- United anger against one ”enemy”
- Use of pronouns:
- inclusion of the audience ”our country” (l. 4, l. 8, l. 31)
- seperation from the immigrants them (”those”) ⇐> we (”our”)
- ”those who illegally entered our country” (l. 8)
- ”those who have violated our borders” (l. 11)
- Antithesis: ”This [bill for border security] is a choice between right and wrong, justice and injustice.” (l. 28)
- trivialize problem
- choice is obvious ⇒ polarization
- Use of pronouns:
- Fear of (violent) crimes by immigrants
- Enumeration + Use of facts: ”aliens […] convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 violent killings” (l. 7)
- enumeration of violent crimes to show a problem
- facts to to magnify problem & make the statement credible
- Hyperbole: ”thousands more lives will be lost if we don’t act right now” (l. 9)
- sense of urgency
- Enumeration + Use of facts: ”aliens […] convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 violent killings” (l. 7)
In the excerpt from the border wall speech, broadcasted in U.S. television on January 9th 2019 and held by President Donald Trump, he may try to evoke fear and anger on behalf of the audience in order to get support for his border wall project.
Firstly, Trump evokes anger by using pronouns. He talks about ”those who illegally entered our country” (l. 8) and ”those who have violated our borders” (l. 11). This includes the audience and may create a sense of unity using the pronoun ”our” yet seperates them from the immigrants by using the pronoun ”those”. Therefore, Trump alienates the immigrants which may make it easier to develop anger towards them.
Additionally Lastly, Trump uses an antithesis to describe his bill for border security: ”This is a choice between right and wrong, justice and injustice” (l. 28). As a result, a complex problem seems trivial and the choice seemingly made obvious in a way which supports Trump’s opinion – such a bill for border security is necessary. This could create an enemy image towards immigrants – keeping them out using border control would appear just. Therefore, anger may be built up towards this ‘enemy’.
To summarize, Trump uses pronouns and an antithesis (, …) to seperate American citizens and immigrants whilst polarizing opinions on the topic further. Therefore, he may make it easier for a listener to build up anger towards immigrants.