Nick's Abstract

My research paper will be pertaining to rhetoric used by the Republican Party in the late 1990’s to today through analysis of text, speeches, legislation and other expert opinion. The reason I am pursuing this topic is because I wanted to see what method of argument the party most falls in line with whether it be logos, ethos or pathos. I will make the argument that, although contrary to popular belief, that the Republican Party mainly uses logos with subtleties of ethos and pathos. Also, I wanted follow the rapid conservative rising of the 1990’s through the congressional majority being achieved for the first time in 40 years and so quickly losing that majority, 10 years later and show the change in the rhetoric used. I will also incorporate the ideas of the Democratic Party and how the Republican’s tried to refute them, and by what means. I am not limiting this paper to just what language is being used but how the Republicans communicates that language through media and other outlets. I will demonstrate the drastic change in rhetoric used by the party after the 9-11 attacks and language used with the current energy and economic crisis.