Rhetorical devices in President Donald Trump’s tweets on Twitter
Abstract
This study investigates rhetorical devices (RDs) in President Donald Trump (PDT)’s tweets on Twitter. The analytical framework of the study is adapted from the theory of RDs by Harris (2017). Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used with the assistance of analytic and synthetic ones to help work out the best possible findings. The aim of the study is to examine the frequency of occurrence of RDs in over 800 Trump’s tweets during three months from August to October 2019 and then to discuss how the use of these RDs contributes to the success of his messages. The research focuses on 20 popular RDs in five categories being employed in PDT’s tweets. With regard to RDs helping with Emphasis, Trump frequently utilized expletive and hyperbole. Considering Syntax RDs, Trump tended to used zeugma and diazeugma. In terms of RDs helping with Figurative & Language, Trump was more likely to employ metonymy and metaphor. Regarding Restatement RDs, Trump used anaphora more frequently than epistrophe, anadiplosis and epizeuxis. What’s more, parallelism was the most employed device among three Balance RDs. Another interesting result found in the research is that in comparison with the other four groups of devices, Emphasis RDs were most frequently-used with the highest rate with the purpose of directly emphasizing the power of Trump’s messages.