The Rhetorical Devices In William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation

The eyewitness William Bradford, in the chapter “Starving Time” from his narrative Of Plymouth Plantation, relates the life of Separatists in the New World during the winter. Bradford’s purpose is to expose the reality of what the separatists’ lives were like during the first winter in Plymouth. He adopts a mellow tone in order to make the struggles of the separatists of Plymouth are worthy of remembrance to younger generations. Bradford supports his claims by using rhetorical writing; he uses Pathos to present the emotional aspect of their lives in Plymouth, employs logos to assert the logical reasons their winter was a struggle, and utilizes ethos to justify his argument. As if life was not already hard enough, Plymouth settlers struggled

The“…most sad and lamentable…”(1) thing was that “…being in the depths of winter and wanting a house and other comforts…”(2). With the use of the words “sad and lamentable” Bradford’s diction sets a gloomy mood from the beginning. For example, the use of the word “depth” impacts the mood as well because “depth” implies the deepest point of something; this is imagery to how morbidly cold it must have felt for the settlers. Further, Bradford makes his readers aware of their debt to humanity by explaining that what the separatists wanted were things anyone should have, such as a house. Bradford tells about “six or seven persons who spared no pains night nor day… with abundance of toil and hazard of their own health”(6) in order to take care of the rest of them. Bradford describes about a particular group who, at the expense of their own health, chose to spend their days taking care of the sick. He appeals to the morality of the reader because the caretakers put themselves at risk to hopefully save their piers, and this is a heroic act. Bradford uses pathos through diction and the description of the selfless caretakers, in order to help the readers empathize with the

To begin with, Bradford’s formulation of pathos to instill a melancholy feeling in his reader is especially helpful by his choice of diction. This is because it sets the feeling of the story, which directs the readers to the miserable winter in Plymouth. Furthermore, Bradford’s use of logos is uplifting to his argument because the information, that half the Separatists died, he gives is startling. Consequently, this information verifies that the winter was harsh. Finally, his third approach, ethos, Bradford makes himself a credible source. He starts by assuring the reader that he is a credible source by stating that he was there to witness all the happenings. He then goes on to discreetly mentioning his believe in God, making him a valuable source to other believers. Bradford successfully utilizes rhetorical strategies to support his allegation that the separatist’s first winter in the “New World” was a time of challenges. Tired, weak, and nearly dead, the Separatists still believed in the goodness of