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Rhetorical Devices In The Declaration Of Independence

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The Declaration of Independence Rhetorical Analysis In his 1776 articulate and cleverly crafted document, The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson expressively and emotionally establishes himself as a powerful speaker and persuades his audience through his use of parallelism and metaphors to advocate the freedom of a new nation and the rights of the people. Thomas Jefferson established himself to be a motivated and powerful speaker by asserting his credibility at the beginning of the document. Jefferson cites, ¨...the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them…¨ Through a statement of fact, Jefferson is able to justify his reasoning of why we have the right to declare independence while accordingly undermining the power of the British monarchy. Repeatedly throughout the document, Jefferson addresses the reader using pronouns such as ¨We¨ or ¨Us¨ to bring a sense of unity, portraying our nation as a whole while constantly addressing the king as ¨He¨ to belittle the king, indicating he has no power. …show more content…

Jefferson states, " The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world." He persuades his audience that all actions of King George III were driven by self-gain and not for the good of the people. As a result, his appeal to logic would further cause retaliation against England and the independence of a new

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Independence or Bust “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people” (Jefferson). During the Revolutionary Era, there was controversy as to whether or not the colonies of America should join together and fight King George III and Great Britain in a war for their independence. The writers of the American Revolutionary period use rhetorical devices to persuade the American colonists that they need to fight against Britain or else they will not be taken seriously in the world.

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of war, which they also are two of the greatest speeches written. Such great orators Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill amused the world by their speeches especially these two speeches that we have today. In the speech “Declaration of Independence” Franklin D. Roosevelt had a certain purpose to deliver. He managed to deliver this purpose through the length of the speech, the Rhetorical devices he used and finally the choice of words and war diction so did Winston Churchill in his speech “We shall fight on the beaches”. Getting in depth in each speech to identify each of the above things in order to show their purpose of writing such speeches.

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“The Declaration of independence” By Thomas Jefferson: rhetorical In Thomas Jefferson's captivating and persuasive document” The declaration of Independence” written on July 4, 1776, Jefferson distinctly vocalizes and emotionally adheres to the reader's emotions by using the rhetorical devices of alliteration and repetition to create allies and justify his desires for a newly independent country. Thomas Jefferson establishes himself as a credible writer by presenting the truths and controversial topics about the King of Britain. Jefferson accomplishes this by stating the reasons why he's trying to push for independence from Britain. He assures the readers by making sure it's known that he isn't pushing for independence for any random reason,

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Ainsley Kelver AP Language and Composition Mrs. Hoefer April 22, 2023 RA Prompt The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, after a long and grueling conflict between the United States and The United Kingdom. During the Revolution, there was a political division among the American colonies. While some colonies supported independence, others continued to support the British throne. Within the patriot movement, there were conflicts between those who supported a more radical strategy for revolution and those who supported a more moderate strategy.

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When most people hear the words “Fourth of July” they think about fireworks, cookouts, and sparklers. During the 1850’s, the Fourth of July served as a reminder of the many horrors and injustices in the world. On July 4, 1852, Frederick Douglass-- a former American slave, abolitionist leader and adroit speaker-- spoke in Rochester, New York about the affectation of celebrating independence. In his speech, “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery”, he claims celebrating independence is unethical when slavery is widespread. To convince the reader of his claim, he uses rhetorical questions, emotional appeal, and antithesis in hopes of shedding light and sparking action on the wrongful situation.

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Jefferson used propaganda against King George III to portray him as a sinful tyranny King who wanted absolute control over each colony. First off, Jefferson stated that King George III “refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good” King George III refused as well as the governors of England. After the French and Indian War, the colonies grew. When the colonies grew, the population and economy became bigger as well. So, while the population and economy grew, the colonies wanted the permission by Britians to expand more west.

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Declaration of Independence Precis Thomas Jefferson in his historical document, The Declaration of Independence (1776), asserts that the colonies should break free from Britain’s tyranny. Jefferson supports his assertion through the use of anaphora, parallel structure, imagery, emotional appeal to patriotism, and logical appeal to the colonist’s basic rights. Jefferson’s purpose is to advocate for the separation of Britain and the colonies in order to escape the British tyranny that King George imposes on the American colonists. Jefferson writes in a measured tone for the British parliament, King George, and for colonists who have been a victim of Britain’s oppression.

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"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." (168) Jefferson addresses this problem because, the King is refusing to enforce laws the colonists need. It is crucial to point out this problem, for it can lead to further denials by King George III. He is in a way deriving them of their unalienable rights, of which nobody has the right to take. " For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent."

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In his writing of this great document, Thomas Jefferson intentionally structured this document specifically to entice the colonists to fight for their independence from Britain. By using sophisticated, elevated speech in the introduction and the preamble, Jefferson suggested that the colonists’ independence was in accordance to God’s will. Jefferson also cleverly chose not to attack the wrong-doings of King George III and the British until the middle part of The Declaration of Independence. By burying the negative statements, Jefferson was able to capture the readers’ attention more effectively rather than turning them away with initial negativity. Finally, Jefferson chooses to use simple syntax with one and two-syllable words in this section.

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The Declaration of Independence is an extremely important document to the United States. Thomas Jefferson receives the most credit for writing the declaration, however he was assisted by five other men that were apart of the Constitutional Congress. They wrote the declaration to persuade the colonist to break free from Britain. The Declaration of Independence uses numerous persuasive appeals and language, including parallelism, pathos, and ethos. Parallelism is “a pattern in writing in which words and phrases are similar in structure, one echoing another.”

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If it weren’t for Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, America would look so much different than it is right now. Who knows if the United States would even exist. Arguably, if Jefferson hadn’t written the Declaration, is someone else had, it wouldn’t have been as strong. And possibly, the new colony would have needed to wait longer to become independent, if they became independent at all. But Jefferson’s strong rhetorical appeals help persuade his audience that new colony deserves independent, and his use of allusions contribute greatly to his argument, making his appeals powerful and capture the attention of his audience, and to get them to agree with him.

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In Thomas Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence,” he uses rhetorical devices to convey his purpose which is to say that colonies have decided to break their bond with the King and Great Britain and to explain their reasoning. One of the devices used the most to convey his purpose was parallelism. Jefferson also uses repetition to make his reasons clear. Some might think that his use of restatement further makes his points clear; however, they are wrong. Jefferson uses rhetorical devices like parallelism and repetition to explain the reasonings of the Colonists decision to break their bonds with the King and Britain.

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt wrote “The ‘Four Freedom’ Speech” to get his point across that America needs to join World War II, in doing so he used rhetorical devices and appeals. Roosevelt uses logos as a rhetorical appeal by saying “the assailants are still on the march, threatening other nations, great and small. ”(Roosevelt 271) He gives logical reasoning about the threat to other nations. Roosevelt wrote that to let other nations know to be ready for war.

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In the Declaration of Independence, by Thomas Jefferson, he uses three of the major rhetorical techniques of persuasion such as: pathos, which is the appeal to emotion, logos, the appeal to logic, and ethos, the appeal to ethics. One of the many rhetorical techniques of persuasion in the Declaration of Independence, wrote by Jefferson, is pathos, in order to appeal to the reader's emotion. Jefferson uses pathos in order to gain the reader's attention by their emotional side of the Declaration of Independence. “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns,

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During the writing of “The Declaration of Independence”, Thomas Jefferson go to great lengths to describe why the colonies were choosing to separate themselves from Great Britain. This is done not only so readers will have a detailed description of what the American people were facing while being ruled by the King. The vivid depiction of all the cruelty he has shown towards the people. Furthermore, the lengthy, highly descriptive examination of all the wrongs and showing that the colonists made many appeals to the King but also the people of Britain that the reader now feels as if it is wrong for the Colonies to be under Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson begins by detailing the ethical standings of all people that live within the colonies.

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