Rhetorical Analysis of the Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence Rhetorical Analysis Christian Johnson / P6 PART I The Declaration of Independence is considered by many to be the finest piece of political prose ever written. It female genitalia be seen as a document in five parts the installation, the preamble, the denunciation of George III, the denunciation of the British mickle, and the conclusion. We argon going to closely examine the first three as a expressive style to understand how Jeffersons rhetorical strategies serves the political aims of the young colonies.The introduction consists of the first paragraph, which is a single long sentence (periodic sentence for those who leave al sensation do well in May). Read the first paragraph and commence up with two reasons wherefore Jefferson would frame the introduction in the way he did. Reason ISeen deep down its original context, however, it is a model of subtlety, nuance, and hint that works on several levels of meaning and allusion to orient readers toward a friendly view of America and to prepare them for the rest of the Declaration.Textual SupportFrom its opening phrase, which sets the American Revolution within the whole course of gentlemans gentleman events, to its assertion that the Laws of spirit and of Natures God entitle America to a separate and equal localize among the powers of the earth, to its quest for sanction from the opinions of mankind, the introduction elevates the quarrel with England from a petty political dispute to a major event in the grand expanse of explanation.It dignifies the Revolution as a contest of principle and implies that the American movement has a special claim to moral legitimacyall with step up mentioning England or America by name. Reason IILabeling the Americans one people and the British other was also laden with implication and performed several important strategic functions within the Declaration. First, because two alien peoples cannot be made one, it reinforced the notion tha t breakage the political bands with England was a necessary step in the course of homophile events.America and England were already separated by the more than basic particular that they had become two different peoples. The gulf between them was much more than political it was intellectual, social, moral, cultural and, according to the principles of nature, could no more be repaired, as Thomas Paine said, than one could restore to us the time that is past or give to prostitution its former innocence. To try to perpetuate a purely political connection would be forced and unnatural, repugnant to reason, to the universal nightspot of things. If you had to argue that the most important word in the first paragraph is necessary, how would you make that case? To say an act was necessary during the 18th cytosine implied that it was impelled by fate or determined by the mathematical operation of inextricable natural laws and was beyond the control of human agents. Characterizing the Revolution as necessary suggested that it resulted from constraints that operated with law like force throughout the material globe and within the sphere of human action. The Revolution was not merely preferable, defensible, or justifiable.It was as inescapable, as inevitable, as unavoidable within the course of human events as the motions of the tides or the changing of the seasons within the course of natural events accommodate a look at the second paragraph1 in which Jefferson sets forth a series of hints (five in all) that hold been called the clearest, most direct statements of political ism in the history of writing. Identify the five basic propositions that constitute Jeffersons philosophy of establishment. hypnotism I All men are created equal. Proposition II They are endowed by their creator with certain nontransferable rightsProposition III Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness Proposition IV To unafraid these rights politicss are institut ed among men Proposition V Whenever any form of disposal becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to eradicate it. at once take a look at the predicate of each one of Jeffersons propositions and compare it to the subject of the following proposition. What has Jefferson done here? Chart out how the follow if ideas throughout this paragraph is controlled by the subjects and predicates (use a T-chart). Subject exalt they all men, from proposition one these mans unalienable rights, from proposition two these mans unalienable rights, from propositions two and three these securing mans unalienable rights, from propositions two, three and four PART II 1.Read the second paragraph and note how the rhythm (a rise and move of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language) of the sentence is constructed to high spot certain concepts. List the words that rhythm highlights and analyze the effect on t he paragraph caused by the pattern of stressed words. 2. The Declaration of Independence can be reduced to a relatively syllogism Major usher in pWhen government deliberately seeks to reduce the people under exacting despotism, the people gull a right, indeed a icduty, to alter or abolish that form of government and to create new guards for their future security. Minorpremise The government of Great Britain has deliberately sought to reduce the American people under absolute despotism. Conclusion Therefore the American people have a right, indeed a duty, to abolish their present form of government and to create new guards for their future security. The key premise is the minor premise, which explains why Jefferson spends two-thirds of his time establishing the validity of it. Take a look at the sentence(s) that introduce(s) the scratch that attacks King George III. The history of the present Kind 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. Why would Jefferson repeat the word history twice in this sentence? What are a couple of ways that this repeat is effective? 1 The preamble is presented as a logical demonstration, with one proposition leading to another proposition. From the first proposition (that all men are created equal), a chain of logic is produced that leads to the right and responsibility of revolution when a government becomes destructive of the peoples rights.