Hope, Despair, and Memory: A Rhetorical Analysis
In Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Prize speech, “Hope, Despair, and Memory”, the Holocaust survivor uses various rhetorical devices, such as repetition, rhetorical questions and anecdotes. Furthermore, these devices are used to convey the themes of hope, despair, and memory; they work to evoke emotional responses from the audience as well as highlighting the urgency of the themes. Therefore, the use of repetition, rhetorical questions, and anecdotes will all be explored in this analysis. In addition, we will dissect how the use of rhetorical devices enhances the delivery of Wiesel’s speech and how they make the speech more impactful.
The first rhetorical device,repetition, is a rhetorical device requiring
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In addition they are also used for dramatic effect and encourage an audience to reflect on the topic that is brought up by these rhetorical questions. They make the audience more engaged. Furthermore, Elie Wiesel enlists rhetorical questions that prompt his audience to consider their own beliefs, values, and responsibilities. To give an instance, Elie Wiesel asks “ What responsibility do we have to remember the victims and their stories?” This rhetorical question bids the audience to reflect on the ethical obligation they have to remember. Moreover, It begs the audience to remember and pass on their memories for generations to come; to stop them from making the same mistakes that were made in the past. It delves into his theme of memory and the importance of it. By prompting these questions Elie Wiesel encourages self-examination and invites the audience to assess their roles in nurturing hope and preserving memory. Through the use of rhetorical questions Elie Wiesel encourages self reflection, improvement, and prompts his audience to participate in his message; to consider the importance of memory, hope, and despair in their own