Analysis Paragraph

Face saving acts. According to Brown and Levinson, as a politician, Obama has face needs, as president he is obligated to ensure he defuses and addresses tensions rather than intensify them. He also has to ensure he resolves any Face threatening acts. These may include and situations in which the American public way be in general panic, or other countries or leaders challenging his ability or power, these are face threatening acts as the affect his reputation and consequently his career. When addressing terrorism (Obama ISIS), a controversial and extremely sensitive issue, it acts as a face threatening act as it challenges his ability to protect the country. As well as being assertive when responding to security threats, it is essential that he doesn’t isolate groups of society in a negative light. This is demonstrated as he avoids the face threatening act of insulting Islam or targeting American Muslims, by stating that ‘ISIL is not Islamic’ and openly refuting the likely assumption that ISIL as an Islamic organisation Face saving acts are also used through examples of’ unspeak’[1]. by using terms like ‘American service members’ he avoids the term ‘soldier’ which may associate with the idea of violence.  According to Brown and Levinson this could be an off record, indirect politeness strategy as he doesn’t directly suggest violence/ military action, even though it’s likely. As the President, it is essential to avoid causing concerns of another war. This is a face saving act as he reminds the public the America will not get directly involved ‘this is not our fight alone… we cannot do for the Iraqis what they must do for themselves’.  However he also suggests that there is a possibility of further involvement ‘if left unchecked, these terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region’. This is a subtly way of preventing false hope, this is a face saving act as it gives weight to his statement of having limited involvement as well as reinforcing the idea that America will be protected. Throughout Obama ISIS, Influential Power is used as he attempts to persuade the public to agree and support his decision rather than forcing it upon them. This can be viewed as a politeness strategy as well as a face saving act as he avoids being overpowering by explaining his decision rather than simply stating it. Face threatening acts can consist of situations where, America as a nation, is in danger as it is Obamas responsibility to improve conditions rather than jeopardise them. By using face saving acts (politeness strategies) and ‘unspeak’ he makes sure he maintains his reputation by reassuring the public that there is no need to worry, even if there is. This supports my hypothesis as Brown and Levinsons theory of Face saving needs and politeness strategies are apparent, this is influenced by the subject of the speech as it is clearly a sensitive yet serious issue. 

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[1] ‘Unspeak’: language selected for its favourable connotations and make determined efforts to ensure that their chosen terms are widely adopted. Steven Pooled; ‘Unspeak: Words Are Weapons’