The Inquisitor Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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Throughout our lives, we are faced with challenges that require us to persuade the trust and support of our peers and followers. Whether speaking or writing, we can earn this certitude through the manipulation of rhetorical strategies. In his speech, the Inquisitor evokes a cognitive, rational response through logos and conjures an emotional response through pathos while demonstrating his own reliability and competence through ethos. In order to provide his message with consistency and clarity, the Inquisitor adds logic to his reasoning regarding Joan of Arc's fate. He warns the audience that Joan will rightfully suffer the most cruel and just punishment that the men of the court have ever seen due to her mindless treason and disrespect …show more content…

Immediately, he claims that "[i]f you had seen what I have seen or heresy, you would not think it a light thing." He continues to mention that Joan of Arc's atrocious actions began like any other treasons, starting with women quarreling over her clothes and men dressing like John the Baptist, and it eventually ". . . begin[s] with polygamy, and [ends] by incest." He has ". . . seen this again and again . . . [these actions] at first [seem] innocent and even laudable; but it ends in such a monstrous horror of unnatural wickedness." This vivid, concrete, and emotionally loaded (nearly exaggerated language) provokes an emotional response within the audience and forces them to consider the consequences of Joan's actions if she is not properly …show more content…

. . [b]ut if you hate cruelty . . . remember that nothing is so cruel in its consequences as the toleration of heresy." This message contrasts with the excessive language presented earlier and enables the audience to develop a sense of respect and understanding of the Inquisitor's ideas and values, thus arising