Soldier, Theodore Winthrop, in his essay, “Our March to Washington”, manifest how he feels moments before going off to fight in the civil war. Winthrop’s purpose is to convey his feeling towards his audience allowing them to better understand how he feels. To accomplish his purpose, Winthrop adopts a reflective, sincere, optimistic tone, in order to drown his audience completely under his feeling enabling them to sympathize with him. Winthrop begins his essay by utilizing descriptive features to introduce the scene that he is witnessing. The use of those descriptive features allow the audience to visualize Winthrop’s surroundings and conditions which permit them to better understand why he feels the way he did. He refers to the amount of people
Henry David Thoreau’s essay, Civil Disobedience, goes deeply into the presence of unjust laws, and what can be done to combat these in the growing and rising United States. In the section of the essay which begins with “Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them…”; David Thoreau has a valid point in the need to make changes through persuasion, if at all possible, and it not, by force. Some people may think of using force to change laws as rebellious and unpatriotic, but if the laws are unjust to begin with, may it be of the people’s interest to do something about it? Thoreau put emphasis on citizen participation in the government- without citizen participation, he paints a picture of tyranny and unguided power within the nation’s government.
He talks about the situation Washington was put in and how he dealt with them accordingly. In addition, he speaks of the struggles the soldiers had as a whole going against the red coats. Furthermore, he also talks about how the soldiers acted and what type of mindset they had during the war. To begin with, Washington was the key to winning the war on page 193 David Mcullough shows one of the
Book Review: Co Aytch or a Side Show of the Big Show Sam Watkins was born in 1839 in Tennessee where he enlisted to join to the First Tennessee Regiment and fight alongside the Tennessean Confederate Army. During his time in the Civil War, Watkins identified himself as Maury Grays. In his memoir, Co. Aytch or a Side Show of the Big Show, Sam distinctively displays details to describe his life changing experiences from conflicts that arose from the war such as when he discusses his battle at Shiloh. Being that Samuel endured the Civil War himself, his vivid descriptions are even more believable. Furthermore, in Co Aytch, Watkins constantly reminds readers that he, in no way, “intends to write history; rather, he sought to convey his own impressions of a ‘few sketches and incidents from the observation of a ‘high private’ in the rear ranks of the rebel army,
In Henry David Thoreau’s essay “The Duty of Civil Disobedience”, he achieves his purpose of sparking inquiry in the American public about their government and encouraging them to speak out on what they surmise as morally unfitting. He obtains his purpose through the use of metaphor and through the act of persistently asking questions throughout the essay to engage the brain to ponder on what their government is actually doing. In order to make the public ponder on how their government runs and actually treats them as citizens, he metaphorically references machines. He sparks inquiry by using metaphors to compare humans to machines.
The audience were both loyalists who were unsure in joining the American rebels who were leaning towards the side of the loyalists that it was written in such a way that common people could interpret concepts and to promote the rebellion. The technique was to use what he thought was "common sense" to persuade people into believing what he expected to be an obvious thing. His argument is for American independence which begins with theoretical reflections about government and religion which furthermore progresses into the specifics of the colonial situation. He distinguishes between society and government; society to him is constructive whereas government is represented as an institution. He saw that the global significance of the American struggle for independence was human rights and freedom.
Contextualizing the rhetorical situation of John Lewis’ March on Washington speech allows readers to break down four major parts in order to have a better understanding of the rhetoric involved. Each of the four parts, that is the author, the purpose, the audience and the origin( space and time) help to elaborate on the significance of the speech at hand. Specifically in this rhetorical situation, we will delve into the several factors that played significant roles in shaping how The March on Washington was not only presented to John Lewis and his peers, but as well as the country. When looking at the four parts necessary in contextualizing the rhetorical situation, it is important to note any problems or constraints that might have motivated
The reiteration of the same message, especially one of such importance to the speaker, constructs necessity and pressure to act upon the speaker’s claim. Repetition does not pertain only to a recurrence of the same word or group of words, but rather it can be the recurrence of the same idea or concept. Although Thoreau had no intentions of doing so, Civil Disobedience can break down into three sections, all of which address three different topics that relate back to his dissenting opinion of the Mexican War and slavery. Thoreau states “when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law... What makes this duty the more urgent is the fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army.”
With all of these soul-shattering, life-changing conditions, it is less of a war and more of a test of strength for the soldiers, here at Valley Forge. Some men were going home and not returning. Other men just completely deserted. Even George Washington’s position was uncertain, the members of congress didn’t trust him. Life at Valley Forge was obviously horrible, and the ugly truth is that it wouldn’t get much better.
American author and motivational speaker, John Canfield once said: “One individual can begin a movement that turns the tide of history. Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement, Mohandas Gandhi in India, Nelson Mandela in South Africa are examples of people standing up with courage and non-violence to bring about needed changes.” True enough, many great changes in history were initiated by individuals who opted not to keep silent in the midst of injustice. Citizens should take action when they feel that the state is implementing unjust laws. But how can you express your objection?
What are human rights? According to the UDHR, human rights “Every person is entitled to certain rights---simply by the fact they are human being”. As an example, Right number one is “We are all born equal,” number two “Don’t discriminate, “and number three “The Right to life”. But are these rights actualized for everyone on this planet? According to Elie Wiesel and Josephine Baker, among many others, human rights are, in fact, not actualized and are broken regularly.
On April 14, 1865, a great tragedy struck the recently divided United States of America. On that day, just 5 days after the end of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. In a time of great sorrow and mourning for the nation, one of the greatest poems in American history was written, “O Captain! My captain!” Walt Whitman was a realist poet in the mid-1800s.
In The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Maya Lin employs rhetorical devices in order to elucidate, the gross cost of the Vietnam Conflict in U.S. lives. The minimalist design used in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial emphasizes the overwhelming amount of human lives lost. On the Wall, a small diamond is depicted next to the names of people confirmed dead, if a person is MIA(Missing in Action) they get a small cross next to their name. The cross can easily be carved into a diamond if the person is confirmed dead ,or turned into a circle, a symbol of life, if they are found alive.
An entire generation of brave, young men was lost to the cruelty of warfare due to their belief in America. Men, women, and children did not give their lives for the expansion of territory, the resolution of a royal feud, or the acquisition of valuable resources. They died for the hope of a democratic future, a fervent sentiment so strong that it provides the impetus for triumph in
When most people hear the words “Fourth of July” they think about fireworks, cookouts, and sparklers. During the 1850’s, the Fourth of July served as a reminder of the many horrors and injustices in the world. On July 4, 1852, Frederick Douglass-- a former American slave, abolitionist leader and adroit speaker-- spoke in Rochester, New York about the affectation of celebrating independence. In his speech, “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery”, he claims celebrating independence is unethical when slavery is widespread. To convince the reader of his claim, he uses rhetorical questions, emotional appeal, and antithesis in hopes of shedding light and sparking action on the wrongful situation.
All they wanted was “to save the soul of America” (King, Beyond, 42). Martin Luther King Jr is an African American preacher and civil rights activist that along with every other African American male and female in 1976 was waging a war in America for their not-so-natural born rights. Not only were they fighting for their own rights in 1976, but they were sending away the son, husbands, brothers of other Americans thousands of miles away to the country of Vietnam to fight an unjust war for the rights of the people in Southeast Asia. Martin Luther King Jr proves to all throughout his speech “Beyond Vietnam --- A Time to Break Silence” that the Vietnam war was unjust by his use of emotional diction, the allusion of Jim crow, and repetition.