Rhetorical Devices Used In Brutus's Speech

Brutus's speech to persuade the people of Rome was a very well-thought-out speech that worked very well, It worked well because it used so many rhetorical devices that planted thoughts in the audience's heads. For background information, Brutus had to kill caesar in order for it to be a noble act, instead of a murder. He was the last one to stab caesar, and that is why caesar gave up trying to survive. In the first part of the speech he successfully calms them down enough to listen to what he has to say, “ Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my cause and be silent, that you may hear. Believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe. Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your

He uses the rhetorical device of Anaphora: this persuades the audience more by repeating the same thing multiple times. Once the audience has stopped yelling and going crazy, he starts trying to persuade them. He starts with the opening, “ If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his.” He uses the rhetorical device anadiplosis, this is when the last word of a phrase is the first word of the following phrase. Using this rhetorical device can be emotionally stirring for the audience because no they are wondering why he killed him if he loved his presumed father as much as his father loved him. This gets the audience to want to listen to him. He then says, “If then that

This is when you start off with the bad things to say, but then finish your statement with the good things so that the audience only thinks about the good things. “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” He says that he loves Rome more than caesar, which implies that something bad was to happen when he became dictator. The way he explains his actions ties together almost perfectly, to keep this going he says that if he had not done what he had done then all of his audience would be slaves. Obviously, none of the roman people want to be slaves, or even think of themselves as slaves, so the audience is more likely to be less aggressive towards him. The final sentence in the part of the speech tie sit together, he says that if he had not done what he had, then the audience would still be slaves, so they are now finally convinced that killing caesar was a good