For this paper I am going to rhetorically analyze the song “The World Was Wide Enough.” This song comes from the musical Hamilton: An American Musical, which is about The Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. I chose the song “The World Was Wide Enough” because it talks about the Duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, which is the political figure I wrote my political paper on. I will explain each of the ten things they want us to know and then I will talk about the ethos, pathos and logos in the song. I will also talk about how the music in the song and the dialogue from the singers and actors really come together and make you feel like you were there on July 11th, 1804 at the dueling grounds of Weehawken, New Jersey. An election …show more content…
In 1791, Burr won a seat in the U.S. Senate defeating Alexander Hamilton’s father-in-law, Philip Schulyer. This infuriated Alexander Hamilton and it strengthened his feelings of hatred towards Aaron Burr. Alexander Hamilton insulted Aaron Burr by stating that Burr’s attitude was “equivocal.” Hamilton and Burr both became very well-known political figures throughout the years. Alexander Hamilton was worried that Aaron Burr was going to take all the power in the Federalist party so Alexander Hamilton voiced a “hateful opinion” about Aaron Burr in the newspaper. A friend of Aaron Burr showed him the newspaper which provided proof of Hamilton’s insults – Burr became infuriated and challenged Hamilton to a duel. In the beginning of “The World Was Wide Enough” Aaron is anticipating his duel with Alexander Hamilton. He tells that there are ten things that we need to know. He explains the whole process from rowing across the river at dawn to Hamilton showing up with his men. Number Two tells us that Hamilton brought a doctor. According to my research, a doctor usually came to duels for obvious reasons. This sets up the anticipation of the duel to me. Number Three starts to get really interesting. It shows Burrs nervousness as he watches Hamilton examine the terrain. He wishes to know what he is thinking and at that