The State of The

Union Addresses made by Donald J Trump, the 45th President of the United States, in office from 20 January 2017 until now The motivation to choose Donald Trump approached me is that I always wonder why a billionaire businessman like Donald Trump ran as a Republican and scored an upset victory over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton He is the first US president never to have held elected office or served

in the military, meaning that he had already made history before he was sworn in as

America's 45th president I think that his speeches is an interesting data that helps me know how he managed to convince his countrymen that he is the most appropriate leader of the USA through his art of speech Studying his speeches will create more favorable conditions for those who desire to understand more about political speeches

to identify some of the common characteristics of political speeches, highlight the difference between the stylistic features commonly presented in them as well as help to write political speeches effectively For all these reasons, I have decided to choose the topic “A study of stylistic devices In US President Donald J Trump’s State of the Union Addresses” for my MA thesis

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

The study is aimed at providing English learners with practical information via

understanding stylistic devices when they prepare their speeches

The study has the following objectives:

- Investigating what stylistic devices are used in the three State of the Union

addresses made by US Present Donald J Trump;

- Exploring the frequency of occurrence of the stylistic devices used by Donald

J Trump in his State of the Union Addresses

- Making some suggestions for preparing public speeches in terms of stylistic devices

1.3 Research questions

To attain the aim of the study, I will make an attempt to address the following questions:

• What are the features of the stylistic devices in the three State of the Union

addresses from 2018 to 2020 made by US President Donald J Trump?

• Which stylistic devices are most frequently and distinctively used by the

US President Donald Trump in the three State of the Union addresses?

• What are some suggestions for preparing public speeches in terms of stylistic devices?

1.4 Methods of the study

Qualitative method is employed as the strategic method By using qualitative data, State of the Union addresses made by US President Donald J Trump are analyzed

to answer the research questions The research is also supported by quantitative

method The data is quantitatively analyzed in terms of the percentage of the occurrence of the stylistic devices used by US President Donald J Trump

1.5 Scope of the study

Due to time limitation and within the limited scope of a MA thesis, the author does not attempt to cover all stylistic devices but only focus on the findings of features

of stylistic devices namely: metaphor, metonymy, epithet, repetition, personification

and the frequencies of occurrence of these stylistic devices in State of the Union addresses by the US Present Donald Trump from 2018 to 2020 Thus, factors including body language, eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, tone and pitch of voice are not taken into consideration although they play an important role in comprehending the overall content of the speeches

1.6 Significance of the study

The research is expected to enhance my linguistics ability in English Furthermore, it could also help me understand further and make the best use of stylistic devices in writing reading and listening to political speeches On the other hand, the research is expected to be a valuable contribution to research English linguistics in general and stylistic devices in political speeches in particular The findings of the research may help Vietnamese learners, users aware and achieve the beauty of using language in political speeches In addition, it hopes to help them get special styles as well as provide them with some necessary strategies and techniques in designing these styles in English political speeches

1.7 Structure of the study

This thesis is designed with five main parts:

Chapter 1: Introduction: to introduce the aims and objectives, research questions, scope and method of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review: to provide a synopsis of relevant information originated from previous studies on stylistics and stylistic devices

Chapter 3: Methodology: to gives information about methodology

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion: to illustrate and analyze how The US President Donald Trump uses stylistic devices to achieve certain purposes

Chapter 5: Conclusion: to give conclusion the limitations and suggests further research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous studies

Studying a language in any situation with all its functions and variation has already taken into serious consideration It is possible to learn more about how language has influence on perceptions, convictions and identities Rhetorical scholars have long been interested in studying the internal dynamics of political speech - not summering what is said, but rather describing how a speech works as a rhetorical appeal

There are a variety of stylistic devices analyses of speeches by leaders of major countries such as the USA, British, Russia, etc to investigate the success of the delivery of messages through employing stylistic devices

Lecocq [1985] did a research on several speeches by Roosevelt, Nixon and Reagan with regard to the function of metaphor in political discourse Darmon [1990] did a research into thematic and stylistic analysis of some inaugural addresses of presidents

of the United States Browning, Marina [1988] carried out an analysis of Reagan’s political epideictic rhetoric as a form of propaganda for the conservative ideology, Wenzlawski [2005] had a research on using words at war and pragmatic rhetoric of war speeches In 2016, Fengjie, Jia and Yingying made an investigation into some commonly used rhetorical devices in Obama’s speeches from the perspective of lexical devices, phonological devices and syntactical devices in order to explore the functions

of applying these three categories of rhetorical devices Seven rhetorical devices which were discussed with regard to their applications and effects in Obama’s speeches are alliteration, simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, antithesis and parallelism

In Vietnam, there are increasingly studies on stylistic devices in political speeches by foreign presidents and Vietnam’s leaders such as:

Nguyễn Uy Dũng [35], conducted an investigation into stylistic devices in political speeches by US President The author highlighted some prominent stylistic devices used in the political speeches of USA’s President Obama and their aesthetic features in those speeches

Phạm Khắc Thu [37] carried out a study about modality markers used in political speeches by US President The author investigated the linguistic features of the modality markers used in political speeches and the values of engagement

strategies described from the analysis of the modality markers used in the political speeches of the US presidents

Phạm Thị Minh Trang [38] analyzes metaphors used in inaugural addresses made by the Presidents of the United States She investigated the typical types of metaphors and the metaphorical images of these metaphorical usages in inauguration speeches made by United States Presidents

Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Diệp [36] conducted an investigation into some linguistic features of Barack Obama’s English Speeches She analyzed some stylistic features of Obama’s speeches and gave suggestions for teaching and learning political speeches

Therefore, to the best of my knowledge, up to know, there has never been a study focusing on stylistic devices in the State of the Union addresses by the US

Present Donald Trump Hence, this is the land for the thesis “A Study Of Stylistic

Devices In US President Donald J Trump’s State Of The Union Addresses” to be

conducted

2.2 Theoretical background

2.2.1 Style and stylistics

It is of great importance to have knowledge of style and the history of stylistics

so as to understand the stylistic devices that will be investigated in this study

The origin of the term Style and Stylistics came from the Latin “stylus” - a stick made of material for writing and “stylistic” comes from the French Stylistique” - instrument for writing

A Greek philosopher named Aristotle for around 400 B.C first analyzed the art

of language style However, modern stylistic was originated in Russian Formalism and the interrelated Prague School in the early twentieth century In 1090, Charles Bally, a Swiss linguist proposed stylistics as a distinct academic discipline to complement Sanssuran linguistics In the late twentieth century, Roman Jacobson brought together Russian formalism and American new criticism in his chosen statement at a conference

on stylistic Hence, stylistics has passed through many generations and has been examined and discussed by different writers and scholars

“Style has a broad range of meanings that have largely positive associations in

a wide range of creative ideas of human activity such as art, architecture, fashion, literature and leadership - as well as in language use” ( Charteris-Black, 6, p 30) In

terms of linguistic activity, style refers to a meaning of ‘identity’, a manner of behavior and expression of thoughts that form one’s unique style

Generally, style deals with modes of communication such as the choice of vocabulary, whereas delivery of speech is restricted to voice, gesture or facial expressions In practice, delivery and style indiscreetly act together as a whole Each speaker is in possession of his own specific style of speech, and when analyzing someone’s style, one may take into consideration other semiotic modes like one’s appearance, body language, dressing style and symbolic actions “Style is a complex interaction between personal choice and social meaning, and between the spoken mode and other means of communication It is the semiotic effect attained by individual features of delivery and style that convey socially shared meanings” ( Charteris-Black,

6, p 31)

Stylistics simply defined by Leech and Short [21, p.11] is “the linguistic study

of style is rarely undertaken for its own sake, simple as an exercise in describing what

is made of language” This definition provides the general recognition of stylistics, however it does not clarify enough

Developing Leech and Short’s opinion, Verdook [28, p.4] points out

“stylistics, the study of style, can be defined as the analysis of distinctive expression in language and the description of its purpose and effect.” By this definition, the concept

of stylistics is broader

According to Crystal [9, p 440], stylistics is “a branch of linguistics which studies the features of situational distinctive uses (varieties) of language and of the choices made by individual and social groups in their use of language” This definition

of stylistics has highlighted the association of style and context when choosing language

Lawal [23] puts forward the concept that stylistics as one of the relatively branches of (applied) linguistic with a special bias for both of descriptive and analyzed further that the practice of this stylistic approach (descriptive and analytical) on the linguistic futures of text is done in relation to their meaning He also states that

“language variation and the distinctiveness of futures within and across text and the as occasional by situational factors are the major purview of stylistics as an emergent field

in the study of Language”

According to Nagar [24], “Stylistics is the study of variation of language, the properties of which positions that is, language in context, for example, the language of advertising, policies, religion and individual authors, etc the language of a period in time, all being in a particular situation” Stylistic analysis in linguistics refers to the identification of pattern of usage in speech and writing Stylistics may also be classified as a sub-branch of linguistics used to determine the correction between the form and effect within the variety of a particular language Stylistics looks at what is going on in a particular context

Galperin also defined “Stylistics is a branch of general linguistics, which deals with the following two interdependent tasks: a) studies the totality of special linguistic means (stylistic devices and expressive means) which secure the desirable effect of the utterance; b) studies certain types of texts "discourse" which due to the choice and arrangement of the language are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of communication (functional styles) Depending on the school of thought there are: 1 Linguo-stylistics; 2 Literary stylistics; 3 Stylistics of decoding; Linguo-stylistics is the study of literary discourse from a linguistic orientation The linguistics is concerned with the language codes themselves and particular messages of interest and so far as to exemplify how the codes are constructed.”

After reviewing different definitions of stylistics, M.H Abrams brings about conclusion in his book that “Stylistics is expanded so as to incorporate most of the

concerns both traditional literary criticism and traditional literary rhetoric; its

distinction from these earlier pursuits is that it insists on the need to be objective by focusing sharply on the text itself and by setting out to discover the ‘rules’ governing the process by which linguistic elements and patterns in a text accomplish their meaning and literary effects” [1, p.307]

Nevertheless, the definition of stylistics is still being developed through the years Stylistics is described as the practice of using linguistics for the study of literature

As it is mentioned above, stylistics is a branch of general linguistics Stylistics deals with functional styles, stylistic devices, and figures of speech It should be mentioned that, there are two branches of stylistics: lexical and grammatical Lexical stylistics focuses on studies functions of direct and figurative meanings and how the

contextual meaning of a word is realized in the text It is also studies different types of connotations, such as expressive, evaluative, emotive, dialectal words and their behavior in the text Grammatical stylistics has two parts: morphological and syntactical Morphological stylistics deals with stylistic potential of grammatical categories of different parts of speech (numbers, pronouns, preposition, conjunction, etc.) Syntactical stylistics analyzes syntactic, word order, expressive means and word combinations It is also studies different types of sentences and types of syntactic connections Moreover, phono-stylistics is concerned about phonetical organization of prose and poetic texts It examines rhythm, rhyme, correlation of the sound form and meaning

2.2.2 Classifications of stylistic devices

According to Galperin [13], classification of stylistic devices is based on the level-oriented approach: phonetical stylistic devices, lexical stylistic devices, syntactical stylistic devices and lexico–syntactical stylistic devices

Phonetic stylistic devices play an important role in certain type of communication This is the way a word, a phrase or a sentence sounds The aesthetic effect of the text is made up with the help of sounds and prosody together with the

meaning To Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices, Galperin refers such

means as: onomatopoeia (direct and indirect), alliteration (initial rhyme), rhyme (full, incomplete, compound or broken, eye rhyme, internal rhyme, etc ) and rhythm

Galperin justifies that “words in a context may acquire additional lexical

meanings not fixed in the dictionaries, what we have called contextual meanings” [13,

p 125] He classifies lexical stylistic devices into three main groups:

(1) The interaction of different types of lexical meaning: a) dictionary and contextual (metaphor, metonymy, irony); b) primary and derivative (zeugma and pun); c) logical and emotive (epithet, oxymoron); d) logical and nominative (antonomasia);

(2) Intensification of a feature (simile, hyperbole, periphrasis);

(3) Peculiar use of set expressions (clichés, proverbs, epigram, quotations) The relation between dictionary and contextual meanings may be maintained along different lines: on the principle of affinity, on that of proximity, or symbol - referent relations, or on opposition Thus the stylistic device based on the first principle is metaphor, on the second, metonymy and on the third, irony

While in lexical stylistic devices the desired effect is achieved through the

interaction of lexical meanings of words and in syntactical stylistic devices through the

syntactical arrangement of elements Syntactical stylistic devices add logical and expressive information to the utterance, yet there are certain structures which

concentrate on semantic aspect of the utterance They are called

lexico-syntactical stylistic devices Lexico-syntactic devices are oxymoron, zeugma, simile,

periphrasis, euphemism, hyperbole and litotes

Syntactic stylistic devices depends on the completeness of the structure or on the arrangement if its member Therefore, syntactic stylistic devices can be put in this order: The interaction of syntactical constructions (parallelism, chiasmus, anaphora, and epiphora); the transposition of syntactical meaning in context (rhetorical questions); the transformation of types and forms of connection between clauses and sentences (parcellation, coordination instead of subordination, subordination instead of coordination)

Classification of stylistic devices also can be demonstrated as the diagram based on the Generative model:

By using stylistic devices in the speech, an author enhances the arguments of the text That is why the utterances became vivid, organized, and structured Simpson states that “to do stylistics is to explore language, and, more specifically, to explore creativity in language use.” According to Simpson, “the reason why language is so important to stylisticians is because the various forms patterns and levels that constitute linguistic structure are an important index of the functions of the text” [29, p 2-3]

To sum up, stylistic devices have an aesthetic function of language For all the above-mentioned reasons, their function is to intensify the speaker’s utterance and to make the speech more figured and emotional Hence, stylistic devices make the speeches, essays etc more interesting and lively and help the speaker or writer to get and keep your reader’s / listener’s attention

2.2.3 Metaphor

2.2.3.1 Definition

A metaphor is a very common figure that has been studied since Aristotle’s Poetics Metaphors are not only found in literary works, but they are actually considered as the stylistic devices used in everyday language Using metaphors is aimed at creating an imaginative picture in the audience’s thought

Metaphor is defined as “a way of describing something by refer to it as something different and suggesting that it has similar qualities to that thing” [21] From the definition, metaphor can understand an expression to compare two different things

by speaking of one in terms of the other

“Metaphor has been variously defined in terms of substituting one word for another word with an apparently different meaning, comparing one idea to another, or creating an implicit analogy or simile” (Ritchie, 25, p 4) The etymological origin of metaphor comes from the Greek word metapherein and means ‘to transfer’ Namely, metaphor is a word or phrase that transfers meaning that differs from its basic sense The basic sense i.e literal meaning, in the context of conceptual metaphor is the

‘source domain’, whereas the metaphoric meaning is the ‘target domain’ Metaphors come into being only when there is a shift in the use of an expression or word In other words, a word becomes a metaphor only when its meaning undergoes a change from the common use Nonetheless, the general expectation about word sense and metaphors differs in accordance to one’s personal experiences since language is an individual process of cognition (Charteris-Black, 6, p 32)

According to Galperin [13, p.126], the term “metaphor” means transference of some quality from one subject to another He points out that “a metaphor becomes a stylistic device when two different phenomena (things, events, ideas, actions) are simultaneously brought of one object on the other which by nature is deprived of these properties” Futhermore, Yoos notes that “ metaphor brings to our attention things difficult to summarize or express in literal words, flatter a reader’s sensibility and blind author’s and readers together in shared feelings and in familiar held agreements” [32, p.104]

2.2.3.2 Types of metaphor

According to Lakoff and Johnson, metaphors can be classified in a range of different ways, based on various criteria, from complexity to level of usage:

(1) Orientational metaphors are related to spatial orientation ( up-down, in-out, frontback, on-off, etc.) For example Happy is up, sad is down In the English language, the concept happy is oriented up, leading to expressions like You are in high spirits Up and high usually refer to good things in English-speaking cultures, for instance high status

(2) Ontological metaphors associate activities, emotions and ideas with something concrete, such as a person or an object For instance, the phenomenon of inflation is conceived of as an entity—e.g., we need to combat inflation Metaphors involving personification are the most obvious examples of this type

(3) Structural metaphors are based on other two types, which allow us to understand

an abstract concept in terms of another sharply defined concept The mapping is from concrete to abstract Some examples are rational argument is war, Labor is a resource,

or Time is a resource

Based on Nguyễn Thiện Giáp [18, p.163], metaphors can be divided into eight kinds:

(1) Metaphors are based on the similarity of forms

(2) Metaphors are based on the similarity of colors

(3) Metaphors are based on the similarity of functions

(4) Metaphors are based on the similarity of inner features

(5) Metaphors are based on the similarity of outer features

(6) Metaphors are based on the concretization of the abstract concepts

(7) Metaphors are based on the use of animal’ names for man

(8) Metaphors are based on the use of characteristic for another

2.2.3.3 Metaphor in political speeches

Since political speeches have been drawn attention from audience, the choice

of language used is carefully selected to appeal them These speeches need to use highlights and memorable phrases to be remembered and to catch the attention of people Metaphors help arouse emotions and allow the speaker to establish him or herself as a likeable person sharing similar views, values, and goals with the audience (Charteris - Black, 6, p 87) Using metaphors that stir emotions may be more effective than logical arguments People indeed strive to be logical, but the abundance of information does not allow them to be maximally logical It is central to political

discourse that metaphor is utilized as an effective linguistic tool for persuasion

Beard [3, p 19] points out “Both metaphors are frequently used in the language of politics They are only one aspect of political discourse, but they are useful starting points for looking at some of the ways in which political language operates”

According to Charteris- Black [ 6, p.35] : “Metaphor is an effective means for politicians to develop persuasive arguments by applying what is familiar, and already experienced, to new topics to demonstrate that they are thinking rationally about political issues” Therefore, politicians and other persons in positions of authority use metaphors that represent their theories and plans The speaker makes an active choice

of words and a decision whether to use metaphors or not in order to make a vivid or persuasive Metaphors in political discourse are tools for making abstract political issues accessible to the listeners and they are frequently used to emphasize or soften certain issues Metaphor can be used to transfer the issue as well as implying the solution in the same metaphor For instance, Margaret Thatcher and George Osborne used the metaphor of an ordinary household budget in order to explain how to manage

a nation’s economy In other words, the metaphor widens the aspects of knowledge about budget, even though the domestic budget differs from the national expenditure economy

In politics, metaphors often become part of schemes invented by politicians who frame arguments that would be favorable for themselves; they do it by foregrounding the positive aspects and putting the negative aspects into the background To give an example, during the Second World War, Winston Churchill spoke of an “Iron Curtain Descending across Europe” which meant that Europe would

be divided This metaphor indeed reflected the reality, but it concealed information about human interference as if the curtain was supposed to descend (Charteris- Black,

6, p 36) As a result, the use of metaphor allowed Churchill to convey a selected piece

of information

In conclusion, understanding metaphors in political speeches is not an easy work, but very interesting one It is the most effective stylistic devices to create different senses for politicians Charteris-Black [6, pp 1-2] points out “ask ten metaphor scholars to count the metaphors in a text and you will probably come up with ten different answers; this is because of different views of what exactly ‘counts’ as a

metaphor.”, “this brings us to two key features of metaphor: it concerns thought as well

as language and it enables us to explore limitless different ways of thinking about things”

2.2.4 Metonymy

2.2.4.1 Definition

According to Galperin [13, p 144], metonymy is based on a different type of

relation between the dictionary and contextual meanings, a relation based not on identification, but on some kind of association connecting the two concepts which these meanings represent

As defined by Nguyen Hòa in his book “An Introduction to Semantics” [17, p 110], metonymy is the transference of meaning from one object to another based on contiguity of notions, i.e instead of the name of one object or notion we use the name

of another because these objects are associated and closely related: “the kettle boils” instead of “the water in the kettle boils”, “crown” instead of “monarchy”

Based on above definitions, metonymy can be defined as transference of meaning based on a logical or physical connection between things In metonymy, a thing is described by its action, its function or by some significant features It is one of the means of forming the new meanings of word in the language

Metonymy is often confused with another figure of speech called

“synecdoche.” These devices resemble one another, but are not the same Synecdoche refers to a thing by the name of one of its parts In a metonymy, on the other hand, the word we use to describe another thing is closely linked to that particular thing, but is not a part of it For example, the word “crown” is used to refer to power or authority is

a metonymy

Metonymy is also different from a metaphor, which draws resemblance between two different things Metonymy develops a relation on the grounds of close

association, as in “The White House is concerned about terrorism.” The White

House here represents the people who work in it

To sum up, metonymy helps us think about people and things in creative ways

so that we recognize how they are sometimes so connected that you can substitute one thing for the other in a sentence

2.2.4.2 Cases of metonymy

There are three types of metonymy: conventional metonymy, antonomasia and synecdoche Conventional metonymy is the type of metonymy that's often heard in everyday language Antonomasia and synecdoche are a bit trickery because their definitions can be reversed, so we'll focus more on them later

The relationship between words is based simply on a close connection in everyday experience According to Nguyễn Hòa [17, p.113], there are cases of metonymy often presented:

(1) The name of container is used instead of the thing contained

(2) Names of parts of human body may be used as symbols

(3) The concrete is used instead of abstract

(4) The materials are used for the things made of materials

(5) The name of author is used for his works

(6) Part is used for the whole and vice versa

2.2.5 Personification

Personification is one of the most commonly used and recognized literary devices It is a linguistic figure that gives a thing, an idea, or an animal one or more human attributes Personification allows non-human objects act or behave in a human manner It is the projection of characteristics that normally belongs only to humans onto inanimate objects, animals, deities, or forces of nature These characteristics can include verbs of actions that only humans do or adjectives that describe a human condition The characteristics can also be emotions, feelings, or motives given to objects incapable of thought Personification connects readers with the object that is personified The use of personification in the literature has great impact as it highlights

a non-human entity more vivid and lively, along with a human attribute The main objective of using this device is to grab the readers’ attention as well as their emotional support and make the entire write up prominent and remarkable In short, it boosts the reader’s emotion and sensitivity

The difference between metaphor and personification is that a metaphor replaces a person or an object with another, whereas in personification, an inanimate object or animal is given human characteristics As metaphors, personification adds vividness and creates visual imagery to literary texts

Lakoff and Johnson states that “personification is a general category that covers a very wide range of metaphors, each picking out different aspects of a person

on ways of looking at a person.” According to them, “metaphors and that they allow us

to make sense of phenomena in the world in human terms that we can understand on the basis of our motivation, goals, actions, and characteristics” [19, p.34]

Personifications have remained popular throughout the centuries, given that it can add aesthetic qualities to a work and provide a way for authors to describe inanimate objects It also inserts more meaning into the inexplicable things like forces

of nature Often the use of personification also helps to show a character’s own attitudes toward a certain thing if they project or ascribe their own feelings onto an inanimate object

Nowadays, personification has been used in political speeches to give a break from the monotonous language Politicians frequently use metaphors to personify the nation or refer to countries in order to emphasize some issues or to appeal to the listeners’ emotions It should be noted that personification is a very common way of creating metaphors

According to Lakoff [41], the most common metaphors in foreign policy is “A Nation Is A Person” He analyzes the case of Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War 1991:

“It is used hundreds of times a day, every time the nation of Iraq is conceptualized in terms of a single person, Saddam Hussein.” He also points out that The Nation As Person metaphor is pervasive, powerful, and part of an elaborate metaphor system It is part of an International Community metaphor, in which there are friendly nations, hostile nations, rogue states, and so on."

2.2.6 Epithet

2.2.6.1 Definition

An epithet (from the Greek word epithetos, means ‘added’) is defined as a word or a comparison that describes a person or an object which strengthens emotional expression A lexical stylistic device depends on the emphasizing of the emotive meaning On the other hand, an epithet is a literary device that is used as a descriptive device It is an adjective or adjective phrase appropriately qualifying a subject (noun)

by naming a key or important characteristic of the subject as in “laughing happiness”,

“ragged notice”, “blind mouths, “untroubled sleep”, “peaceful dawn”, and “treacherous water”, etc

Epithets are usually used to add to a person or place’s regular name and attribute some special quality to the same They are remarkable in that they become a part of common parlance over time These descriptive words and phrases can be used

to enhance the persona of real and fictitious places, objects, persons, and divinities

In fact, an epithet provides us information about the person or thing to which it

is being attached Some famous historical figures are usually recognized with the epithets, for example: Alexander the Great, Richard the Lion Heart, the Iron Lady (Margaret Thatcher), Bác Hồ or Hồ Chủ Tịch (Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh), Hưng Đạo Vương (Trần Hưng Đạo), Anh Hùng áo vải (Quang Trung), Hoàng đế cờ lau (Đinh Tiên Hoàng) Many fixed epithets are closely related to folklore, so, due to this through long and repeated use epithets become fixed, for example: “true love”, “dark forest”,

“green wood”, etc

Galperin [13, p 143] defines that “the epithet is a stylistic device based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive and logical meaning in an attributive word phrase or even syntactically used to characterize an object and pointing out to the reader, and frequently imposing on him, some of the properties or features of the object with the aim of giving an individual perception an evaluation of these features or properties”

2.2.6.2 Classification of epithet

As Galperin identifies, the epithets are classified semantically and structurally Semantically, epithets are divided into two groups: associated and unassociated:

(1) Associated epithets: convey emotional evaluation of the object of the speaker

for example: unbelievable story, incredible experience, dark forest, careful attention

(2) Unassociated epithets have an attribute which characterizes the object by giving

a feature, which it does not have, and can surprise the reader, for example: thoughtful

moon, soft grass, smiling sun

Due to epithets compositional structure, they can be distinguished into:

(1) According to simple epithets: are expressed by ordinary adjectives, adverbs,

participles which can be placed in pre- or postposition For example: I am fled from this

vile world (Shakespeare), He looked at them in animal panic, she looked gorgeous

(2) Compound: are built like compound adjectives For example: apple-faced man,

long-lasting peace, mischief-making monkey (Byron)

(3) Sentence and phrase epithets: Phrase epithet is a phrase or a whole sentence which performs an attributive function and graphically and syntactically becomes similar to a word Phrase epithets are always hyphenated Phrase epithets are generally

followed by the words expression, attitude, air and deal with the psychological state of

a person For example: It is his do - it - yourself attitude

(4) Reversed epithets - composed of 2 nouns linked by an “ of phrase” : for

example: a shadow of a smile, Odysseus, noble son of Laertes

Kukharenko, “phrase epithets always produce an original impression e.g the sunshine-in-the- breakfast-room smell’ [16, p.31] Moreover, there are some more

epithets such as metaphorical or reversed epithets (devilish woman) strings of epithets (apple-faced young woman) and transferred epithets which often involve shifting a modifier from the animate to the inanimate e.g discreet silence, cheerful money

V.A Kukharenko splits epithets semantically into two main groups: fixed

(trite, traditional, conventional, standing), for example a devoted friend, magic

weather, dead silence and figurative (transferred) that can be metaphorical, metonymic,

ironical, etc., for example: the sleepless pillow, a dreamlike experience, a ghost-like

face, bushy eyebrows (Priestley)

There is another classification of epithets suggested by V.A.Kucharenko:

(1) Tautological epithets: “green grass”

(2) Evaluative epithets: “a pompously majestic female”

(3) Descriptive epithets: “an unnaturally mild day”

(4) Metaphorical epithets: “the smiling sun”

(5) Metonymical epithets: “the sleepless pillow”

2.2.7 Repetition

2.2.7.1 Definition

Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable It is an expressive means of

language used when the speaker is under the stress of strong emotion It implies repeating sounds, words, expressions, and clauses in a certain succession or even with

no particular placement of the words, in order to provide emphasis

As a rhetorical device, it could be a word, a phrase, or a full sentence, or a poetical line repeated to emphasize its significance in the entire text Repetition is not distinguished solely as a figure of speech, but more as a rhetorical device

According to Galperin [13, p 211], repetition aims at logical emphasis, an emphasis necessary to fix the attention of the reader on the key word of the utterance The primary function of repetition is the intensification of the utterance that is the direct outcome of the use of the expressive means employed in ordinary intercourse, but when used in the outer compositional patterns, the immediate emotional charge is greatly suppressed and is replaced by a purely aesthetic aim In this connection the repetition of the words in the metrical pattern at regular intervals forms a refrain which serves to set off or divide narrative into segments, as in ballads or in lyric poetry to indicate shifts or development of emotion which underlines the aesthetic and pleasing sound patterns

(2) Epiphora: the repetition of successive sentences (clauses) The vital function of epiphora is to add stress to the final words of the sentence

(3) Framing: is called Epanalepsis The beginning of the sentence repeated in the end, thus forming the "frame" for the non-repeated part of the sentence (utterance) The function of framing is to elucidate the notion mentioned in the beginning of the sentence Between two appearances of the repeated unit there comes the developing middle part of the sentence which explains and clarifies what was introduced in the

beginning, so that by the time it is used for the second time its semantics is concretized and specified

(4) Anadiplosis: the repetition the last word of one phrase, clause, or sentence at or very near the beginning of the next It can be generated in series for the sake of beauty

or to give a sense of logical progression

(5) Chain repetition: presents several successive anadiploses The effect is that of the smoothly developing logical reasoning

(6) Ordinary repetition: has no definite place in the sentence and the repeated unit occurs in various positions Ordinary repetition emphasizes both the logical and the emotional meanings of the reiterated word

(7) Successive repetition: is a string of closely following each other reiterated units This is the most emphatic type of repetition that signifies the peak of emotions of the speaker

(8) Reversed parallelism: is called chiasmus The second part of a chiasmus is, in fact, inversion of the first construction Thus, if the first sentence (clause) has a direct word order, the second one will have it inverted

Repetition, on the other hand, is classified according to the different types of repetition used, both in literature and in daily conversations

(1) Anadiplosis: Repetition of the last word in a line or clause

(2) Anaphora: Repetition of words at the start of clauses or verses

(3) Antistasis: Repetition of words or phrases in opposite sense

(4) Diacope: Repetition of words broken by some other words

(5) Epanalepsis: Repetition of the same words at the beginning and the end of a sentence

(6) Epimone: Repetition of a phrase (usually a question) to stress a point

(7) Epiphora: Repetition of the same word at the end of each clause

(8) Gradatio: A construction in poetry wherein the last word of one clause becomes the first of the next, and so on

(9) Negative-Positive Restatement: Repetition of an idea first in negative terms, and then in positive terms

(10) Polyptoton: Repetition of words of the same root, with different endings

(11) Symploce: A combination of anaphora and epiphora, in which repetition is both at the end and at the beginning

2.2.8 Political discourse

Language is a tool for expressing man’s social reality Politics is one of the spheres of social life in which language plays a pivotal role Politicians engage in different rhetorical uses of language to achieve their political goals In the Handbook of Applied Linguistics, Wilson states that the study of language and politics is aimed at understanding the role of linguistic communication in the functioning of social units, and how this role shapes language itself From early in the history of western thought, language and politics have defined what it is to be human He says “Politics is the art, and language the medium, whereby they position themselves to get what they need,

and beyond that, what they want.” [34, p.347]

Van Dijk identifies that: “What exactly is “political discourse”? The easiest, and not altogether misguided, answer is that its actors or authors, viz, politicians, identify political discourse Indeed, the vast bulk of studies of political discourse is about the text and talk of professional politicians or political institutions, such as presidents and prime ministers and other members of government, parliament or political parties, both at the local, national and international levels” [27, p 12]

According to Bayley [39], political discourse is a wide and diverse set of discourses, or genres, or registers, such as: policy papers, ministerial speeches, government press releases or press conferences, parliamentary discourse, party manifestos (or platforms), electoral speeches, and so forth They are all characterised

by the fact that they are spoken or written by (or for) primary political actors - members of the government or the opposition, members of parliament, leaders of political parties, candidates for office A political discourse, therefore, is discourse in any political forum such as campaigns, parliamentary debates, interview, speeches, writing and so forth

Chilton and Schaffner [7, p.212] identify political discourse as any discourse whose linguistic or other actions involve power or its inverse, resistance Wilson [34, p.398] describes political discourse as language used in formal and informal political context with political actors, such as politicians, political institutions, government,

political media, and political supporters operating in political environments with political goals

Politicians often make choices at different levels of discourse aiming to represent events in a way that fits with their ideology Accordingly, the choice one makes among different choices matters The choices, which are made at any level (semantic, syntactic, lexical, etc.), could be used by politicians in order to produce positive or negative effects Wilson adds: “We not only use language to shape reality, but we use it also to defend that reality, against anyone whose alternative values might threaten ours” [34, p.34]

At the semantic level, Van Dijk [27, p.31] states that one of the most important semantic choices “is to make propositions with positive predicates about the “self’ rather explicit than implicit, rather direct than indirect, and stated rather than presupposed” Also, Wodak et al believe that in political discourse, the repetition of the pronoun 'we' is a “persuasive linguistic device which helps invite identification and solidarity with the “we- group”, which, however, simultaneously implies distancing from and marginalization of “others” [31, p 160] At the lexis level, on the other hand, choices seem to be “less overt operations, in the sense that they rarely go fully unnoticed by the listener or reader since they lie above the threshold of consciousness” [p.4]

In short, political discourse can be defined as the written or spoken language, verbal or non-verbal, used in politics to steer the emotions of audience to affect their opinions and attitudes It is distinguished from other types of discourse, because it is intentional, functional, directive to a certain group of people, well organized, and it is rich in figurative language, metaphors and similes

2.2.9 An introduction of State of the Union Address

2.2.9.1 Historical background of the State of the Union Address

The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the President of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress at the beginning of each calendar year in office The message typically includes a budget message and an economic report of the nation, and allows the President to propose a legislative agenda and national priorities

The State of the Union address is a communication between the President and Congress in which the chief executive reports on the current conditions of the United States and provides policy proposals for the upcoming legislative year The State of the Union address originates in the Constitution As part of the system of checks and balances, Article II, Section 3, clause 1 requires that the President “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” In recent decades, the President has expanded his State of the Union audience, addressing the speech to both the nation and Members of Congress From Congress’s perspective, the State of the Union address may be considered the most important presidential speech of the year Although Presidents may ask to address Congress in joint session

on extraordinary occasions, the State of the Union is the one time Presidents are regularly scheduled to venture to the House chamber to present their programmatic priorities and set the tone for the ensuing year Although modern Presidents communicate with Congress and the public regularly, the State of the Union provides the President with a unique opportunity to present his entire policy platform in one speech

From the President’s perspective, the State of the Union address has evolved from a constitutional duty to a welcome source of executive power and authority Standing before the American public to deliver the annual address, the President combines several constitutional roles: chief of state, chief executive, chief diplomat, commander-in-chief, and chief legislator

Over time, the State of the Union address has evolved considerably The format and delivery of the speech has changed, and its length has fluctuated widely Some scholars have suggested the speech has evolved to mimic American culture and ethos, with a growing emphasis on self-interest

2.2.9.2 Donald J Trump’s State of the Union Addresses from 2018 to 2020

The 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump, gave the 2018 State

of the Union Address on Tuesday, January 30, 2018, at 9 p.m EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 115th United States Congress It was Trump's first State of the Union Address and his second speech to a joint session of the United States Congress Presiding over this joint session was the House Speaker, Paul

Ryan, accompanied by Mike Pence, the Vice President of the United States 45.6 million viewers watched the Address There were also 21 million interactions regarding the Address on social media

The President Donald J Trump delivered his second State of the Union address

on on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, at 9 p.m EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 116th United States Congress It was Trump's second State of the Union Address and his third speech to a joint session of the United States Congress Presiding over this joint session was the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, accompanied by Mike Pence, the Vice President of the United States The Address was watched by 46.8 million viewers, and aired live on 12 major television networks Viewership statistics do not include views from online live streams There were also 15.2 million interactions regarding the Address on social media

The 2020 State of the Union Address was given by the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, on Tuesday, February 4, 2020, at 9 p.m EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 116th United States Congress It was Trump's third State of the Union Address and his fourth speech to a joint session of the United States Congress Presiding over this joint session was the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, accompanied by Mike Pence, the Vice President of the United States The speech was the second State of the Union Address to be delivered

by an impeached president The address was aired on 12 television networks and was watched by 37.2 million viewers, not including views from online live streams Overall viewership for the address was 20% lower than 2019

2.2.10 Summary

In conclusion, stylistic devices are important to anyone who gives speeches, writes articles or studies Using stylistic devices in an appropriate way, the author can create strong, logical, and compelling speeches A stylistic device is a literary pattern which semantic and structural features are combined so that it represents a generalized model In other words, it is a generative model which through use in language is transformed into a stylistic device e.g metaphor, epithet, etc According to Galperin, stylistic devices “necessarily touches upon such general language problems as the aesthetic function of language, synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea, emotional coloring in language, the interrelation between language and thought, the

individual manner of an author in making use of language and a number of other issues” ( Galperin [13] ) Stylistic devices can be in spoken or written texts where an author tries to emphasize an idea or to make an impression on listeners or readers by using language

Politicians all over the world vivify their speeches in a unique way, by using stylistic devices and giving extra effect to their ideas It can be called linguistic management and it is based on the idea of persuading people That is to say, politicians’ linguistic manipulation is a basic instrument to become apparent and to implement the corresponding communicative strategies Nowadays, according to Rozina & Karapetjana [28], “to convince the potential electorate in present time societies, politics basically dominates in mass media, which leads to creating new forms of linguistic manipulation, e.g modified forms of press conferences and press statements, updated texts in slogans, applications of catch phrases, phrasal allusions, the connotative meanings of words, a combination of language and visual imagery”

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

As it is indicated in the title, this chapter includes the research methodology of the dissertation In more details in this part the author outlines the research strategy, the research method, the research approach, the methods of data collection, the selection of the sample, the research process, the type of data analysis, the ethical considerations and the research limitations of the project

3.1 Research approach

The research approach that was followed for the purposes of this research was the inductive one According to this approach, researchers begin with specific observation, which are used to produce generalized theories and conclusions drawn from the research The reasons for occupying the inductive approach was that it takes into account the context where research effort is active, while it is also most appropriate for small samples that produce qualitative data However, the main weakness of the inductive approach is that it produces generalized theories and conclusions based only on a small number of observations, thereby the reliability of research results being under question

3.2 Methods of the study

This study makes use of both qualitative and quantitative approach employing descriptive and analytical method

Firstly, this study is qualitative as it explores stylistic devices in terms of pragmatics categories' subcategories from the qualitative data

Secondly, the research is supported by quantitative method The data is quantitatively analyzed in terms of the percentage of the occurrence of the stylistic

devices used by US President Donald J Trump

Besides, the analytic and synthetic methods were used in a combination to analyze the texts Descriptive method was used to give a detailed description of the data in terms of the rhetorical devices of President Donald Trump and their respective functions Inductive method helped the researcher to synthesize the findings and bring out the explanation and conclusion

However, the effectiveness of qualitative research is heavily based on the skills and abilities of researchers, while the outcomes may not be perceived

as reliable, because they mostly come from researcher’s personal judgments and

interpretations Because it is more appropriate for small samples, it is also risky for the results of qualitative research to be perceived as reflecting the opinions of

a wider population (Bell, 2005)

Table 3.1: Features of Qualitative & Quantitative Research

3.3 Data collection and data analysis

The speeches have been published online in audio and written form As the focus of

my analysis is on the language, I focused only on the written documentations of the inaugural addresses I will be using the speeches from the website

https://www.whitehouse.gov/ The website https://www.whitehouse.gov/ is the official

website of the White House and is owned by the United States government Launched

in October 1994, it contains information about the President, the Vice President, their families, press releases, proclamations, executive orders, and some speeches by White House officials It has the official web sites of several offices in the Executive Office

of the President, such as the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy The website has been completely redesigned for each new president Websites for former presidents in office are moved to archive versions

In 2011, the website was considered among the best of the United States federal government The content of the website is in the public domain or licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license

This corpus includes three speeches of the President Donald J Trump: The State of the Union address of Donald J Trump 2018, The State of the Union address of Donald J Trump 2019, The State of the Union address of Donald J Trump 2020 Choosing the speeches from White house website is of great significance since it guarantees the authenticity of the corpus

conclusion, the researchers drew the conclusion by explaining several most used of stylistic devices and their functions in Trump's speeches

3.4 Summary

This chapter dealt with the methods and procedures employed in the study To

be precise, the research methodologies, data collection, and analysis for implementing the thesis were discussed in details with reference to the aims and objectives of the study and in the light of the theoretical background that has been discussed in the previous chapter Accordingly, this chapter provided the framework for generating the result in the subsequent chapter

CHAPTER 4:

STYLISTIC DEVICES USED IN THREE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESSES MADE BY US PRESENT DONALD J TRUMP AND THEIR FREQUENCIES 4.1 Stylistic devices used in three State of the Union addresses made by US Present Donald J Trump

4.1.1 Metaphor

Metaphor was one of the most potent means of creating images in political speeches and it is preferred by the speakers due to its special effects on the listeners as

highlighting, appealing to their imagination, and creating a vivid picture in their mind

Based on my findings from the collected data, President Donald J Trump employs metaphor as a stylistic device in order to gain people’s attention and make people want to listen, because they create a situation in which people feel that they are

in the presence of a great political leader

Table 4.1: Distribution of metaphor in the three State of The Union Addresses

by President Donald J Trump

Year Number Metaphors per speech

Here are some instances of metaphors for analysis:

(1 ) “Less than 1 year has passed since I first stood at this podium, in

this majestic chamber, to speak on behalf of the American People - and to

address their concerns, their hopes, and their dreams…" (2018)

President Trump here describes the room where he and the congress are, as a majestic room to express how grand, elegant, and luxurious it is This

is a structural metaphor where people understand one thing in terms of another

(2) " Each day since, we have gone forward with a clear vision and a

righteous mission - to make America great again for all Americans." (2018)

President Trump uses an orientational metaphor in which the physical structure of human beings expresses the development and the evolution of America to

be a better country

(3) "We have shared in the heights of victory and the pains of

hardship We endured floods, fires, and storms But through it all, we have seen the beauty of America's soul, and the steel in America's spine." (2018) The metaphor here is also an orientational, in which the "heights of victory…" expresses that the victory in a fight is typically on top to show elevation in America's society On the other, hand in this one “the beauty of America's soul…"ˏ Trump portrayed America as if it was a living person with a beautiful soul, this is an ontological metaphor where he viewed things as a person

(4) “Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek

out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve" (2018)

The metaphor "to seek out common ground” is a structural metaphor in which

it is used to make people understand one thing in terms of another Trump here, means that all the Americans should leave their differences and to be together as a one unit "to seek out common ground" Again, he uses a structural metaphor in “to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people …" Trump calls for everyone to summon unity because he believes that unity is the solution ˏ that it's not enough to be together only in times of tragedy, but the people should be united all the time, and this unity is the solution

(5) “Small business confidence is at an all-time high The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value That is great

news for Americans' 401k, retirement, pension, and college savings accounts

have gone through the roof.” (2018)

In the sentence (5), President Trump uses an orientational metaphor He describes the savings "gone through the roof" to say that the savings' rate was increased largely This is an orientational metaphor in which "through the roof" means "up" and "more"

(6) “This year, American astronauts will go back to space on American

rockets.” (2019)