DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF BENAZIR BHUTTO AND IMRAN KHAN’S SPEECHES

Abstract

Language is used as a communication tool. Political figures use this tool to put specific economic, social, and cultural ideas into practice. The aim of this research is to explore the rhetorical devices used by Benazir Bhutto and Imran Khan in their speeches, and how these figures of speech assist them to take the attention of the public and transmit their message properly. The present research investigates the similarities and dissimilarities in the selected speeches of Benazir Bhutto and Imran Khan. The study reveals what kind of rhetorical tropes are used by selected speakers. The research is carried out by employing the model of Critical Discourse Analysis based on Paul Gee's (2011) framework of seven language-building tasks. Both speakers used almost the same persuasive device. They used rhetoric at the phonological, lexical, and syntactical levels. For the analysis of data “the Statement by the Prime Minister of Pakistan H.E. Imran Khan to the Seventy-sixth Session of the UN General Assembly 24 September 2021” and Benazir Bhutto’s speech at the occasion of a joint session of Congress on 7th June 1989, was selected.