Rhetorical Analysis Of An Oration Essay - 1892 Words

An important question in American Revolutionary history is how the public transformed from a loyal British population into a radical, revolutionary one. Speakers like John Hancock helped precipitate this change by capitalizing on a growing resentment toward Colonial rule and used this momentum to outline a plan of action. In analyzing his speech, â€Å"An Oration; Delivered March 5, 1774, at the Request of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston: to Commemorate the Bloody Tragedy of the Fifth of March 1770,† it is equally important to understand the audience as it is to understand the rhetoric and motivations of the speaker. The speech was so effective because John Hancock drew upon the public memory of the Boston â€Å"Massacre† (whether or not it was factually accurate) and connected it to the recent Boston Tea Party. Hancock capitalizes on a common grievance to advocate for unification and build support for more radical measures such as creating militias. Hancock gives his speech only four years after the Boston â€Å"Massacre;† presumably, most in the crowd could rely on their own memories for a complete depiction of the scene. But Hancock reminds his listeners again with vivid detail: â€Å"[I]n such quick succession we felt the extremes of grief, astonishment, and rage; when Heaven in anger, for a dreadful moment, suffer’d Hell to take the reins; when Satan with his chosen band open’d the sluices of New-England’s blood, and sacrilegiously polluted our land with the dead bodies of herShow MoreRelatedCicero s First Catilinarian Oration Essay1725 Words   |  7 PagesCicero’s First Catilinarian Oration: A Rhetorical and Literary Analysis â€Å"The pen is mightier than the sword.† As a youth, I disagreed with this statement. How could a pen ever defeat a sword? Over time, I have come to understand how words and speech can influence generations more than just fear or force. Cicero’s speeches are prime examples of how rhetoric is more powerful than military prowess or use of arms. His rhetoric influenced public policy and successive generations. Unlike Caesar and PompeyRead MoreAnalysis Of Cicero s Oration : An Artifact Where Persuasion Is Working At Its Best.966 Words   |  4 PagesThe persuasion analyzed in Cicero’s oration can be seen across many contemporary artifacts, but Blackfish is an artifact where persuasion is working at its best. Blackfish is a documentary that was released in 2013 by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. This documentary tells the story of killer whales in captivity, with a large portion of the story surrounding Tilikum. Tilikum is an orca who has severely hurt or killed several tr ainers while in captivity. The documentary’s website states that the film aimsRead MoreRhetoric and Betrayal in Julius Caeser Play1486 Words   |  6 Pagesterrifically-persuasive speech that he claims to be a funeral oration for Caesar, but is truly a cleverly-shrouded undermining to Brutus’s speech. Antony’s speech is able to not only gain him the crowd’s support, but causes the crowd to completely disregard what Brutus had said only moments earlier. The persuasion and manipulation used by the characters throughout this piece of literature, shows how rhetorical modes of persuasion, rhetorical devices, and cultural experiences can combine to forward theRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of A More Perfect Union 1162 Words   |  5 PagesRhetorical Analysis Essay â€Å"A More Perfect Union†: Obama, Race, and the Necessity to Unite Philadelphia, March 2008. Neither that city nor year suggests a crucial event in American racial history. It’s not Birmingham in 1961, or Washington, D.C. in 1963. However, on March 18, 2008, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon-to-be President Barack Obama, a black man with an African father, took the stage and delivered a speech that would paint the racial landscape ofRead MoreEssay on Martin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis1420 Words   |  6 Pagesspeaker, who established a strong command of rhetorical strategies. By his eloquent use of ethos, logos, and pathos, as well as his command of presentation skills and rhetorical devices, King was able to persuade his generation that the Negro is not free (King 1). His speech became the rallying cry for civil rights and lives on as an everlasting masterpiece. It is necessary to first understand Kings arguments before delving into the actual analysis. Kings main argument is that African-AmericansRead MoreThe Role of Persuasion in Julius Caesar Essay examples1066 Words   |  5 Pages In this statement, Antony is trying to persuade the audience to think that Caesar is a good man as he refused the crown and through this he is trying to emphasize on the goodness of Caesar. So Antony, a friend of Caesar, when speaking a funeral oration over Caesar’s body, he spectacularly persuaded the audience to withdraw their support from Brutus and condemn him and the conspirators as a traitor. Antony engages masterful rhetoric to stir the crowd to revolt against the conspirators.†3 AnotherRead MoreEssay on I have a dream748 Words   |  3 Pagesspeeches in history and the top American speech of the 20th century. A careful analysis of the speech reveals that it is well researched and skillfully organized. It falls into two parts- the first part portrays the American nightmare of racial injustice , the second half paints the dream of a better, fairer future of racial harmony and integration. It is a masterpiece of oration and it employs a number of rhetorical devices to communicate its message. They are a) Allusion, b) Anaphora and c) AlliterationRead MoreFamous Speeches Of The Great Awakening3901 Words   |  16 Pagesbest examples of this type of eulogistic rhetoric include Cicero’s de Orator and Pericles Funeral oration. Stylistically the structure of these orations typically concentrated heavily on the mourning of the deceased and then transitioned into the celebration of their life. (Kent, 2007). While the traditional Greek structure lasted many decades, as early as the 1700’s a shift in style of funeral orations began to emerge. Many attribute this stylistic change to the Great Awakening as new Protestant sectsRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy s Inaugural Address Essay1566 Words   |  7 Pages NOT PRIDE BUT FREEDOM: Rhetorical Analysis of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address Tanner A. Woody Anderson University On January 20, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered a speech with a backdrop of snow and a twenty-degree wind blowing in his face in Washington D.C. In his speech, he starts off with saying that his victory is not for a party but it is for freedom. At the climax of his speech, JFK delivers a call to action which is also the most well-known line from his speech:Read MoreCritical Analysis Essay: On The Death Of Osama Bin Laden1896 Words   |  8 PagesCritical Analysis Essay: On the Death of Osama Bin Laden By Barack Obama Introduction When President Barrack Obama mentioned of the September 11th attack, for a moment the wounds left in the hearts of the Americans started bleeding again. There was nothing that could that could stop the bleeding other than one statement: â€Å"the perpetrator of the attack has been brought to justice†. On the night of 2nd May 2011, the Americans were woken up by the unusual speech delivered by the 44th president of