FRAMING THE RHETORICAL RETROSPECTIVE: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENTIAL FAREWELL ADDRESSES
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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Item Details
- abstract
- The presidential office is one of representation and relationships. The president says “hello” at the beginning of his term, and closes with “goodbye” as he leaves. This moment is captured in the farewell address – the last opportunity the president has to formally address the nation. Using features of Bormann’s Fantasy Theme Analysis, a textual analysis software, and extant rhetorical study, this thesis analyzes the farewell addresses of modern-era presidents. By identifying, examining, and comparing the themes of six presidential farewell addresses, ranging from Jimmy Carter’s address in 1981 to Barack Obama’s in 2017, distinct patterns and similarities of farewell addresses are illuminated. Ultimately, this thesis contributes a better understanding of how the presidents utilize the farewell address, how the farewell addresses differ across presidencies, and how the farewell addresses cohere together.
- subject
- farewell addresses
- president
- presidential rhetoric
- rhetoric
- rhetorical presidency
- textual analysis
- contributor
- Llewellyn, John (committee chair)
- Louden, Allan (committee member)
- Atchison, Jarrod (committee member)
- date
- 2019-05-24T08:35:39Z (accessioned)
- 2019-05-24T08:35:39Z (available)
- 2019 (issued)
- degree
- Communication (discipline)
- identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10339/93927 (uri)
- language
- en (iso)
- publisher
- Wake Forest University
- title
- FRAMING THE RHETORICAL RETROSPECTIVE: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENTIAL FAREWELL ADDRESSES
- type
- Thesis