Rhetorically Speaking…
Understanding rhetoric is no simple task, therefor a rhetorical analysis is some times needed to see the verbal sleight of hand that gifted speakers may employ upon the unsuspecting audience.
It is no secret that Donald Trump speaks without much censorship for a presidential candidate. The controversy that his mouth creates has no doubt helped fuel his bid for the presidency, and whether you love him or hate him, he is seasoned at his use of pathos, or appeal to emotions. The article which I chose to analyze rhetorically is from The New York Times, which is the gold standard for many publications around the world when it comes to ethos, or credibility. The article titled, “As America sleeps, Donald Trump Seethes on Twitter” written on September 30th of this year by Michael Barbaro, Maggie Haberman, and Alan Rappeport, is a political piece on some of Donald Trump’s more controversial tweets when he is alone and far from his campaign aides.
The first thing I notice while looking for an article on The New York Times homepage is that the layout is fairly simple with a white background and links to take you to different categories of news, I feel like they aren’t trying to sell me the news but rather to present it. There are very few advertisements which if I didn’t know much about the publication, it would make me feel that they are a credible source compared to a site that has more advertisements than links to news articles. The title of the article can be huge in setting the tone for the reader. In this case the title uses strong words such as “Donald Trump Seethes” conjures images of the man oozing out hatred, which is contrary to “America Sleeps” giving the feeling that the voters are in a serene state opposite of this candidate. The images on the page seem to portray both parties in a neutral light, there are no images of goofy or angry facial expressions. This adds to the article’s credibility, ethos.
The writers do a very good job in giving examples of Trump’s tweeting during late night hours when his staff has gone home for the day and there is no one to suggest that his actions may not be in the best interest of not offending anyone. For example Trump wrote, “[Mrs. Clinton] was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an ‘angel’ without checking her past, which is terrible!” The article has other examples of when his late night texts were offensive, and even a quote from an author who wrote a biography about Trump saying, “His worst impulses are self-defeating.” Given that the writers provided relevant examples to back up their claim, this article has logos.
While reading, I noticed strong words and phrases being used to evoke emotions in the reader and to help steer them towards agreeing with the main point of the article, which is basically that Donald Trump needs around the clock supervision or else his mouth, or fingers, will be the weapons of his campaign’s destruction. Some phrases that I noticed which could be pathos is “The tirade fit a pattern.” “…Trump is fixated on twitter.” “So like a car careening down a highway with no guardrails…” and “…Trump’s wounded pride…” are just a few examples that strong words were used to stir emotion in the reader.
I think the writers are trying to give the readers an image of an immature child on the playground calling people names to make himself feel better, except the other kids listening in this instance is the entire twitter community. The bias is pretty subtle compared to other articles trying to attack Donald Trump’s character, but it is there. In ending the article with “Not everyone in his life seems so sure. Asked this year which habit she wished her husband would quit, Melania Trump gave a one-word answer: tweeting.” This can be pathos, logos and ethos all in one.
Works Cited
Barbaro, M., Haberman, M., Rappeport, A. “As America Sleeps, Donald Trump Seethes on Twitter.” The New York Times 30 Sep. 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/01/us/politics/donald-trump-alicia-machado.html?ref=politics Accessed 2 October 2016.
