Political rhetoric uses classical rhetoric techniques, such as logos, pathos, and ethos, to enhance the effect of speeches. Politicians use techniques like anaphora, repetition, diversion, and association to win favor with the public. They manipulate their image, use logic to create valid arguments, and appeal to emotions. Jargon is used to avoid logical inconsistencies, and associations are made between unrelated things to produce an effect.
Political rhetoric is essentially classical rhetoric applied to a modern political situation. The foundations of rhetoric – logos, pathos and ethos – all apply to contemporary political discussion and specific rhetorical devices are employed to enhance effect. For example, politicians often make use of anaphora, which is a form of repetition where consecutive sentences begin with the same word or phrase. Politicians also use other techniques in political rhetoric, such as confusion, diversion, association, omission, and compounding. These techniques are all employed in speeches and public statements to win the favor of the listening public.
Basic rhetoric can be applied effectively to political debates, and this is the basis of political rhetoric. The three main aspects of classical rhetoric are logos, ethos and pathos, i.e. logic, image and emotional appeal. Politicians manipulate their image to create a more reliable, just and intelligent version of themselves, which is presented to the public. Logic is used to create valid arguments and can also be a valuable technique for pointing out the flaws in opposition arguments. Appeal to emotion is used frequently in speeches and emotionally charged words can be used to incite a certain reaction from the audience.
Politicians often apply different rhetorical techniques designed to encourage the public to agree with their points. Diversion is a technique often used in political rhetoric and can be applied in a variety of different ways. For example, a politician may shift attention from issues with his own policies to issues with an opponent’s policies. Attacking another politician’s personality or the solution to a problem diverts attention from the inherent flaws in the speaker’s argument.
Repetition is a powerful technique often used in political rhetoric. Slogans are a simple example of the use of repetition in politics, planting important and usually crowd-pleasing policies in the minds of listeners. In addition to the use of slogans, politicians often make use of techniques such as anaphora, which is the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive sentences. Repetition can create a sense of familiarity, to which people generally respond positively.
Many other techniques are used in political rhetoric and they are all designed to make the audience accept or agree with what is being said. This arrangement is often the result of a politician’s reliable image and frequent emotional appeals. Politicians often wrap their message in jargon to avoid betraying logical inconsistencies and making associations between unrelated things to produce effect. Someone might say, for example, that a politician cannot be trusted because his father was a member of the Nazi party. While this may seem negative, the politician’s father’s political allegiances don’t necessarily have any negative aspect on him.
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