Rhetorical Review On Bush's Speeches

In this era of globalization, communications between China and America are more frequent, it becomes significant for us to gain a deeper understanding of American presidents' oratory. Bush serves as an example for us to study in this aspect. Until now, most people have been studying his oratory mainly through either Chinese translations of his speeches or interpretations by the media, conducted through perspectives which are by no means rhetorically informed. Considering the fact that what we are dealing with is political oratory, it is high time that the rhetorical perspective be introduced into the process of interpreting Bush's political communication in its original context. Such a perspective will help us obtain a better approach of interpreting his oratory. With rhetorical perspective, this paper will focus on the analysis of the "three artistic proofs", the rhetorical languages, the rhetorical figures and the audience's adaptation in Bush's oratory respectively. This analysis will be followed by a case study of one of his speeches, based in particular on the theory of "rhetorical situation".