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Rhetorical Analysis On The Boston Massacre

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John Hancock spoke of the Boston Massacre on the fourth anniversary of the 1770 attack and the American colonists who lost their lives due to the violence brought upon by the British. This massacre sparked a new revolution in the colonies as they fought to get the justice that they deserved. Through the use of rhetorical strategies, John Hancock warns his fellow colonists about British attacks on Americans by utilizing figurative language and emotive language to show the urgency of staying firm in defense of their lives and rights as he persuades them to rebel because of the injustices they’ve endured.
John Hancock reflected on the prior attack that happened in Boston as he uses metaphors, imagery, and negatively charged adjectives to demonstrate …show more content…

Hancock described the way the colonists felt as a result of the attacks on that “dismal night” and explains that they felt surreal amounts of “rage” and “astonishment” as they were left to “grie[ve]” the deaths of their fellow colonists. The emotions felt by the colonies are expressed through the description by John Hancock during his speech. He conveys the anger and shock that the colonists felt because of the Boston Massacre on the four-year commemoration of the attack on the colonist’s rights. Hancock encourages the colonists to take action to get justice for those Americans killed as he explains that they must “sacrifice [them]selves for the salvation of [their] country” without being afraid because “death is a creature of a poltroon’s brain.” John Hancock attempts to persuade his fellow colonists to protect their liberties and colonies by fighting back and getting justice for their colonies and the colonists who were killed in 1770. He explains to the colonists that they must make a sacrifice to protect their future because they should not fear death since it is for the well-being of the colonies. John Hancock implements emotionally charged language to express the colonists’ feelings during the fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre as he tries to persuade his fellow colonists to fight back for their

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