Abstract

This paper is to analyze the political discourses on the basis of the frame theory about 911 attack, which were delivered respectively by the incumbent ---Barack Obama, a Democrat and his predecessor ----George Bush, a Republican. It is illustrated that frames within these two texts bear a close relation to the political decisions made by liberals and conservatives, as well as the values upheld by them. Frames from two opposing camps feature partisan inclinations: the frames that fall into the category of Democratic party lines foreground “empathy”, responsibility, service to the public, cooperation and unity, while those belong to Republican camp are associated with power, authority, order, justice, national security and the business enhancement. The contrastive study of the frames and the scenes contained in these public statements is to fully reveal the partisan worldviews respectively held by liberals and conservatives, and is to further explore the differences between two categories of political arguments. 

Keywords: 911 attack; Democrat; Republican; frame; scene; authority

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1.Introduction1

2.Prerequisite knowledge of Frame and Partisan Family Models3

2.1 The Notion of Frame and Frame Semantics3

2.2 Democratic and Republican Worldviews3

3.Framing and Reframing within Partisan Values5

3.1 Frames Proposed by Bush’s Speech 5

3.1.1 The Scene of  War5  

3.1.2 The Frame of  Mass Murder7

3.1.3 The Frame of Governmental Power 8

 3.2 Frames Constructed by Obama’s Speech 8

3.2.1 The Frame of  One8  

3.2.2 The Frame of Keeper9

4.Contrast across Frames Proposed by Liberals and Conservatives10

4.1 Authority Versus the Public10

4.2 Anger and Hope11

5.Conclusion12

Notes13

References14