Abstract

The US presidential campaign debates are a very important political discourse. In the debate, Trump and Clinton used many conceptual metaphors to persuade the masses. First of all, this article briefly introduces the conceptual metaphor theory, the classification of conceptual metaphor and the moral model of the two parties in the United States. Second, it identifies the specific conceptual metaphors used by Trump and Clinton in the debates on race and gun control, including journey metaphor, container metaphor, war metaphor, oriental metaphor and family metaphor. At the same time, this paper lists the concrete examples in the debate and give concrete analysis to the conceptual metaphor. Finally, this paper will compare the metaphor used by the two candidates. Analyze the reasons why the two candidates have different preferences for metaphor use and why metaphor can play a role in encouraging the masses based on the moral model of the two parties. The study provides a new perspective for the understanding of political discourse and helps people have better comprehension of the political discourse.

Key words : election debates; conceptual metaphor; race; gun control

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1.Introduction1

1.1 Research background1

1.2 Research purposes1

1.3Research significance1

1.4The framework of the paper2

2.Literature Review2

2.1 Studies abroad2

2.2 Studies at home3

3.Theoretical Basis4

3.1 Conceptual metaphor theory4

3.2 The classification of the conceptual metaphors5

3.3 The moral model of the two parties of the United States6

4.Conceptual Metaphor Analysis.7

4.1 Journey metaphor.7

4.2 Container metaphor 9

4.3 War metaphor.10

4.4 Orientational metaphor11

4.4.1 The orientational metaphor in Hillary Clinton’s debate12

4.4.2 The orientational metaphor in Donald John Trump’s debate13

4.5 Family metaphor13

4.5.1 The family metaphor of “The nation is a family” in Hilary Clinton’s debate13

4.5.2 The family metaphor of “The nation is a family” in Donald John Trump’s debate14

5. The Reason for the Use of Metaphor. 14

6. Conclusion16

References.17