Topic 2: Political Rhetoric

Let’s Begin

Martin Luther King, Benigno Aquino, and Winston Churchill are names that have been etched in the minds and hearts of their respective fellowmen. Their well-known speeches had changed the course of their nation’s history. 

If you have watched or listened to Senate or Committee hearings, you would find a rich source of examples of how arguments raised by our lawmakers can influence the decision of their fellow lawmakers in particular and the Filipino citizens in general. You may have been in awe of how some Congressional Representatives or Senators were able to convincingly put forth their arguments in support of or in opposition to the proposed resolution of a case. 

Aristotle argued that there are three standards or modes of persuasion, the most potent among them is Ethos or the character of the speaker. Condor et al., (2013) identified strategies on how speakers can communicate their sincerity and trustworthiness to their audience. 

Learning Outcomes:

 After studying this section, you should be able to:

1. identify the different persuasive strategies;
2. analyze persuasive strategies used in political speeches and advertisements;
3. identify the strategies used by speakers to achieve consubstantiality with the audience; and
4. analyze how the strategies to achieve consubstantiality were used in political campaign speeches.

 Read

Read pages 276 - 282 of Condor et al.’s (2013), chapter on political rhetoric.

 Think

1. What were the persuasive strategies mentioned in the chapter?
2. Of these strategies, which have you encountered during political campaigns (in school, or in local or national elections)?
3. Were the strategies effective for you? Why or why not?

 Dig deeper

Duterte’s political rhetoric and the masses. Retrieved from: https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/08/07/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/dutertes-political-rhetoric-and-the-masses/751599/

Activity guide

 Individual work

 Choose two political ads from past local/national elections. Identify the appeal/s and strategy/ies used by the political candidate in each of the two political advertisements. Evaluate the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of the appeals and strategies used by the candidate.

Sample political advertisements

Retrieved from: https://rappler.com/nation/elections/political-ads-poe-roxas-villanueva-tolentino-hontiveros-moreno

Retrieved from: https://rappler.com/nation/elections/memorable-effective-political-ads

Retrieved from: https://philnews.ph/2013/05/10/grace-poe-profile-bios-platform-senatorial-candidate-28/ 

Assignment guide

 Task: A comparative and contrastive analysis of two campaign speeches

 Procedure:

 Tools and resources:

Youtube videos 

Watch: Why Grace Poe is running for President 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCdCKw0ZFD8

Watch: 

Duterte’s final word: Stop and obey the law

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZRQMwJDUjI

Instructions:

After reading Condor et al.,’s essay and watching the two videos, write a comparative and contrastive analysis of the two political speeches guided by the following questions:

1. How and to what extent did each speaker exhibit the following:

a. Taking and avoiding sidesExplicit appeals to common in-group membership

b. Constructing aspirational identities  

c.Implicit displays of rhetorical alignment.

2. Which of these strategies do you think was well employed? Why do you think so? Overall, would you say that the speech was enough to persuade you? Why or why  not?

Evaluation criteria

Scoring guide/rubric