Constructing and reinforcing political identities through rhetorical questions - an analysis of Mitt Romney’s campaign speeches in the 2012 US presidential election

Abstract

Objectives ∙ To elucidate how politicians compete for votes in election by using effective rhetorical strategies to construct and reinforce political identities ∙ To examine Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s use of RQs in his 48 speeches delivered to 18 states in terms of their: (1) frequency, (2) question type, (3) topic, (4) function. ∙ To examine how Romney’s use of rhetorical questions (RQs) in the 2012 US presidential election varies with different target audience