Political candidates like to use one
or more grammatical
structures when they speak. They use
grammatical structures because they
can have a rhetorical
effect.
rhetorical effect: efecto
retórico, truco de oratoria;
In other
words, the order of words and the
way they are used can direct
attention to important ideas and
help make points clearer. This
clarity, the candidates hope, will
influence likely voters to choose
them.
the way they are used: la
forma en que éstas se usan; help
make points clearer: ayudan a
aclarar los puntos mencionados (los
aspectos tratados); will
influence likely voters:
influenciará a probables votates;
to choose them: para elegirlos;
So, what
grammatical structures can you find
in political speeches? What can you
learn from such speeches?
political speeches: discursos
políticos;
In our
report today, we explore one
grammatical structure commonly used
in the American election campaign.
This structure is called the
deliberate fragment.
commonly used: utilizada
generalmente; election campaign:
campaña electoral; deliberate
fragment: fragmento (discursivo)
premeditado;
Consider
the sentence "I am going to the
store." The
subject is "I" and the predicate is
"am going to the store."
consider: analicemos;
subject: sujeto (gramática);
predicate: predicado
(gramática);
When
English speakers use a deliberate
fragment, they often present a noun
or verb phrase as a
sentence. The result is that the
sentence does not have a subject and
predicate. So, a sentence fragment
might be: "Going to the store."
as a sentence: como (si
fuera) una oración; might be:
podría ser;
Let's
find some in recent speeches.
Presidential candidates Donald Trump
and Hillary Clinton used them when
they officially accepted their
party’s nominations three months
ago.
let's find some: descubramos
algunos; recent: recientes;
their party's nominations: las
candidaturas de su partido;
In their
acceptance speeches, both Trump and
Clinton used complete sentences
before presenting sentence fragments.
They use these fragments to
highlight or publicize ideas.
Consider these examples:
acceptance speeches:
discursos de aceptación; to
highlight or publicize: para
destacar o hacer públicas;
TRUMP:
"Once again, France is the victim of
brutal Islamic terrorism. Men, women
and children viciously mowed down.
Lives ruined. Families ripped apart.
A nation in mourning."
CLINTON: "Our
military is a national
treasure. We entrust our commander-in-chief
to make the hardest decisions our
nation faces. Decisions about war
and peace. Life and death."
once again: una vez más;
viciously mowed down:
brutalmente destrozados; lives
ruined: vidas destruídas;
ripped apart: despedazadas;
in mourning: de duelo;
military: ejército; treasure:
tesoro; we entrust:
encomendamos a; commander-in-chief:
jefe de estado mayor; to make the
hardest decisions: para tomar
las decisiones más dificiles; our
nation faces: que enfrenta
nuestra nación; war and peace:
la guerra y la paz;
You may
note that both Trump and Clinton
begin their statements by using
complete sentences.
you may note that both:
habrás observado que ambos;
Trump
says, "Once again, France is the
victim of brutal Islamic terrorism". Clinton
says " We entrust our commander-in-chief
to make the hardest decisions our
nation faces."
Both of
these statements are complete
sentences: they have subjects and
predicates. They are not missing any
important words. However, after
using complete sentences, both
candidates presented sentence
fragments. They use these fragments
for rhetorical effect.
misssing: descartando,
dejando de usar;
SENTENCE FRAGMENTS.
Both Trump and Clinton used sentence
fragments because they have
rhetorical effect. When they
presented these fragments, they
directed listeners’ attention to
ideas that they wanted to publicize.
They kept the listeners’ attention
because they did not keep using the
same basic sentence structure again
and again!
listeners' attention: la
atención del auditorio; again and
again: reiteradamente;
Remember: sentence fragments are
like spices. You would probably
never eat a meal that only has
spices like black pepper or paprika.
In the same way, you should not
write a story in English that only
uses sentence fragments. Such an
essay would quickly become
unreadable, in the same way that a
meal made of pepper would probably
be hard to eat!
like spices: como los
condimentos (especias); meal:
comida; black pepper or paprika:
pimienta negra o roja; in the
same way: asimismo; such an
essay: semejante redacción;
unreadable: ilegible (imposible
de leer); hard to eat:
difícil de deglutir;
Politicians have to be careful about
how they present their ideas. They
want to direct the attention of
individual listeners or larger
audiences toward
important ideas and words. But they
also try to limit or avoid
unnecessary information. How do they
do this? One way is to put together
sentences in a reasonable way.
politicians: los políticos;
toward: hacia, en dirección a;
avoid: evitar; in a
reasonable way: de una manera
razonable;
Today, we explore another strategy
politicians often use to present
ideas: sentence cohesion.
another strategy: otra
estrategia; sentence cohesion:
coherencia entre oraciones;
SENTENCE COHESION.
The word cohesion suggests the
action of making something whole. In
writing, this means presenting
sentences that are related to each
other in a reasonable, or logical,
way. When sentences are cohesive,
they slowly build on an idea until
it reaches a clear point.
whole: integral, completo;
related to each other:
relacionadas entre sí; logical
way: manera lógica; build on
an idea: se basan en una idea;
until it reaches: hasta que ésta
alcanza; a clear point: in
foco o punto claro;
Lack of cohesion can cause the
reader or listener to stop paying
attention. Politicians have to avoid
this mistake at all costs. They may
have to deal with different issues,
but they cannot spend too much time
on any subject because they might
lose their audience.
lack of cohesion: la falta de
coherencia; at all costs: a
toda costa, cueste lo que cueste;
to deal with different issues:
manejar diferentes temas; might
lose their audience: podrían
perder (la atención de) el auditorio;
We can look to the American election
campaign for examples of sentence
cohesion. The main candidates for
president – Donald Trump and Hillary
Clinton – have used cohesion to
develop and present ideas.
to develop: para desarrollar;
Here is Trump accepting the
presidential nomination of the
Republican Party.
"Then there’s my mother, Mary.
She was strong, but also warm and
fair-minded. She was a truly great
mother. She was also one of the most
honest and charitable
people that I have ever known, and a
great, great judge of character. "
strong: fuerte; warm:
cálida; fair-minded: justa,
imparcial; truly great:
realmente fantástica; charitable:
caritativa, generosa; a great
judge of character: con muy buen
ojo para juzgar a la gente;
And here is Hillary Clinton
accepting the Democratic Party's
nomination:
"My mother, Dorothy, was
abandoned by her parents as
a young girl. She ended up on her
own at 14, working as a house
maid. She was saved
by the kindness of others."
Democratic Party: partido
demócrata; as a young girl:
cuando era jovencita; she ended
up: ella terminó; on her own
at 14: por cuenta propia a los
14 años; as a house maid:
como criada, sirvienta; she was
saved: a ella la salvó; the
kindness: la humanidad, el buen
corazón;
Both candidates use cohesion to make
their points. Consider Trump's
statement. He speaks about his
mother, Mary, and then uses the
pronoun "she" when talking about her
in later sentences.
in later sentences: en
oraciones posteriores;
Clinton uses a similar idea in her
statement. She said:
“My mother, Dorothy, was
abandoned by her parents as a young
girl.
She ended up on her own at 14,
working as a house maid.
She was saved by the kindness of
others.”
Here, Clinton uses a similar idea to
begin her sentences. She
introduces her mother,
Dorothy, in the first sentence and
then provides more information about
her in the following sentences.
provides: da, provee;
The final sentence, "She was saved
by the kindness of others." is
especially important.
Hillary Clinton could have said "The
kindness of others saved my mother."
Why did she say it the way she did?
could have said: podria haber
dicho; why did she say it:
por qué lo expresó; the way she
did: de esa forma (de la manera
en que lo hizo);
Using the passive
voice enabled Clinton to use the
pronoun "she" at the beginning of
the sentence. This means that the
sentences look and sound the same: they begin with "she."
enabled: le permitió a;
Both Clinton and Trump used a
similar grammatical
structure. The beginning of each
sentence presents "known"
information – the pronoun "she" – and the end of each sentence
presents new information.
"known" information:
información "conocida";
What is the rhetorical effect of
this grammatical structure?
What is the rhetorical effect of:
Cuál es el efecto retórico que logra;
Both
presidential candidates are able to
show voters that they are more than
just politicians. They are normal
people, too.
By giving personal information about
their families, they hope to show
that they can relate to voters. In
other words, the candidates want to
show that they share values – a
great respect for family – that many
voters like to see in political
candidates.
are able to show voters:
pueden demostrar a los votantes;
more than just: más que simples;
by giving: ofreciendo; can
relate to voters: pueden
relacionarse con los votantes;
they share values: ellos
comparten valores; a great
respect for family: un sólido
respeto por la familia; like to
see: les gusta ver.
I'm John Russell.
And I'm Ashley Thompson.