Appunti inglese

Figure retoriche

Tricolon: Three part list, three parallel items, it can be simply three words or three phrases. (Libertà, fraternità, eternità - veni, vidi, vici) - Tricorno builds up expectation that the three items are related but this expectation can also be exploited to create surprise. - Metric pattern of crescendo

Contrasting Pair = Antithesis: Two parts parallel in structure, opposed in meaning. (One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind - Armstrong) Chiasmus is a special form of contrasting pairs, where the elements of the first part are switched around in the second. (Bends the rules - rules the bends - new cayman car)

Oxymorons: Combination in a single word/phrase/epigram of two apparently contradictory elements. Frequently the opposition in evaluative. (Red fascist, military intelligence, extreme moderate). The word oxymorons itself is used to negatively evaluate an argument, suggesting that two components are incompatible.

Chapter 7: Metaphors and...

COMPANY: THE SUBTLEPERSUADERS

Persuasive discourse often contains a large number of figures of speech. In this chapter we will focus on metaphor, simile and metonymy.

METAPHOR:

Is a figure of speech and it is a kind of play on words. (nerves of steel, an icy glance). They communicate something abstract in terms of something concrete. Methapors can be literal, half - metaphorical and metaphorical. (war on terror). An example of metaphorical is war on Christmas, war of women.

The power of metaphor is that different people can interpret the same metaphor in different ways. Sport and war are two predominant areas of experience to obtain political metaphors.

Paradox: when real war discussed, we often find euphemistic expressions: Collateral damage for civil killed, ethnic clearing for genocide, enhanced interrogation for torture.

SIMILES:

Are used to allow the author to develop the basis of the resemblance. In political discourse they are very common and have 4 general attributes:

1. They exploit the analogy

1. Metaphors: Comparisons between two deliberately very different roles, the target and the source. They contain an explicit lexical sign of comparison and are often accompanied by an explanation of why the source and target are supposedly similar. They are evaluative and therefore used to persuade. Example: "Putin is like a shark; he has to keep moving in order to stay alive" meaning to legitimate his role.

2. Metonymies: Refers to something connected and associated with it. Sometimes expressions combine elements of metonymy and metaphor (e.g. "shoulder to shoulder" - metonymy of a body part representing cooperation or support in adversity + metaphor because it means support).

3. Toponymical: Used in politics and is an important and productive group of metonyms. They represent the place where political events take place and are used to represent the events themselves.

4. National or ethnic stereotypes are partly explained as metonyms: "whole" labels are used to refer to a part of them.

Palestinians are terrorists, Italian are musical, Americans are gullible). It is especially used when talking about the actions of governments and leaders. The so called "missing quanti er" can project an unjusti ed collective responsibility leading to racist stereotyping.

CHAPTER 10: THE USA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2016:

The champaign has been one of the most divisive in history considering the tone and the language used by both candidates. Trump called Hillary "the crooked Hilary" and Clinton called the Trump supporter "a basket if deplorables". In history of campaigning there were many examples of bad campaigning (Thomas Jefferson was called anti-christ, Andrew Jackson's wife was called a prostitute and Hamilton in 1804 was shot dead). Social media had a important role in election because was the most important source of information. (#notmypresident for anti trump). Some metonyms appeared many times in the campaign:

1. Washington DC: negatively

evaluated as corrupt or self-serving. 2. Wall Street: negatively evaluated as responsible for the financial crash of 2007. 3. Main Street: positively evaluated in contrast with Washington and Wall Street. 4. Blue Collar: manual workers, White Collar: office workers. Blue collar states are those where there are a lot of factories, while white collar states are where most jobs are not in industry or agriculture. The 2016 elections were different because of the extent to which gender was emphasized. This was the first time when a woman ran against a man. Gender was a problem in that: 1. Some voters declared immediately that they will not vote for a woman. 2. Trump had a history of making sexist remarks. 3. Candidates were evaluated in gendered ways both overtly and covertly. So women must be good leaders and good women. But the good leader is forceful and confident, and a good woman is gentle. A woman politician can conform with a good leader or a good woman stereotype or risk appearing too.

REFERENDUM: Is called to the voters to decide YES or NO on a topic of particular importance. In the USA there is no provision in the constitution for a referendum, are also rare in the UK.

1. 2014 Scottish referendum on a question if they should remain in the UK or leave. England and Scotland were separate kingdoms until 1601 when Elisabeth I died childless and the English Parlament invited her cousin James IV of Scotland to ascend the throne of England. In 1707 the government of two countries came tighter by mutual agreement. The main incentive for Scots was commerce and fo England was security. In 2013 the Scottish Nazionalist Party won the elections and demanded a referendum on if Scotland should separate from the UK. The secessionist in Scotland had to slogan "Yes Scotland" and the anti secessionist campaign read Better Together. The pro-secessionist argued that Scotland needed to be free and sovereign. Scottish people voted to stay on the UK.

2. 2016 European Union

Referendum (brexit). The referendum consist to ask to the voters to decide to remain in UE or leave. English press divided some form of ideas: - EU-idealist: yes to staying in the EU - EU-reformers: yes to reform but no to exit of the EU - EU-'Looseners: UK should be in EU but on the issue by issue basis but protect UK interest. - EU-Phobes: not to EU, UK must leave The support of the EU often refer to it as Europe but the EU is not Europe because it excludes many European countries. The brexit campaign was very similar to the Scotland one so that the media called for: - Sovereignty: taken away not shared - Size: UK has become a province of EU - Accountability: Brussels is far away and is accountable to the British One issue problem was the perceived increasing domination of Germany over the rest of the EU. fi SIMON LANCASTER IN VERONA: Simon Lancaster begins the speech by focusing on those who write speeches for work and set an example with one of his Australian clients. The discoursecontinues by introducing the secret language of leadership, rhetoric, which was born from ancient Rome and which until the 19th century it was still possible to learn it for free and which today is restricted only to the privileged who can afford it. The 3 is the magic number of rhetoric because it makes the whole thing look more convincing. Then start giving 6 techniques so that anyone starts talking like a leader: 1. Phrases sentences (Look left, look right, look center) 2. Speaking in 3s 3. Balanced statements (veni, vidi, vici - Romeo and Giulietta - composition of 3 phrases) 4. Metaphor (the most powerful piece of political. It has a very strong media impact, it can "decide the behaviour that people adapt based on simple metaphors. Financial storm is not natural it is caused by capitalism) 5. Exaggeration 6. Rhyming: There is research showing people are more likely to believe something is true if it rhymes than if it does not rhyme. We have been learning the rhyme since we were children.and we remember it all our lives, it is a short and impactful statement)

These 6 steps work because they are instinctive, exciting, logical and impactful.

He thinks it's not fair that rhetoric is only accessible to the privileged. Rhetoric is crucial in society because legal systems, financial systems and legal systems are not fair without it. In Britain, there is one school that teaches rhetoric and the last Prime Ministers went to this school. Instead of teaching our children to sit down and shut up, we should be teaching them to stand up and speak out because there are a lot of problems (climate changing, inequality, war etc).

METSOLA'S FIRST SPEECH AS EU PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT:

In his speech he defends the rule of law of countries, LGBTQ rights, ecological transition and climate change. In his speech, he spoke of the need to involve young people in the European project. His desire is to finance a green and digital ecological transition. Europe needs to combat the misinformation that has

increased during the pandemic and has caused greater nationalism. He wants Europe to become a world leader in all areas: economic and financial climate. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza) is part of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) investment programme, that the European Union negotiated in response to the pandemic crisis. He also talks about the attacks of sovereignist countries by taking the example of Ukraine. He wants a continent where there is peace and fraternity between countries. In the end of his speech he states that 'Europe is back, Europe is the future, Europe lives'.

PRESIDENT VON DER LEYEN AT THE EU CONFERENCE FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA:

The speech begins with publicly informing that Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The President and the European Union condemn this attack and declare themselves united with Ukraine and its people. He points to Putin responsible for returning war to Europe to create

instability within the continent and the entire rule-based order of international peace. It introduces sanctions on Russia signed by European states. The sanctions are aimed at strategic sectors of the Russian economy: - Increased borrowing costs, increased inflation that will bend the Russian industrial force. - Blocking their access to technologies and markets that are critical to Russia. - Freezing Russian assets in the European Union. - Stopping access to Russian banks to financial markets. - Export ban with Russia that will hit the oil that will no longer be able to upgrade their refineries. - Prohibition of the sale of aircraft, spare parts and equipment to Russian airlines. USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia condemn Russia for invading Ukraine and adhering to the sanctions package against Russia. Sanctions are useful for affecting the Kremlin's interests and their war efforts.