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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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Julius Caesar Lit Essay

In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a play by Shakspeare, there is a king who is ruled as a tyrant who does not care about his people, he is subjected to be killed, his death is not justified in the end. Specifically in Act lll, scene 2, Brutus is trying to convince the people of Rome that he is justified for killing Caesar, Mark Antony is there to change the people’s opinion and turn them against Brutus. Mark Antony attempts to convince his audience to go against Brutus by using apostrophe, antithesis, and rhetorical questions. One rhetorical device Mark Antony uses is antithesis to break down Brutus’ argument on why he killed Caesar. One piece of evidence is in Act lll, scene, ii, lines 31, Mark Antony says, “ Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;”. Here, Mark Antony is turning Brutus’ speech/claim against him. In using antithesis in the quote, Mark …show more content…

For example, in Act lll, scene ii, lines 31, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me”. When Mark Antony says this, the audience is more persuaded with his speech because of how intense his emotions are, they are more likely to feel sympathy for Antony and also feel a sadness growing in them because their to be crowned king is dead. In using the apostrophe in the quote, Mark Antony persuades the audience by the sympathy the audience begins to feel. The audience now sees how they have betrayedCaesar someone who was beloved by all of Rome, who was said to be selfish and was said to be the fall of Rome when really was looking out his his people; when Caesar's will was read he had left his belongings to the people for their lives to flourish when he is gone. Accordingly, Mark Antony shows apostrophe by showing how his heart still mourns the loss of Caesar, someone beloved and close to all of

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