...The Declaration of Independence was written and revised by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman in 1776; Thomas Jefferson was the main author. The Declaration of Independence is a message not only to Britain but also to the world, stating The United States, the thirteen colonies at the time, is a free, self-governing nation. The Declaration of Independence is an effective piece of literature due to the authors’ tone, use of rhetoric devices, and language. The authors’ tone is direct, rational, collected, and conscientious. The authors’ tone combined with the diction used in The Declaration of Independence is moving and emphasizes the necessity of the separation from the British Crown. The authors...
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...Thomas Jefferson writes an effective argument in “ The Declaration of Independence” by using diction to convey an accusing tone and repetition to emphasize his irritation towards the king. Jefferson demonstrates how king George the III was a bad deficient ruler and was unfair to his people. For instance when the text states,” He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of protection, and waging war against us”(114). This implies that Jefferson was accusing the king if taking away the protection he had for the people, and the word choice made his accusations stronger. The fact that the quote says the king was “ against us” his tone on the subject. Jeffersons was not at all ok with the king's actions and decided to blame him for his...
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...Humanities Final Presentation essay– Final draft. While creating the Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers arduously worked to create a document that could grow and progress as times changed in the United States. When it was first written, the statement that “all men are created equal” was certainly not in accordance with reality. However, over time, there have been significant and ongoing efforts towards creating equality for all people. Although many argue that the United States of America has made little progress in fulfilling the promises of its Declaration of Independence because of ongoing issues with racial, gender-based, and religious discrimination, they fail to consider that the U.S. has consistently been one of the most...
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...The declaration of independence is formal. The fervent passion for freedom is one flame that is not easily extinguished. This enflamed passion is brought in the United States of America's Declaration of Independence where Thomas Jefferson carefully manipulates his words and diction in order to persuade the reader to fight for personal rights and justice. In the opening paragraph Jefferson presents to the reader a dire situation where drastic measures are needed to be taken. He consists of the need to declare a flaw when one is eminent and the need to rectify it by separation. The speaker of the paragraph is unclear yet assumes an omniscient tone. This all powerful knowledge tone gives the statement more significance and importance....
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...The Declaration of Independence was targeted for American Colonists, King George II (current King of England), and other nations surrounding them at the time that it was written. Today, the Declaration of Independence helps citizens acquire and develop an understanding of American politics as well as the governmental processes that help shape our public policies. The audience will develop a more insightful understanding of key aspects such as majority rule, representative democracy, constitutionalism, civil liberties, and other distinguishing characteristics of the American political system. The tone of the Declaration of Independence was written in a very serious and impertinent manner. The writers of the Declaration wanted to strongly and seriously convey their message to their audience in the document. Jefferson's original draft was found completed with changes made by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and also the Congress. “Historians have often sought to identify the sources that most influenced the words and political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence. By Jefferson's own admission, the Declaration contained no original ideas, but was instead a statement of sentiments widely shared by supporters of the American Revolution. As he explained in...
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...In the document, Zinn describes how the opening statement declares, “...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” (Zinn 71), but truthfully, the Declaration only helped white men of the United States. On page 73, Zinn says, “Some Americans were clearly omitted from this circle of united interest drawn by the Declaration of Independence: Indians, black slaves, women”. To support this, Zinn alludes to a proclamation of the legislature of Massachusetts of November 3, 1755 which declared the Penobscot Indians “rebels, enemies and traitors”. The proclamation provided a bounty: “For every scalp of a male indian brought in… forty pounds. For every scalp of such female Indian or male Indian...
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...Rebecca Zaldivar Mrs. Pollak Composition 101 30 August 2024 Thomas Jefferson, in the document “The Declaration of Independence,” declares that the 13 colonies were by right becoming independent states, and were breaking away from Britain. Jefferson supports his declaration by listing the injustices and abuses of the British Parliament and explains the natural rights the government is supposed to protect, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The author's purpose is to justify the colonists’ actions and to formally declare to the world that they have broken away from Britain to obtain a government that will protect the people’s unalienable rights. Jefferson uses an assertive tone for the British Parliament, but also for the world....
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...Banneker expresses his stance against slavery using logos to recall the facts of historical significance, counteracting the Declaration of Independence by enclosing the ethics of Banneker's viewpoint and debriefs the reader upon traumatic events his ancestors witnessed linking pathos. In paragraph one Banneker thinks back to when the 13 colonies weren't in power and sovereign of the British. He makes statements conveying how people felt during the early 1600s to mid-1700s. (Kelly) Banneker says, “look back, I entreat you on the variety of dangers to which you were exposed… In which every human aid appeared unavailable… you cannot but acknowledge that the present freedom… which you enjoy, you have mercifully received… is the peculiar blessing of heaven.” In the previous reference, Banneker exemplifies how enslaved Africans felt. They believed their life was irredeemable and incurable to where they thought slavery would live on forever. When Banneker pulls in the example from the declaration, he uses logos to further his argument...
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...“Benjamin Franklin’s the Autobiography and the “Declaration of Independence” are persuasive because The Autobiography talks about the good things that Benjamin did and the Declaration of Independence talks about how we the people of the United States can have life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography talks about his life. This article is persuasive because it talks about all the good that he has done in his life. “I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues” (Benjamin Franklin 170). He is saying that he made a book and in his book he wrote down all the virtues and the days of the week to keep track of them. He is disciplining himself to become a better person. “I determined to...
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...A Rhetorical Analysis of MLK Jr.’s “I have a dream” Speech Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, one hundred years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which outstandingly furthered the civil rights movement. At that time, racial segregation, police brutality, and other forms of racial inequality were terribly prominent in America. The speech successfully focused the country’s attention at the need for racial equality “Now” (King, I Have a Dream). King gave the speech in order to motivate his followers to peacefully continue to demonstrate, protest, and boycott until they were fully granted the equality and privileges that any other citizen was allowed to have. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech is his most notable, and one of the most influential of Twentieth-Century-America because of his excellent rhetorical use of repetition and anaphora, contrasting metaphors, and appropriate quotations and allusions throughout the speech. Martin Luther King Jr. used a profuse amount of repetition and anaphora throughout his speech. A subtle form of repetition, the repetition of singular words, was mainly used to emphasize key themes in the speech and keep them in the minds of the audience. Such repeated key themes were “freedom”, “justice” and “injustice”, “America” and “American”, and plural nouns such as “we” and “our”. Since the preceding words were repeated so frequently...
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...For my Benjamin Banneker rhetorical analysis essay, I would give myself a score of eight. I believe that I would have scored an eight because I have effectively explained the purpose of several logical rhetorical strategies using evidence. In my thesis, “Banneker’s unexpected eloquence combined with his political and historical allusions work to produce undeniable evidence that supports an argument Jefferson cannot refute,” I have incorporated the specific rhetoric strategies that I discuss in further detail in the following paragraphs. For instance, in discussing the logos of Banneker’s political allusions, I incorporated quotes that demonstrate the legitimacy of the Declaration of Independence, and explain that Banneker includes this reference...
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...Ronald Reagan speech analysis In this assignment I will be examining a speech brought by Ronald Reagan. I will put the speech in the rhetorical pentagon and afterwards analyze it. I will especially focus on Ronald Reagan’s use of language, cause it’s really relevant when it comes to speeches, and also the choise of composition in the speech. The speaker of the speech is of cause Ronald Reagan. Reagan was the 40th president of the United States in the time between 1981 to 1989. He preached this speech in March 1983, at the Annual Convention of the National Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals. As said, the time was 1983, and at this time, the cold war was continuously going on, and the relationship between the Americans and the Soviet Union with its communism were therefore extremely bad, which also reflects in this speech. So the communism is a huge topic in this speech, and Reagan accomplishes to compare America to goodness, while he attacks the Soviets by comparing them to evil. The other major aspect in the speech of Ronald Reagan is about the increase in illegitimate births and abortions involving under aged girls. He mentions the clinics that were established in well-intentioned faith are offering different kind of services to the girls, without their parent even knowing it. He wants to change that, and maximize parental participation. This is the other major aspect of the speech, which of course is being told to the evangelicals of Orlando...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist who boldly called an end to racism in the United States. On August 28, 1963 he delivered a speech in front of more than 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; a speech that became famous for its inspiration; a speech that was a defining moment for the American Civil Rights Movement; a speech plainly known as “I Have a Dream.” This infamous speech was so influential and moving because of the many rhetorical devices and appeals used that effectively related to the emotions and knowledge of the common people. Techniques used so beautifully and words spoken so genuinely that the hearts of those listening...
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...The preamble to the Declaration of Independence reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” with one huge unwritten disclaimer, “except African Americans”. Sarcastically written, this doctrine inspired many activists and abolitionists during that era to fight for freedom and equality for all. Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth were two of the most prominent figures of the abolitionist movement in 19th-century America. Their speeches, “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?” by Federick Douglass and “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth, are iconic speeches that continue to resonate with audiences today. Both speeches influence their perspective on equality for African Americans through rhetorical appeals and devices. Truth successfully gains the empathy of...
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...Pentadic analysis incorporates five basic elements of drama called pentads. These include act (what is being done), agent (who is doing the act), agency (the means employed by the agent to do the act), scene (the backdrop against which the act occurred), and the purpose of the action (the reason why it happened). Act is the artifact itself whatever it may be such as speech, poem, monument, event, etc as it stands for what is actually being done or happening. Agent refers to the main communicator of the artifact which could be an actor, orator, writer or manager of the act. Agency refers to the main medium of communication which includes a book or televised film, presentation or personal communication. Scene is the backdrop against which the action occurs including the actual, physical scene and the context in which something happens and is meant to be understood. Lastly, purpose is the motive or the message which is conveyed and understood. Pentadic analysis has its roots in Burke's Theory of Dramatism which looks at life as a play where symbols and language are used to express thoughts as a way for humans to comprehend the reality of the world. Burke developed this theory as a way to attempt to understand the bases of human conduct and motives. Thus, the purpose of a pentadic analysis addresses the content of what is being done and what are the motives of a certain artifact as crafted by a rhetor. Burke believed that ratios interconnect important terms and map out a clearer...
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