Senator Grace Poe as Rhetor: Probing the Rhetoric of a Neophyte Filipino Presidential Candidate
Jerryk C. Alico, Godiva E. Rivera
2017
Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS)
Politics never fails to impress its contentiousness on people, especially during elections where aspirants 'court' the electorate to win. Besides monetary resources, political candidates also consider rhetoric a top machinery. Rhetoric, or the effective use of language to persuade, has been a common research interest, particularly how politicians utilize it. Unique in this study is the probe on the rhetoric of a neophyte political candidate, Senator Grace Poe, who vied for presidency during the
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... Philippine elections in 2016. Using the framework of discourse analysis, the researcher looked into the three appeals of rhetoric-the ethos, pathos, and logos-and the different rhetorical strategies that Senator Poe used in one of her campaign speeches. Results revealed that Poe attempted to build her credibility through her father, the late actor Fernando Poe, Jr., who also ran for president but lost. As an emotional strategy, she reminisced her father's past experiences and reminded the audience about the desirable attributes of Filipinos, which clearly attempted to incite emotions to win the audience's support. Moreover, logical reasoning was also present in her rhetoric by proving claims through non-negotiable ideas and cause-effect relationship. She as well did not miss to utilize rhetorical devices such as repetition, rhetorical questions, meaningful use of we and I, and modality. Overall, Poe's skill to demonstrate rhetoric has not realized strong persuasiveness to influence popular votes. regarding the future of the nation, Senator Grace Poe, a presidential candidate, is the answer. Repetition of Words, Phrases and Grammatical Structures Another evident strategy employed by Poe to reinforce her rhetoric is repeating some words, phrases, and grammatical structures.First is her repetition of the preposition by in enumerating the different individuals that brought her inspiration. To mention some: ...By the daily triumph over struggles of our countrymen By ordinary Filipinos who are awake... By thosethose jostling for space in the MRT... By those who can't get home 'til late... By parents who have to be away from their children... By workers with callused hands and hunched backs... By ordinary government workers... Other repetitive words and phrases in Poe's speech also pertain to the following examples, which she used to start her sentences: Any progress we achieve... Any preferential bias... Aside from repetitions of words/phrases, Poe also demonstrated a unique way of starting a paragraph, particularly when she discussed her platforms, and that is by starting it with a description of the platform's main subject, which is then followed by her stand on that issue and her plan to achieve it. Some examples are the following: We have one of the highest tax rates in the world. My aim is to lower these. A large percentage of a family's earnings goes to paying for electricity.We need to find a way to lower power costs. Everyone's health is important.I will ensure that each community has a proper hospital... The West Philippine Sea is ours. We will protect our right through peaceful means, and according to international law. The traffic situation takes away not just our precious time, it tests our patience.We should do the following: We should build more roads and trains... Children are the nation's treasure. They are our present and future...It is time to create a Standard Lunch Program in all public schools.
doi:10.25255/jss.2017.6.4.775.786
fatcat:uhuopezr6ve3lozhtyrsktepry