Transcript Document

Learning Goal: Analyze how Patrick Henry uses
rhetorical devices to achieve his purpose.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
1. Go over rhetorical appeals and devices with
Rhetorical Devices Intro
2. Begin looking for rhetorical devices and
appeals in Patrick Henry’s Speech to Virginia
Convention text.
3. Analyze the structure of Henry’s speech.
4. Annotate Henry’s speech, labeling rhetorical
devices, appeals, and structure.
A Rationalist’s Revolution
“The Age of Reason”
Puritanism gives way to Rationalism
REMEMBER THIS?:
Puritans
Focus: God
Form of Government: Theocracy—Divinely
appointed government
The American: a hard worker, faithful, spiritual
and family-oriented
The American’s values: based on his
relationship to God and his family.
Truth: Acquired through emotional experiences
Literature: religious, personal texts, poetry
based on God and family
Rationalism
Humans can arrive at truth by reasoning
(understanding obtained through cause and
effect logic) rather than by relying on past
authorities, religious faith or intuition.
Puritanism gives way to Rationalism
Rationalism
Focus: The nation
Form of Government: The emergence of democracy
The American: intellectual, politically-active, selfmade man
The American’s values: higher education, political
debate, survival of the nation
Truth: Acquired through intellectual reasoning
Literature: speeches, pamphlets, journals, almanacs,
brochures, essays and autobiographies
Rhetoric: derived from the theories of Enlightenment
philosophers and thinkers
Terms To Know
• Ethos
• Logos
• Pathos
• -Imagery
• -Diction
• Anaphora
• Antithesis
• Parallelism
Rhetorical Question
Juxtaposition
Allusion
Speaker/Writer
(Ethos)
Context
Context
Purpose
Audience/
Readers
Subject/Topic/
Message
(Pathos)
(Logos)
Context
Ethos- credibility of the speaker
O Writers/speakers ask the audience to
-trust them (intelligence, goodwill and virtue)
-believe them
-to bear with them
-to listen to them
O Readers/Audiences must question
the speaker’s authority, trustworthiness,
motives.
--You must consider the writer’s integrity and attitude towards
his/her audience.
Ethos—establishing authority/credibility by
1. Demonstrating knowledge about the topic
(position, job title, experience, etc.)
2. Establishing common ground with the audience
through respect and concern
3. Demonstrating fairness and evenhandedness
4. Displaying confidence
Establishing Confidence and Credibility
5. Presenting yourself in a suitable manner— physical
appearance
6. Connecting your beliefs to core principles that are
widely respected
7. Using appropriate language for the audience, neither
speaking above nor below their capabilities.
8. Citing credible, reliable sources
9. Admitting limitations, exceptions, or weaknesses of
your argument. Making these concessions (anticipating
the potential rebuttals of your audience) makes the
audience belief that you have respect for them and that
you have carefully considered your position.
Logos—logic
O “word” or “reason”
O Rational argument
O Logic behind the arguments
Examples:
-factual evidence for support
“Nine out of ten doctors agree…”
Examples:
statistics, charts, graphs, definitions, surveys,.
polls, examples, narratives, personal
testimonies etc.
Pathos-emotional appeals
O PATHOS—the quality or power of evoking the
audience’s emotions
O Primarily achieved through the use of strong
emotional diction (evocative words)
O Powerful images that evoke emotions
O Anecdotes —stories
O Immediacy contributes to the effectiveness of
emotional appeals
O Pathos appeals to the heart and to one’s
emotions.
Pathos—Examples
O Stories or testimonials
O Personal anecdotes or stories
O Personal connections
O Imagery and figurative language that provokes an
emotional response
O Visual images or words that inspire you to empathize or
have compassion towards the idea/topic
O Powerful words, phrases, or images that stir up
emotion
Imagery--Pathos
Imagery is words that appeal to the senses.
– Visual
– Auditory
– Tactile/Emotional
– Concrete
– Olfactory
Anaphora
O Repetition of the same word or group of words
at the beginning of successive clauses,
sentences, or lines.
“This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This
other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built
by Nature for herself Against infection and the
hand of war, This happy breed of men, this
little world, This precious stone set in the
silver sea…”
-John of Gaunt in Shakespeare's Richard II (2.1.40-51; 57-60)
Antithesis
O opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced
O
O
O
O
O
O
or parallel construction. The idea is that they enhance
one another, kind of like two halves of the perfect
whole:
yin and yang
sweet and sour
Good cop / Bad cop
Sink or swim.
Black or white.
It can't be wrong if it feels so right” -Debbie Boone
Rhetorical Question
O A question posed by the speaker or writer
not to seek an answer but instead to affirm
or deny a point by simply asking the
question
O Ex. Do I really need to ask you to clean your
room again?
Parallelism
O Similarity of structure in a pair or series of
related words, phrases, or clauses.
parallelism of words:She tried to make her
pastry fluffy, sweet, and delicate.
parallelism of phrases: Singing a song or
writing a poem is joyous.
parallelism of clauses: Perch is inexpensive;
cod is cheap; trout is abundant; but salmon
is best.
Juxtaposition
O is a poetic and rhetorical device in which normally
O
O
O
O
unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed
next to one another.
Light and dark images
Life and death
Cold and hot
Etc.
Allusion
O A reference to mythological, literary,
historical, or Biblical person, place or thing.
Mythological Allusion
Homer’s Odyssey—The
enchantress Circe seduces men
with her singing and then turns
them into swine (pig).
HOW IS THIS ALLUSION AFFECTIVE?
PATHOS—The end result for those whom
Circe charmed was dehumanization. Likewise
the colonists will be dehumanized because
they will not be free.
Biblical Allusion
• "Son of man, you are living among a
rebellious people. They have eyes to
see but do not see and ears to hear
but do not hear, for they are a
rebellious people.”
Ezekiel 12:2
HOW IS THIS ALLUSION EFFECTIVE?
PATHOS—
Those who can’t see and can’t hear the
truth about God will lose their spiritual
salvation. Likewise, the colonists who can’t
see or hear the truth about what the
British are doing will loose their temporal
salvation—they will not be free, which
equates to death.
Biblical Allusion
Jesus Arrested
• 47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up,
and the man who was called Judas, one of the
Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus
to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are
you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Luke 22:47-8
HOW IS THIS ALLUSION EFFECTIVE?
• Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
... - Online Parallel Bible
• bible.cc/psalms/119-105.htmCached - Similar
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• Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a
light for my path. English Standard ... Man
needs such a guide, and the Bible is such a
guide. Compare the notes at ...