In this thesis, I introduce the reader to sixteen texts of political discourse about Syrian refugees from three rhetors; President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and President Donald J. Trump. As the Syrian refugee crisis continues to grow, political leaders and citizens around the world debate the appropriate way to provide aid to those fleeing Syria. I rhetorically analyze multiple texts from each of these politicians’ and their use of framing, ideographs and metaphors within their political discourse. In my research, I suggest that the framing language used by each rhetor about Syrian refugees has varying impacts on the audience. The analysis of this political discourse yielded interesting implications, both positive and negative, on the theories and perspectives used within this study, as well as on the United States’ society, Syrian refugees and U.S. and global politics.
","abstract_html":"<p>In this thesis, I introduce the reader to sixteen texts of political discourse about Syrian refugees from three rhetors; President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and President Donald J. Trump. As the Syrian refugee crisis continues to grow, political leaders and citizens around the world debate the appropriate way to provide aid to those fleeing Syria. I rhetorically analyze multiple texts from each of these politicians’ and their use of framing, ideographs and metaphors within their political discourse. In my research, I suggest that the framing language used by each rhetor about Syrian refugees has varying impacts on the audience. The analysis of this political discourse yielded interesting implications, both positive and negative, on the theories and perspectives used within this study, as well as on the United States’ society, Syrian refugees and U.S. and global politics.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lionberger, Erin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Communication Studies and Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Rebecca A. Kuehl"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:28:43Z","subjects":["discourse","presidential","public","refugees","rhetoric","Syrian","American Politics","Social Influence and Political Communication","Speech and Rhetorical Studies"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1179","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Rebecca A. Kuehl"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lionberger, Erin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-05-09T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication Studies and Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["discourse","presidential","public","refugees","rhetoric","Syrian","American Politics","Social Influence and Political Communication","Speech and Rhetorical Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1179"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this thesis, I introduce the reader to sixteen texts of political discourse about Syrian refugees from three rhetors; President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and President Donald J. Trump. As the Syrian refugee crisis continues to grow, political leaders and citizens around the world debate the appropriate way to provide aid to those fleeing Syria. I rhetorically analyze multiple texts from each of these politicians’ and their use of framing, ideographs and metaphors within their political discourse. In my research, I suggest that the framing language used by each rhetor about Syrian refugees has varying impacts on the audience. The analysis of this political discourse yielded interesting implications, both positive and negative, on the theories and perspectives used within this study, as well as on the United States’ society, Syrian refugees and U.S. and global politics.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Rhetorical Analysis of President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and President Donald J. Trump’s Political Discourse About Syrian Refugees"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Rebecca A. Kuehl"],"dc:creator":["Lionberger, Erin"],"dc:date.available":["2017-05-09T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In this thesis, I introduce the reader to sixteen texts of political discourse about Syrian refugees from three rhetors; President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and President Donald J. Trump. As the Syrian refugee crisis continues to grow, political leaders and citizens around the world debate the appropriate way to provide aid to those fleeing Syria. I rhetorically analyze multiple texts from each of these politicians’ and their use of framing, ideographs and metaphors within their political discourse. In my research, I suggest that the framing language used by each rhetor about Syrian refugees has varying impacts on the audience. The analysis of this political discourse yielded interesting implications, both positive and negative, on the theories and perspectives used within this study, as well as on the United States’ society, Syrian refugees and U.S. and global politics.
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