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Brutus Rhetoric Analysis

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Throughout the entirety of William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, one can find many examples of rhetoric; however it is especially seen in the speeches given by the characters Brutus and Antony in Act III Scene II. Ethos, a rhetorical device that establishes credibility and principles, can be found at the beginning of the speech Brutus delivers to the plebians; Brutus states, “Be patient till the last. Romans, Countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear. Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe. Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses” (III.ii. 13-18). Through these words, Brutus is using ethos in order to establish his credibility to the average …show more content…

Antony uses a greater variety of rhetorical devices than Brutus does in his speech, ultimately leading him to a more successful outcome. Although Brutus does get the people to understand his motive for the assassination of Caesar, Antony quickly undoes everything that Brutus had accomplished with his speech. Antony manages to divert the minds of the people away from everything they were just convinced of, and then completely alters the people’s perspective to fit his views and reasoning. Overall, Antony does this by strategically using a handful of different rhetorical questions in his speech. He first utilizes ethos in order to establish his credibility and principles before he proceeds any further, which the man does on purpose in order to gain the plebians’ trust. Proceeding his use of ethos, Antony includes a solid amount of pathos, allowing the people to realize his vulnerability and start to feel pity towards the man. In the end, this causes the people to place an even greater amount of trust in Antony; making it easier for him to sway the minds of the people. Similarly, Antony also utilizes logos and other various rhetorical devices. By using logos, Antony appears to have an even stronger argument, which compells the people to believe in his words even more. His

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First, Mark Antony employs the persuasive appeal ethos to deliver an effective persuasive speech. Ethos refers to listening and trusting in the speaker. Mark Antony uses ethos in the opening of his address. He commands trust and consideration by proclaiming, "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; / I come to bury Caesar, not to praise

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In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar, Mark Antony uses rhetorical devices such as paralipsis, rhetorical questions, and verbal irony in his speech to the plebeians in order to plot them against the conspirators. During his speech to the plebians, Antony uses paralipsis in order to kindle curiosity and interest in the audience. Antony mentions to the plebians that he had Caesar’s will with him but tells them, “Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; It is not meet you know how much Caesar loved you” (3.2.152-153). By drawing attention to Caesar’s will, something Antony desperately wants to show the plebeians, but then dismissing the idea of reading it, Antony uses a type of verbal irony called paralipsis. Antony is aware that the contents

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Both speaker use the ethos as a mode of persuasion to convince the audience. When using this type of technique, the speaker tries to show good character. Brutus tells the audience that he is honest by saying "believe me on my honor and keep my honor in mind. So you may believe me."

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Mark Antony’s Speech Shakespere is considered by many to be one of the greatest playwrights of the renaissance period entertaining playgoers of all social classes with his comedies and tragedies. Julius Caesar, one such tragedy written by Shakespeare, has within it many speeches; however, Mark Antony’s funeral speech that he gives after Julius Caesar is assassinated contains a myriad of examples of rhetorical argument techniques. In Act three, scene two of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony uses ethos, pathos, and logos to turn a despairing and disoriented crowd of mourners into a volatile and rebellious crowd of rioters turned against Brutus and his co-conspirators.

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Mark Antony is trying to win over the people of Rome by his very effective use of rhetoric. In his speech, his overall point is to persuade the Roman citizens that Brutus’s claim of Caesar being ambitious is not true. Antony’s use of rhetorical devices such as a rhetorical question give the people a good message. When he is telling them that Caesar brought many captives to Rome, he asks, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious” (3.2.18). Antony’s rhetorical question was very effective since he is making the people question Brutus’s claim.

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After reading excerpts from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, write an essay that compares Brutus’ speech with Marc Antony’s speech and argues the effectiveness of the rhetorical devices (ethos, pathos, logos) used in each. Be sure to support your position with evidence from the texts. William Shakespeare writes a play about Julius Caesar’s assassination and the speeches his friends gave at his funeral. In the play, Brutus assassinated Caesar because he thought he was protecting Rome. He was saying that if Caesar got all the power he would most likely become vicious and make everyone his slaves.

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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar- Rhetorical Analysis In the novel, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, after Brutus brutally executes Caesar in Act 3 Scene 2, Antony is allowed to give a speech to the people of Rome whom have seen witnessed this fatal tragedy in Scene 3. Antony uses anaphora, connotative diction and details throughout his speech to persuade the Romans to change their perspective of Caesar and Brutus. The way Antony speaks about both Caesar & Brutus are a dispute of what he is actually trying to announce to the Romans. At the end of his speech, Antony hopes to reach the Romans emotionally (pathos) by enraging them against Brutus’s false statements against Caesar.

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In Brutus’s speech, he speaks to the plebeians in a way that suggests that they are wise and capable of the ability to reason by saying, “Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge” (III, ii, 16-17). Brutus used ethos when

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Antony’s Speech Using Rhetorical Appeals In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, after Caesar’s death, the Romans are conflicted about what should be done. After Brutus’ speech the Romans are ready to crown Brutus king and be on the conspirators’ side. Though Brutus then leaves the crowd while Antony delivers his speech, the crowd realizes what should be done of Caesar’s murder and Antony prevents the conspirators from getting away with the murder of Caesar.

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This is ethos in the way it gives him credibility as a friend, suggesting that he would truly know Caesar. But, it is also pathos because it makes the crowd sorrowful for him because someone that is close to him has been killed. The use of ethos, logos and pathos made Marc Antony’s argument and speech far superior to Brutus’s. Another reason that makes Marc Antony’s argument more valuable is

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In Cassius’s eloquent speech against Caesar, he primarily utilizes persuasion through tools such as pathos, rhetorical questions, and compare and contrast. Cassius uses pathos to begin his monologue when he claims, “I know that virtue be in you, Brutus, / As well as I do know your outward favor” (Shakespeare 1.2.95-96). By expressing that Brutus has “virtue” and “outward favor”, Cassius appeals to Brutus’s emotions, but not to an exaggerated extent. This emotional appeal is a persuasion technique because it is used in moderation and in pertinent locations. The context is appropriate since rather than using it as a tool to feed on Brutus’s emotions, Cassius only uses it to get Brutus’s attention as an appropriate hook.

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Brutus delivers his speech in a laudatory manner by conveying Caesar’s deeds and claiming he was ambitious, although Antony contradicts Brutus’ claims and says Caesar spurned the crown with the intent to merely rule as a de facto dictator. Brutus’ speech reveals his motives were truly for the benefit of Rome given his nationalistic tone and Antony’s speech was merely used to obscure his true motives, which was to embroil Rome in a series of civil wars to attain power. Brutus and Antony’s speeches consisted predominantly of Pathos and Ethos, but it is Antony who ultimately it is Antony who prevails because of his almost disingenuous attitude and even use of Logos which is seen when claims that reading Caesar’s will would dishonor his compeers and even Caesar

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In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar one of the main characters Caesar is killed in Scene 3 act 2.Then Brutus and Antony both give speeches about how bad they feel. Brutus gives a good speech by using all three of the rhetorical appeals to persuade the crowd to want to listen to what he say by using logos,ethos,pathos to his advantage. Brutus gives a better speech that draws the audience attention,Antony not as much. Therefor here are some very valid points on why Brutus’s speech used the Rhetorical Appeals better.

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Brutus and Antony use ethos, logos, and pathos in their speeches to convince the commoners of their side of the story. One person just so happens to be more convincing than the other. Using ethos,

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Sydney Stone Mrs. Paul English 10A 16 October 2017 Rhetorical Analysis Essay William Shakespeare, a very famous writer, tells the story of Julius Caesar. In his play, Marc Antony delivers a powerful speech that uses many different rhetorical devices, appeals, and different styles of writing. Some of these include repetition, rhetorical questions, pathos, logos, ethos, and diction. These help enhance Marc Antony’s speech by persuading the audience towards considering that Caesar was a good man.

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