Civil Disobedience Rhetorical Analysis

“Civil Disobedience” is an essay written by Henry David Thoreau about people needing to put their conscience ahead of the government rulings by criticizing American policies and beliefs. He expresses his opinion of a “government is best which governs least” (Thoreau 305) by heavily supporting his topic and by using rhetorical techniques. Rhetorical devices are used in papers for the writer to better persuade the audience or to better understand the topic they are writing about; they can also be used to play with the reader’s emotions. The rhetorical devices that have the most impact on the reader in Thoreau’s essay are allusions, rhetorical questions, pathos, imagery, and chronological narrative. Allusions are the rhetorical technique that

In “Civil Disobedience”, Thoreau discusses his experience in jail and how he felt after he got out of there. Thoreau begins by discussing about when arriving at the jail he was taken to the cell by prison guards. The guards described Thoreau’s prison cell mate as “a first-rate fellow and a clever man” (Thoreau 317). He then goes on to talk about how they get to each other, like where they are from and how they got in this situation. After their discussion, Thoreau begins to examine the cell to witness the past marks of where “prisoners had broken out and where a grate had been sawed off” (318); he also “heard the history of the various occupants of that room” (318) by draining all the information from his cell mate. He ends with describing his night sleeping there thinking about his village and his breakfast the next day. Chronological narrative helps the essay by allowing the audience to comprehend what Thoreau went through and the exact order it happened it; it helps the reader flow better with the story. Thoreau uses the rhetorical techniques of allusion, pathos, imagery, and chronological narrative in “Civil Disobedience” to elaborates on his thesis statement that America “at once [needs] a better government” (Thoreau 306). When Thoreau uses these devices, it demonstrates is voice as a writer and proves to the type of write he is. The rhetorical techniques add more dimension and detail to Thoreau’s papers thus persuading the audience to consider his