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Julius Caesar Rhetorical Devices Essay

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Shakespeare is known for his incredible tragic drama writing in which he constructs different types of rhetorical devices to influence the setting, mood, and tone of a play, one being The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. These devices demonstrate the enhancement in a speaker’s attitude, personality, and emotion to get a point across. In one particular scene, Shakespeare works in Mark Antony’s speech where he reads to the Plebeians using various amount of rhetorical devices to get his point across. The purpose for Antony’s speech is to show how Julius Caesar died in vain, how the Plebeians are now supporting his murders, and how the Plebeians are not being open minded about the situation. Mark Antony uses repetition to enhance his sarcasm to potentially help his speech influence the Plebeians behavior in a convincing manner, making them turn on Brutus through emotional appeal. …show more content…

Antony shows this type of emotional appeal through persuasion by making the Plebeians understand who Caesar truly was which is not ambitious as Brutus states. In his speech, he says, “He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?”(Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 2: 88-90). This shows how Antony first made the Plebeians reflect on their prior mindset and decision to Antony’s speech convincing/persuading them that Caesar was not ambition as they were told. Antony also states, “I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 2 96-97). This entirely convinces the Plebeians of Caesar’s true act towards the Plebeians. The device of emotional appeal helps get part of his point across to the people in the crowd eagerly wanting to hear more of what he has to say about the

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