Gillard Political Speech Flashcards
What’s it about
The misogyny that still lies in parliament
Challenging the hypocrisy of male politicians
Speaking against abbots motion to remove slipper as speaker- abbot wished to remove slipper due to an act of alleged sexism but was a sexist man himself.
Lexis
Taboo language “ditch the witch” “mans bitch” (reported speech) purpose of reaching a wider audience knowledge that if she says something impactful the audience will widen from those interested in politics from a highly educated background to those watching the national news perhaps a more mundane audience awareness will be spread further- perhaps knows those interested in politics will not feel impacted by it. Also recreates a tone of passion through the harsh nature of the cacophony.
Rhythmic nature of the phrases makes a good headline for national news “bitch” and “witch” - easy to remember
Anaphora of the deistic phrases “the leader of the opposition” and “this man” element of specificity created in the both of these definite article “the” and the demonstrative “this” she IS addressing him but with a powerful avoidance of using his name. The anaphora of this constantly re establishes the authority of him and places the responsibility onto him. Portrays her disgust with his actions and her distaste towards the opposition- not directly being referenced either simply being named “the opposition”
Perspective
Structural shift from a wide perspective- speaking on behalf of all Australian women particularly those in a political position to speaking from a personal perspective
Use of collective pronoun “we” throughout the initial half of the text talking on behalf of Australian women “we are now supposed to take seriously”
Personal perspective:
Repeated phrase “ I was offended” demonstrates the immensity of the misogyny
PAF/ context of delivery and reception
purpose - creating a representation of women in Australia
Shedding light on the mistreatment of women in Australia
Challenging the hypocrisy of Abbott and men in parliament
Political intention- preventing the removal of slipper as speaker
Audience- immediate primary audience- mps and the small audience listening from home- this is a niche group as most people would be too busy to tune in or uninterested
Secondary audience- news broadcast for broader demographic Gillard intended for this to be broadened creating a provocative speech receiving both praise and criticm.
Format- highly experienced and familiar with the parliamentary environment able to maintain composure almost performative in delivery spoken planned elements
Conventions Of political speech “thank you very much deputy speaker and I rise to oppose”
Context- first female prime minister of Australia and first female leader of the Labour Party - high amounts of pressure on her to create change for women
Tone
Declarative/ polemic- “I will not” modal verb of certainty “will”
Polite formal register keeping I’m conventions of parliamentary debate “thank you very much”
Sarcastic/ satirical- mocking abbots naivety that his actions wouldn’t resurface “he needs a mirror. That’s what he needs” bathos which reflects the ridiculous nature of his actions using ridicule to illustrate the irony he is displaying.
