English textual analysis 3-Obama ISIS
This text is the script of president Obama’s national speech on the ISIL group, which he addresses as “a terrorist threat” in the text. The speech was made and broadcasted live on the tenth of September, 2014, which is one day before the thirteenth anniversary of September 11 attack, and therefore the main motive of the text resonates with the anti-terrorism theme of the memorials and tributes. In particular, it condemns the militants brutal acts and shows the government’s dedication in eliminating terrorism. President Obama states the widespread fear the extreme Islamic group has stirred recently to imply the potential threats the United States might be facing in the future, which is targeted to alert the audiences the presence of terrorism and prepare them for the potential danger. Furthermore, the text was written on the period when president Obama struggled to carry out his healthcare reformation and his plans to revive U.S. economy, and therefore identifying a common enemy would be helpful to regain the trust from the citizens and unite them together around the government. The primary target audiences of this speech are the domestic citizens of America and America’s allies. The speech also seeks for international attention from other foreign sectors because of its universal topic. Obama achieves these purposes by using a range of devices that are discussed on the following content.
As a propaganda, one of the most prominent feature of the text is the use of pronouns, which creates a sense a separation and even provokes the confrontation between the good and the evil. President Obama uses “we” and “us” to address America and American citizens, which enhances that the government and the citizens are facing the same situation. This could help to overcome the burdens between the authority and the citizens to regain their trust, especially during a difficult time. Furthermore, using “we” and “us” could be regarded as the example of Plain Folks technique, which uses a folksy approach to inform the audiences their responsibilities in the fight against terrorism. Hence they will pay more attention to their surroundings and report the potential threats to the officials, which prevents the occurrences of deadly attacks in the future. The purpose of alerting the citizens is achieved by referring them as “we” and “us”. For ISIL, the president uses the pronoun “they” to signify that the group stands at the opposite side of “us”, which brings out a sense of confrontation to convince the audiences the necessity in fighting the war against terrorism. “They” also shows that the group is isolated from the mainstream, which uses the bandwagon effect to gain the audiences’ support to eliminate terrorism. The pronoun “they” develops further in the text to “it” to dehumanise the group due to its brutality. The effect of using “it” suggests that the nature of ISIL is cruel, primitive and savage , which gives the audiences the impression of a group of barbarians who aim to destroy other cultures. As the result, the audiences will unite together around the government to protect the achievements of civilisation by supporting the counterterrorism war.
The text also exploits the public’s fear of terrorism to achieve its purposes. It uses name-calling technique to attach negative labels to the ISIL group, for example, addressing it as a “radical group” and “terrorist organization”. These hateful labels help to provoke the terror among the audiences, which further explains to the public why does the government insist on carrying out the air strikes against ISIL even though it promised to withdraw most of the troops from the Middle East. Considering the speech was made one day before the thirteenth anniversary of the 911 attack, these sensitive labels will lead the audiences to recall their devastating memories of that day, which enhances the great consequences circumstances if the nation fails to eliminate terrorism. Moreover, president Obama uses repetitive structure and triplets in the text to intensify the horror ISIL has done so far. The sentence “they execute capture…genocide” condemns their brutal acts, and the repeating “they…they…” structure serves to impact the audiences. And therefore these disturbing facts will leave a permanent mark in audiences brain, which facilitates the author to call up them to join the movement of antiterrorism. The triplet “enslave…rape….enforce” shows ISIL’s abuses towards the women, which again reveals the evilness of the group. To a certain extent, president Obama might address this line to the issue that a number of girls decide to join ISIL voluntarily to be fighters’ wives. He intends to use the cruel facts to scare, and hence persuade the girls who have the similar thoughts. The order of the verbs represents the three phases of being subjugated. “Enslave” means there is no physical freedom while “rape” shows that the ISIL group has no regards of dignity or morality. “Enforce into marriage” escalates the group’s ridiculousness to a higher level as they simply disobey their victims’ wills and treat them as feelingless objects. These three verbs help to sketch a horrible picture of the lifestyle in ISIL territories, which would raise the audiences’ sympathy towards the victims and firm their belief in fighting against terrorism.
Rather than focusing on the international impact of the group, president Obama changes his focus to reveal how does this group threaten the life of the American citizens to provoke more fear among the audiences. He states that “thousands of foreigners” have “joined them in Syria and Iraq” and could try to “carry out deadly attacks”. The number “thousands” signifies the large amount of the potential terrorists, which attracts the audiences’ attention and alerts them to be prepared for the possible attacks. However, it is a vague and ambiguous statement as it is only an estimation from the intelligence community. The real number of the foreign fighters, especially the American ones is unidentified, and hence “thousands” could be regarded as a hyperbole to exaggerate the circumstances of the potential harm, which is targeted to show the importance and necessity of taking counterterrorism acts outside of America. The adverb “deadly” suggests the massive scale and casualty of the potential attacks, which promotes fear among the audiences and hence prepare them to be ready to respond to the events. Focusing on the domestic impact would make the audiences feel more relatable and see their roles in fighting against terrorism. Consequently, they will take the responsibility of observing and reporting the potential threats.
President Obama promotes patriotism and heroism to placate the terrified crowd, which also balances the tone of the text. The use of the adjectives “strength and resolve” is an example of glittering generalities, which means it uses fancy words that have little or no real meaning. The phrase “strength and resolve” doesn't signify anything in practical in fighting against terrorism, but it effectively promotes the audiences’ pride and patriotism and hence makes them feel that they are responsible in eliminating terrorism. When briefing the outcomes of the air strikes, president Obama uses the perfect present tense “have…protected” to show the attacks’ long lasting positive effect, both regionally and internationally, which pacifies the audiences’ growing terror by showing them the achievements on the frontline. This also firms the audiences’ confidence in winning the fight against terrorism, which ultimately helps to government to rebuild its image and regain trust from the audiences. The alteration “decisive difference” shows the global leading role America plays in counterterrorism, which effectively provokes the reader’s national pride and patriotism. The “d” sounds primitive and powerful, which symbolises America’s great military power and its pivotal position in eliminating terrorism, showing the audiences that the troops are reliable enough to eliminate terrorism. The examples of heroism and patriotism contrast with the fear president Obama provokes in pervious, praising the contribution of the troops in stabilising the word while placating the public’s growing fears.
Overall, considering the political background of the text, president Obama applies a range of propagandistic techniques to deliver his purposes and manipulate the public’s attitude towards counterterrorism. The implication of patriotism and heroism effectively arises the audiences’ interests towards the text and makes them feel more relatable, facilitating the author to convey his ideas to them.
18/20, level 7
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