AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUN THÞ HUN L£ AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF DISCOURE ANALYSIS PhÂn tích phát biểu nhậm chức G w Bush bầu cử tổng thống mỹ năm 2004 theo quan điểm phân tích diễn ngôn GRADUATION THESIS Field: English Linguistics Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A VINH, 2007 VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF DISCOURE ANALYSIS PhÂn tích phát biểu nhậm chức G w Bush bầu cử tổng thống mỹ năm 2004 theo quan điểm phân tích diễn ngôn GRADUATION THESIS Field: English Linguistics Student: Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni Nguyễn Thị Huyền Lê AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A Supervisor: Dr Ngô Đình Phơng vinh, 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The thesis could not be completed without the great support from my lecturers, family, and friends First of all, I would like to express my deepest and special gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ngo Dinh Phuong for his readiness at all time to discuss the problems and to give me useful advice and critical feedback for the thesis, without which the thesis would have still remained uncompleted I should also like to acknowledge my gratitude to Mrs Vu Thi Viet Huong (M.A) for reading my manuscript and giving me valuable suggestions I am also indebted to Mr Tran Ba Tien (M.A) who has always been my source of inspiration and encouragement Then, my sincere thanks are due to all my lecturers from Department of Foreign Languages, Vinh University for their valuable lectures which help me to orient the topic Finally, I wish to thank my family and my friends for their timely support and encouragement they gave me while I was doing this thesis Nguyen Huyen Le Vinh, 2007 Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures and tables Introduction Rationale Significance of the study .7 Scope of the study .7 Aims of the study and research questions Design of the study .8 Chapter I Theoretical preliminaries and background information 1.1 Theoretical preliminaries 1.2 Background information 14 Chapter II 15 Methodology and analysis procedure 16 2.1 Data collection .16 2.2 Procedure 16 Chapter III 17 Data analysis and discussion 18 3.1 Analysis of data 18 3.2 Interpretation and discussion 30 Conclusion 32 References 35 Appendix 37 Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table 1.1: Cohesion and coherence Table 3.3: List of 20 most frequently-used vocabulary .17 Table 3.4: Modality .22 Table 3.5: Summary of Theme Analysis 24 Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A INTRODUCTION Rationale Many people, including many linguists, assume that the primary purpose of language is to communicate information Language, in fact, serves a great many functions Linguists, over a good many years, have attempted to understand how language works in a fully integrated way as simultaneously a mental, social, cultural, institutional and political phenomenon Language has been seen now as not only a practice but also reflection of reality People have also witnessed a rise in the awareness of language and its power, especially how it helps people to gain power over the others through ideology, which is underlying assumptions in the language This is obviously the case of politics, where language is the tool of authority holders to gain and to realize power Work on persuasive speeches in general, and political speeches in particular suggests that speakers adopt a range of rhetorical devices and strategies to appeal to their hearers As we all know, presidential address is of paramount importance to both the President himself and his fellow citizens in almost any country like the U.S where the citizens choose their own President, the Chief Executive American people, consequently, have high expectations towards their President Expectations of the President include the personal behavior and the policy performance which result in two criteria of the speech: the fellowship and the leadership That is, to be considered successful and popular, a presidential speech has to show the leadership of the speech-maker while it can maintain the responsiveness of the public opinion These two features of the speech pose quite challenging job for the President Some scholars (Cronin, Rockman cited in Cohen, 1997) even refer to this as “presidential contradictions, conflicts or paradoxes” It could then be presumed that every presidential speech has to undergo a long process of revising and editing before it is officially publicized Therefore, the analysis of the speeches promises to reveal interesting findings about the President, his administration and the political life of a country This inspiration has urged us to conduct Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A a study on the inaugural speech made by the incumbent President of the U.S.A in the 2004 presidential election Given that politics is quite a new yet promisingly fascinating object in linguistic researching, the study itself is both an opportunity and challenge for us Nonetheless, it fulfills our long-cherished hope of investigating the politics of the U.S, one of the most powerful nations in the world Significance of the study This study presents an attempt to unearth how power and ideology are embedded in language in particular and the relation between language and society in general It is also expected to be beneficial to English language learners, who usually find authentic discourses difficult to comprehend fully This is because they fail to understand the author’s underlying assumptions (or to be more exact, the ideology that drives the discourse) The awareness of the ideological meanings of the discourse will help them understand more comprehensively the political discourses Scope of the study The linguistic features of the inaugural address made by President G.W Bush in the U.S election 2004 will be the focus of this study Of the two inaugural speeches the incumbent President of the U.S has made, we chose the second one with the assumption that major changes in social-political context will result in the representation of power and ideology as compared to this in the first one made four years earlier The authors have no intention of taking an insight into and to make judgments on the political science The study is pure linguistic research, conducted with the aim to discuss what and how linguistic strategies contribute to the success and popularity of the speech Aims of the study and research questions Our aims and objectives in carrying out the study are: - To discover the way socio-political context influences the President’s representation of ideology Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A - To explore the way President Bush deals with the “conventional paradoxes” in the political speeches to live up to the public expectations - To give a vivid demonstration of how power is achieved and ideology is realized via language - To propose a motion in linguistic study into politics Specifically, the study is aimed to find answer to the following research questions: + What linguistic strategies does the speaker employ to deal with the “conventional conflicts” in political speeches? + How are ideologies realized lexically and syntactically in the speech? Design of the study The study is structured into three parts and three chapters, which are organized as follows: Part 1: Introduction states the reasons of the study, its significance, its scope, its aims and research questions Part 2: Development consists of two chapters Chapter 1: Theoretical preliminaries and Background information reviews the theoretical frameworks of the study, including the theory of text and discourse, discourse contexts, lexical cohesion, pronouns, modality and thematization; and some background information believed to have influence on the data speech Chapter 2: Methodology and analysis procedures describes the data collection method and procedures of analyzing data Chapter 3: Data analysis and discussion provides description of the data analyzing process involving lexical choice, repetition of key words, pronoun choice, modality and thematization and interprets how the findings answer the research questions Part 3: Conclusion summarizes the findings of the study, giving concluding remarks, implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies This part is accompanied by list of References and Appendix Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A CHAPTER I THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1.1 Theoretical preliminaries 1.1.1 Text and discourse The border line between the two terms text and discourse is very complex During the developments of discourse analysis, these two terms are understood in different ways Some linguists appear to use them interchangeably In 1995, Nunan states that: a text, or a discourse, is a stretch of language that may be longer than a sentence while Crystal (1992, p72) suggests: a text may be spoken or written, prose or verse, dialogue or monologue It may be anything from a single proverb to a whole play, from a momentary cry for help to all day discussion in a committee Our thesis supports the viewpoint of Brown and Yule (1983:6) who “use text as a technical term to refer to the verbal record of a communicative act” and that of Crystal (1992:25), defining discourse as “a continuous stretch of (especially spoken) language larger than a sentence, often constituting a coherent unit, such as a sermon, argument, joke or narrative.” 1.1.2 Discourse analysis and text analysis With the concept of text and discourse as mentioned above, text analysis is defined as the studying of how a text exemplifies the operation of the language code beyond the limit of sentence, while discourse analysis involves the search for what gives discourse coherence It deals with language in use, which has been used to communicate something and is felt to be coherent In other words, discourse analysis is the investigation into the way sentences are put to communicative use in the performing of social actions However, in order to gain a satisfactory result in the course of studying our target problems, the two views can be relevantly applied Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A 1.1.3 Discourse context 1.1.3.1 On “context” The importance of context towards discourse interpretation is apparently undeniable, as Cook (1989:10) asserts: There are good arguments for limiting the field of study to make it manageable, but it is also true to say that the answer to the question of what gives discourse its unity may be impossible to give without considering the world at large: the context.” Context of culture Context of situation TEXT Figure 1.1: Theory of context of situation Cook, in the same study of language in and out of context, adds that when we receive a linguistic message, we pay attention to many other factors apart from the language itself, which he terms “paralinguistic features” In receiving messages, we are also influenced by the situation we are in, “by our cultural and social relationship with the participants, by what we know and what we assume the sender knows Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 10 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A 3.2 Interpretation and discussion 3.2.1 Lexical choice Lexical choice, with respect to formal lexicalization and euphemism, reveals quite interesting aspects of the speech The author employs a surprisingly low rate of formal lexical items, which is quite strange for an inaugural address Euphemism, however, are seen throughout The overall tone of the speech therefore sounds like a call for support for the cause of freedom nationwide and worldwide The overuse of euphemism can be explained as follows In the first place, the loss of the U.S (in the attack and the wars) is quite massive and devastating, both in terms of casualties and finance Thus, any direct reference to that would cause no heals but deeper pains The government has been to blame for its failure of imagination of the Al Qaeda threat So the government is certainly at fault and to bear responsibility for the aftermaths Furthermore, Bush’s administration seems to be unable to prove the Iraq’s storage of weapons of Mass Destruction or its links to Al Qaeda, on which bases the bloody war was waged This controversy has sharply divided the people and political parties As a result, keeping a vague tone of the war and the losses turns out as a strategic tactic as inaugural speech is not a place where controversial issues are brought forward Instead, euphemisms prove to be a smart choice It helps approach the subject yet minimizes the negative impact 3.2.2 Repetition of key words Extensive reiteration of key lexical items is a linguistic feature through which Mr Bush’s ideology is vividly reflected In the speech, certain lexical items are extensively used, either to strengthen the power of the country as a whole or the authority of the President whereas maintaining his fellowship with the audience The speech reveals President Bush’s prominent concern – the ideal of freedom cause, along with which are the commitments of the Bush’s administration with the suffering ones in the world, and the call for support for it The speech-maker purports to seek to international audience He, at the same time, has to fulfill a two-fold role as a leader: restoring the economy and leading the on-going war in Iraq with the involvement of alliance countries Moreover, this is the last time he stays in presidency Therefore, he might turn to a grand ideal which makes him a historical figure and be in remembrance of the people Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 30 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A 3.2.3 Pronoun choice This speech shows various evidences expressing the speaker’s authority by means of pronoun we inclusively We is used instead of I throughout the text This extensive use of we may be accounted for as that it refers to a collective, not a single person We sometimes denotes the whole country, or the administration in general (inclusively) or the U.S as distinct from others (exclusively) When inclusively used, it can give the feeling that the speaker is talking on behalf of his government and people, rather than of the President himself 3.2.4 Modality The speech has made a good employment of modality namely will, must, can, need, etc and without have to No modal adverbs are found while modal auxiliaries are very much popular, among which will and must are of the top preference Will is used at highest rate which helps to create the solidarity between the speaker and the mass audience Must is utilized where the speaker emphasizes his utmost authority by placing imposition or the addressees To a large extent, Mr Bush has managed very well the relationship between two sides of his job in the production of the speech, that is asserting the position of the speaker from the addressees 3.2.5 Thematization The speech has high frequency use of (unmarked) Topical Themes, which reveals the dominant Theme These topical themes are temporal ones, which aim at emphasizing the moment when the speech is delivered to highlight the solemnity of the occasion What worth noticing is the modest use of Interpersonal Themes, which can be explained by two reasons Firstly, inaugural address allows no speaker-hearer interaction Secondly, the gap between the speaker - the man of power and the audience - ordinary citizens, does not favour such interpersonal contact Moreover, the distance created by the rarity of Interpersonal Themes as a means to achieve the absolute authoritativeness of the President Most notable feature is the superiority of Marked Topical Theme This is evidence that President wishes to spread a grand ideal of freedom to the world Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 31 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A CONCLUSION Summary of the five aspects realized in the speech: - Lexical choice: + rare employment of formal lexical items + extensive use of euphemism and avoidance, particularly in talking about the terror attack on 11 September and the wars elsewhere, visualizing a blurred picture of the events - Repetition of key words: overuse of vocabulary on security and freedom cause pursued by the U.S government Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 32 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A - Pronoun choice: + high frequency use of we (inclusive) plus will in mentioning overall plan and tasks + integration of pronouns and modality to show authority while maintaining responsiveness (we-inclusive/exclusive and must/need/should) - Modality: + consistent range of modal auxiliaries + no appearance of modal adverbs + no utilization of have to yet extensive use of must showing strong imposition of speaker upon audience - Thematization: + high frequency use of Topical Theme and few Interpersonal Theme, allowing least personal character expressing + most dominant Thematic topics as goals of fighting for freedom and peace + high use of Marked Topical Theme with variously structured organization Conclusion on linguistic strategies employed to deal with the contradictions of the presidential speech Apparently, American people have high expectations of their President and the policy and personal performance of the President is thus of extreme significance Public expectations towards the President are not only demanding, they are also contradictory, as the public expects the President to be responsive to the public The analysis conducted into the 2004 speech has revealed the President’s full use of some linguistic strategies to cope with the paradoxes In this speech, the President has employed fairly various techniques in gaining the fellowship of the audience meanwhile maintaining his authoritativeness as a President Although no single strategy proves to be prominent over the others, it is possible to draw on some of the most prominent ones: Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 33 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A A/ Strategies to win responsiveness and support of the audience: - use of personal pronouns and modality: predominance of pronoun we inclusively and neutral modality will - self-glorification with naming of numerous positive characters - euphemisms on avoidance of negative values reference B/ Strategies to show power over the audience: - use of personal pronouns along with modality: we must, you must - minimal use of Interpersonal Theme – thus no space for expressing personal feelings Implications for language teaching and learning The study is sure to be beneficial to language learners We would like to propose some implications that should be usefully exploited to improve their knowledge of the language - Materials in politics life is a potentially precious source of data in the field of Discourse Analysis Language learners and teachers are suggested to pay more attention to them to make a more proper use - In the light of Discourse Analysis, more linguistic studies should be conducted towards some or all the aspects in political discourse - More emphasis must be put on the context (both linguistic and nonlinguistic) when approaching discourses in politics science - Authentic texts like political speeches should gain more popularity in language learning environment, with a good deal of knowledge of background and context Limitations of the study: The study is hoped to serve as a vivid instance of how power and ideology are achieved via language In studying the President Bush’s inaugural speech in the 2004 presidential election, we would like to uncover some aspects However, due to the scope of a graduation thesis, the investigation is confined into aspects of the speech Though the findings quite satisfactorily prove the assumptions made at the beginning, the study Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 34 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A reveals a fact that an investigation in the light of Critical Discourse Analysis would be a more all-pervasive approach Suggestions for further studies This research is hoped to provide basic foundation for an initial look into the political life of the power holders of the U.S It is also hoped to be of benefit to the readers who are seeking to find out the embedded ideology in political discourse It is therefore advisable that more studies be carried on to the extensions of some of the aspects so that more comprehensive and less tentative findings can be reached Suggestions for further researches could be on all speeches during a longer period of times or all the political discourses by the President REFERENCES PUBLISHED BOOKS: Brown, G., Yule G (1983), Discourse Analysis, Cambridge: CUP Cook, G (1989), Discourse, Oxford: OUP 3.Crystal, D.(1972), Introducing linguistics, London: Penguin Fairclough, N (2001), Language and power,(second edition), Pearson Education Limited Gee, J P (1999), An Introduction to Discourse Analysis-Theory and Method, London: Roughlet Georgakopoulou, A.& Goutsos, D (1997), Discourse Analysis-An Introduction, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Gumperz, J J (1982), Discourse strategies, Cambridge: CUP Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 35 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A Halliday, M.A.K.& Hasan, R (1976), Cohesion in English, New York: Longman Halliday, M.A.K (2002), Linguistic Studies of Text and Discourse, London & New York: Continuum 10 Hillier, H (2004), Analyzing Real Texts, New York: Palgrave Macmillan 11 Huddleston, R (1984), Introduction to the Grammar of English, Cambridge: CUP 12 Mc Cathy, M (1991), Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers, Cambridge: CUP 13 Nunan, D (1995), Discourse Analysis, London: Penguin 14 Palmer, F (1971), Grammar, London: Penguin Group 15 Wodak, R.& Meyer, M (2001), Critical Discourse Analysis, London: SAGE Publications Ltd UNPUBLISHED RESEARCHS 16 Haylighen, F & Dewaele, J.M (1999), Formality of language: definition, measurement, and behavioral determinants Retrieved April 10, 2007, from http://pesmc1.vub.ac.be/ Papers/ 17 Trần Thị Quỳnh Lê (2006), A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Inaugural Speeches by G W Bush in the U S Presidential Elections 2000 and 2004, Unpublished MA Thesis, CFL, VNU, Hanoi 18 Nguyễn Thị Phơng Ngọc (1999), Reiteration in Discourse - A Contrastive Analysis of English and Vietnamese , Unpublished MA Thesis, CFL, VNU, Hanoi WEBSITES: 19 http://www.bbc.com 20 http://www.cnn.com 21 http://www.iht.com 22 http://www.whitehouse.gov/president 23 http://www.en.wikipedia org/ Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 36 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A APPENDIX 2004 INAUGURAL SPEECH GEORGE W BUSH Vice President Cheney, Mr Chief Justice, President Carter, President Bush, President Clinton, members of the United States Congress, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow citizens: On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that unite our country (1) I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed(2) At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together (3) For half a century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders (4) After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire (5) Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 37 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source (6) For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny, prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder, violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat(7) There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom (8) We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands (9) The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world (10) America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one (11) From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this Earth has rights and dignity and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of heaven and Earth (12) Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave (13) Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our nation (14) It is the honorable achievement of our fathers (15) Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time (16) So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world (17) This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary (18) Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities (19) And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own (20) America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling (21) Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way (22) The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations (23) The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it (24) America's influence is not unlimited, but, fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause (25) Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 38 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people from further attacks and emerging threats (26) Some have unwisely chosen to test America's resolve, and have found it firm (27) We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation (28): the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right (29) America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies (30) We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people (31) America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies Yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed (32) In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty (33) Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt (34) Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals (35) Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul (36) We not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we not accept the possibility of permanent slavery (37) Liberty will come to those who love it (38) Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world (39): All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors (40) When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you (41) Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know (42): America sees you for who you are, the future leaders of your free country (43) The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did (44): "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it (45)." The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know (46): To serve your people you must learn to trust them (47) Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side (48) Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 39 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A And all the allies of the United States can know: We honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help (49) Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies (50) The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat (51) Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens (52): From all of you I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure (53) Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon (54) Yet, because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom (55) And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it (56) By our efforts, we have lit a fire, as well a fire in the minds of men (57) It warms those who feel its power; it burns those who fight its progress; and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world (58) Few Americans accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy, the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments, the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies (59) Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice (60) All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time (61) I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes (62) You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers (63) You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs (64) Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character (65) America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at home - the unfinished work of American freedom (66) In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty (67) In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence (68) This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act, and the G.I Bill of Rights (69) And now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time (70) To give every American a stake in the Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 40 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society (71) We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society (72) By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal (73) In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives (74) Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self (75) That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people (76) Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before - ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever (77) In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service and mercy, and a heart for the weak (78) Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another (79) Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love (80) Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth (81) And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time (82) From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many (83) From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few (84): Did our generation advance the cause of freedom (85)? And did our character bring credit to that cause (86)? These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom (87) We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal them (88) Yet those divisions not define America (89) We felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came like a single hand over a single heart (90) And we Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 41 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G.W BUSH IN THE U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D.A can feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope, and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free (91) We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom (92) Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events (93) Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills (94) We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul (95) When our Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner "Freedom Now" they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled(96) History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty (97) When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it meant something" (98) In our time it means something still (99) America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof (100) Renewed in our strength - tested, but not weary - we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom (101) May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of America Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 42 .. .AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G. W BUSH IN THE U. S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D .A VINH, 2007 VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AN ANALYSIS OF THE. .. Vinh Uni 16 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G. W BUSH IN THE U. S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D .A Apart from the formal salutation at the beginning and farewell at the. .. thematization CHAPTER III Nguyen Thi Huyen Le – Vinh Uni 17 AN ANALYSIS OF THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY G. W BUSH IN THE U. S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF D .A DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION