Declaration of Independence |
Posted: August 22, 2018 |
July 4, 1776 is an important date on the timeline of American history, as it had signified the beginning of a new era in the life of a recently formed country. The freedom was granted in response to the Declaration of Independence, which is a successful example of a powerful and strong in argument essay, which has a wonderful command of rhetoric fallacies and structure. The document appeals to the beliefs of the readers, the emotions they express towards the country and deductive and inductive logical reasoning. The Declaration of Independence has a well structured pattern of the argument presented, also making the use of the tone. The following can be proved by a series of excerpts from the document, supported by justified and reasonable rhetoric facts. Appeal to beliefs (ethos) One of the most powerful striving weapons humankind possesses is their faith, as our belief is what drives us and shapes our actions, reactions, and behaviors. The Declaration of Independence uses ethos to shape the context of the newly established beliefs regarding the formation of the United States of America and what it ought to bring to the people as a nation. For instance, the first sentence of the Declaration deploys the revolutionary mood by making the reference to “the Course of human events” noting “the Law of Nature and of Nature’s God”, the essential and common human universal beliefs. In addition, the authors of the document also use personification technique for prudence: “Prudence, indeed, will dictate […]”. In such a way, the authors underline the reasonable argument, which they provide. As well, the list of grievances is ensued by the set of arguments illuminating ethical arguments, which signifies the high level of intelligence and sophistication of the ones, who argue in this document. At last, parallel structure “Free and Independent States”, to ensure and reinforce the hopes for a newborn country by the beliefs of the men who will be ready to fight for the rights of the country, is used in the conclusion. Appeal to reasoning (logos) The reactions to the emotional and belief related arguments should be supported by reason; otherwise they would have rather reflexive, instinctive explanation based solely on sudden response. Reasoning is an attribute of an intelligent and alleged individual. The document makes use of logos in a few passages. The fundamental beliefs are reasoned in the first sentence of the second paragraph. In addition, the long list of grievances serves as a clear explanation of the reason why the States should be “Free and Independent”. The reasoning is also supported by parallel structure “He has” and a set of negative verbs and adjectives, which define the definitive, disparaging tone, and enunciate the striving need to detach from the British Empire. Appeal to emotions (pathos) Emotional appeal is another powerful force, which forces men to act in accordance with the situation, relying on their humanity. Usage of pathos is a strong rhetoric technique, as it touches all of the influential strings, which are emotionally attached to a human conscience. In the Declaration of Independence there is an emotional appeal which is discernible in the document. Most notably the appeal to emotions is mirrored in the passage about the reasonable emphasis of prudence and the negative light it sheds on the British kings, who were unable to provide it for the American States. In addition, the list of grievances carries an emotional load, which is aroused using the literary techniques, such as anaphora and the parallel structure and strong in negative connotation words. In overall, the Declaration of Independence is emotionally charged with the unstoppable rush to free from the burden of British Empire’s chains. In overall, the Declaration of Independence represents a clear, powerful and well-structured document, which uses all of the three types of appeal: ethos, logos, and pathos. The authors of the document base their ethos on the fundamental beliefs o the humanity. They emphasize that one has to satisfy such need and the government shouldn’t stop them from its implementation. The appeal to emotions and reason interchange between them, and as they work together, form a powerful technique. The Declaration appeals to emotions mainly in the list of grievances, which degrades the British King and the British Empire in the eyes of the Americans by pointing out the disrespect they had been deploying on the States. The document is filled with parallel structure and strong words, which help to present the argument in the most reasonable way. In addition, these three appeals are propelling arguments in a closely connected manner for a better success of approaching the issue. About the author Dakota Leest is a freelance writer at https://writer-elite.com. She holds an MBA in Philology from the University of Texas. Dakota specializes in writing academic papers for university student's and conducts researches on a wide variety of topics. Moreover, she always broadens her outlook by reading the scientific journals and by attending conferences devoted to academic writing.
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