#FeelTheBern

The text presented is Bernie Sanders’s address to the nation following his political campaign victory in the state of New Hampshire in 2016. Throughout the text, it is seen that Sanders employs several rhetorical devices and techniques such as but not limited to metaphors and personal pronouns in order to emphasize the dangers of competitors and unite the American public. Furthermore, Sanders looks to persuade his audience with a variety of encouraging and sophisticated yet down to earth vocabulary.

Sanders consistently refers to America and the American people throughout his speech, therefore it can be concluded that they are the target audience. This can be further supported through the diction he utilizes being very simple, hence allowing common people to understand him and allowing him to reach a broader audience. Sanders explicitly state that the “poor Americans”, “victims” and “average middle class American” is the focus of his audience and speeches. Sanders apply negative connotations to associate them as victims to empower the American people and effectively earn the vote. As   aforementioned, this speech effectively targets a broad audience through the language used, and also through the subtle references made within. He also intends to inspire hope within the people through frequently using language such as “we will” and “we go forward”, as well as show respect to the lives lost, despite secondary intentions involving possible diplomatic relations and highly controversial topics. He hopes to weave this extensive vocabulary into the content of the speech to truly spark persuasion and thought.

The content of this speech itself begins with Sanders appreciating the American public by thanking them repetitively. He then describes how crucial this victory was for him and the people of the United States. This supports the discussed purpose of unity, as his description including phrases such as, “Us”,” we are the victims”, we should be in control” reminds the audience of their power but only if they act together, seen especially through his wording as he refers to people as one. He continues similarly throughout, hence delineating the theme of strength in numbers and as a nation, as he describes what the authorities are doing, but also frequently refers to the actions of the American people as if he relied on them. He also evokes the theme of combatting the rich and greedy through his descriptive language used to reinforce their suggested antagonism such as, “We will make sure they are taxed and they pay for their crimes and legal theft”, almost acting as an indirect warning to the culprits of the American economy. In this way, Sanders uses varying content and themes to instill certain emotions within the wide audience, assisted by his tone and the corresponding mood. Using his mood, Sanders uses a certain tone toward different groups to display his hatred toward certain topics and instill a sense of power.

Sanders deliver this speech with numerous different tones, however the one that seems to overrule the others is that of anger, clearly towards the perpetrators of this “legal theft”. As previously mentioned, Sanders expresses this anger, and to an extent disgust (at humanity), through his descriptive language. He uses slang and words such as “Screw them “and “Baloney” to express his discontent with his and America’s opponents. With those Sanders repeatedly mentions his current position in the US as Ethos or credibility. “As Senator”, “We Senators”, “That’s why I’m Senator of Vermont “claiming how his position is enough for people to vote for him and backs up his political ideologies and proves his political correctness. With such a futuristic and optimistic view as displayed by words such as “will” and “forward”, Sanders evokes a sense of togetherness and a desire to improve. This is further enhanced, as are all the emotions and tones throughout the speech, through Sanders utilization of personal pronouns; he frequently uses “we” and “our” as to make the reader believe that they share the same emotions and perspectives as the speaker, hence making the transition from his tone to the audience’s mood more natural and effective.  This could be an effective method of Pathos, by not only turning the people against the perpetrators but to make them feel as they can combat it with togetherness but by persuading his audience that they will thrive under him and claim bigger returns.  

Combined with structured rhetoric, Sen. Bernie Sanders uses countless different rhetorical and literary devices and techniques to persuade his audience to vote for him and rise together. Using effective techniques such as Ethos and Pathos, Sanders can unite his voters and people to ultimately persuade them in voting for him in both the Democratic elections and the election for President of the United States. A confident and effective measure, Sanders successfully uses the right balance of both sophisticated and down to earth vocabulary whilst constantly changing his tone of voice to ultimately deliver a perfect political piece of persuasion.

This should(hopefully) be the right transcript for his speech in new hampshire - Bernie Sanders Text Speech

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/10/the-transcript-of-bernie-sanderss-victory-speech/