Clinton had redeemed his explosive defense, he had made a change of attitude in his second apology.
b. Directives
Directives are acts in which the words are aimed in making the hearer do something, such as commanding, requesting, inviting,
forbidding, suggesting, and so on. In I Misled, out of 69 occurences, directives only appears 10 times consisting of the act in persuading,
requesting, and demanding. While in I Have Sinned, out of 83 occurences, it was performed 28 times with more acts in persuading,
also with the act of requesting, suggesting, motivating, and demanding.
1 Persuading
It is the act of making someone do or believe something by giving them a good reason to do it or by talking to them and
making them believe it. It was very clear if President Clinton did more in I Have
Sinned because the attempt to persuade and convince the
audience in I Misled was not sufficient to make the audience believed that he was sorry. It was because what was
delivered in I Misled, persuading was keeping up with the act that was not appropriate for apologising, such as insisting,
protesting, blaming, threatening, and warning. He always
expressed his disappointment for the independent counsel investigation team who always came and investigated his
life. While in I Have Sinned, eventhough there were acts of insisting and warning, they were not for the aim of self-
protection but more, he sincerely apologised, proven in the expressives part. There were more attempts from President
Clinton to say that he regret his first apology speech and he also felt much sorrow for his misconduct.
This is an example of persuading: I misled people, including even my wife.
SP1301:25-01:29 In the example above, the message implied in this well-
formed sentence was how President Clinton persuaded his people that what he did was something embarassing yet
misleading the public, even his wife. Thus, he tried to make his people believed that he really deserved to get any
judgment from the people and even his family. However, the way he delivered was somehow lacking in terms of
embracing the followers because of his tone was considered off the track. It is very different when he stated the force of
persuading in I Have Sinned as in the example below: I may not be quite as easy with my words today as I have
been in years past, and I was up rather late last night thinking about and praying about what I ought to say today.
SP4100:27-00:41
In data SP4100:27-00:41, President Clinton tried to show his effort of writing down and considering what he
should say in the mean time of Lewinsky scandal. He persuaded his opponents, followers, and society to look how
hard he tried to think of what was right to say because it was a very special occasion when he would like to apologise
sincerely. It also came out as a better way to persuade his fellow citizens to believe that he, indeed, made a well-
considered thought on what he had to say.
2 Requesting
Requesting basically is when someone politely or officially asks for something for a particular reason that is in favour.
President Clinton did some requesting acts as in the example below:
It is time to stop the pursuit of personal destruction and the prying into private lives and get on with our national life.
SP2903:16-03:25 In data SP2903:16-03:25, President Clinton asked the
audience to stop the pursuit of personal destruction as stated in his saying in I Misled. However, it was delivered in an
anger tone which resulted as a plain emotion of request. It even showed that President Clinton had strong objection as
many people had involved in his personal life.
Thus, the message in I Misled, eventhough it was a form of request, it did not look like it. It would be different if it was
compared to an act of requesting in I Have Sinned. The example is below:
I ask you to share my prayer that God will search me and know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts, see if
there is any hurtfulness in me, and lead me toward the life everlasting.
SP7409:13-09:33 In data SP7409:13-09:33, it was clear that President
Clinton showed his soft heart. He asked his fellow citizens to share their prayers for a better him. He showed how he
would kile to love his people as much as he could. This was a request that could make his people believed that he really
needed them and that they also needed him. It became a mutual understanding that was expected from both sides.
3 Demanding
What is different between requesting and demanding is the aim for each act. Requesting is the act of asking for
something politely or officially, but demanding is to ask for something forcefully, in a way that shows that you do not
expect to be refused. Demanding means the act of requesting in a stronger intention. It is exemplified in the example
below: Its nobodys business but ours.
SP2703:08-03:10
As in the data SP2703:08-03:10, President Clinton demanded so strongly that he did not want other parties
involve in the scandal because it went too far. The way he delivered was by implying message to stop interfering the
personal business of him and his family. However, his way in demanding was just too angry that the
audience felt that he was just too arrogant in dealing with the truth. It was very different when he demanded so softly in I
Have Sinned as in the example below:
I have asked all for their forgiveness. SP4802:02-02:04
In data SP4802:02-02:04, President Clinton, in I Have Sinned
, showed how he was wrong and demanding for everyone‘s forgiveness for all the things that he ignored,
even hid it in his self-defense. He chose the words I have
asked all for their forgiveness because he would like to
apologise to every individual that had been hurt by him because of his anger temper and everything that was not right
before. It gives an effective impact towards the necessity of the second apology speech as well.
4 Suggesting
The aim of suggesting is to mention an idea, possible plan or action for other people to consider. Here is the example:
The children of this country can learn in a profound way that integrity is important and selfishness is wrong, but God can
change us and make us strong at the broken places. SP6606:24-06:40
In data SP6606:24-06:40, President Clinton suggested the audience how better the condition after the scandal if
people can explain to their next generation to be aware of the temptation and stay close to God. President chose the words
wisely by giving some advice to American parents to care for their children and to make sure that children should learn
from the scandal.
5 Motivating
Motivating is the act to make someone wants to do something well. In this case, the behaviour of someone being
motivated, in the future, is supposed to be different after hearing or seeing someone motivating. The example is given
below: I want to embody those lessons for the children of this
country - for that little boy in Florida who came up to me and said that he wanted to grow up and be President and to be
just like me. I want the parents of all the children in America to be able to say that to their children.
SP67-6806:42-07:03 From the data SP67-6806:42-07:03, President Clinton
wanted to motivate all American people to believe that being a president was not a sin. Surely, it was a position that had a
lot of temptation but that was not to be unsolved. President
Clinton wanted to motivate all American parents to be able to tell that to their children proudly, being an American
president. He would like to rhetorically assure American citizens that their dreams were not vanished yet there was
still a hope. It was believed that the second apology speech gave more
impression for the American society because the way he motivated people was by recalling memories of their dreams
that they should be cherished to keep growing.
c. Commisives
