A Rhetorical Analysis Of Civil Disobedience By Thoreau

As Americans in the year 2018, it is hard for us to imagine living without all of our freedoms, especially the ones we deem inalienable. These rights are only a recent addition to society. Our ancestors lived in a time when they were restricted in many ways, especially in their speech. For many of our rights we can thank John Locke, one of the philosophers to inspire our founding fathers. John Locke lived in a time when he had to be careful about his writings on government because his works could be seen as treason.

The Constitution protected the people from tyranny by federalism, checks and balances, and equal power between the Senate and House of Representatives. One way the Constitution guarded against tyranny is federalism. As stated in Federalist Paper #51, by James Madison, he states that “ In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments… the different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” Federalism prevented tyranny because neither the central government or the states had too much power. This is important because the power would be split between the two. For example, things that would happen in the state would be reserved for the state such as holding elections, establishing schools, and passing marriage and divorce laws.

Near the beginning of his renowned essay, "Civil Disobedience," Henry David Thoreau appeals to his fellow citizens when he says, "...I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government." This request serves as a starting point from which the rest of "Civil Disobedience" emerges. Thoreau 's essay is particularly compelling because of its incorporation of rhetorical strategies, including the use of logos, ethos, pathos, purposive discourse, rhetorical competence and identification. I will demonstrate how each of these rhetorical techniques benefit Thoreau 's persuasive argument. Thoreau uses logos throughout his essay to strengthen his argument with reasoning.

They need a strong government, to win over the people who won’t support over fear of loss of natural laws, like mentioned in document 1 “Let us look and behold the distress which prevail in every part of our country… View these things, fellow citizens, and then say we do not require a new, a protection, and efficient federal government if you can” this document was quoted from a newspaper in Massachusetts. The Federalist have a paper stating new laws and rights of the people while missing one of the most important, the natural laws of the people. You don’t need a paper to have natural rights, you 're born with

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions when it comes to touchy subjects, however, only a few are capable of generating distinct and unique ideas that differ from others. Thomas Paine was one of the few, going against the norm that a government is a necessity to a country, Paine believes that a “government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil” (4). In Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense, Paine argues about his perspective on society and government, saying that it is misguiding that “writers have so confounded society with government” (3). In order to express his belief that mankind is naturally equal and that the government should reflect this state of equality, Paine, through Common Sense, made many arguments that I believe were

Without the Indian army, and the Indian revenue that sustained it, the British government would not have been able to maintain its position and the status of ‘great power’ would have been seriously undermined. The movement for Indian independence went through a succession of waves and troughs but at its peaks there was always united action by Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. One thing emerged from a very early stage, however. The social base and political goals of the Indian National Congress meant it was unable to appeal to Hindu and Muslim workers and peasants on the basis of class, even though that was the best way to build lasting communal

“Civil Disobedience” is an essay written by Henry David Thoreau about people needing to put their conscience ahead of the government rulings by criticizing American policies and beliefs. He expresses his opinion of a “government is best which governs least” (Thoreau 305) by heavily supporting his topic and by using rhetorical techniques. Rhetorical devices are used in papers for the writer to better persuade the audience or to better understand the topic they are writing about; they can also be used to play with the reader’s emotions. The rhetorical devices that have the most impact on the reader in Thoreau’s essay are allusions, rhetorical questions, pathos, imagery, and chronological narrative. Allusions are the rhetorical technique that

As the presence of a coalition was uncommon till now, new constitutional norms were created and old ones were revised. For the doctrine of ministerial accountability, it isn’t important how many parties run the government, but that it is still one government. The members of government should all adopt the same position to ensure certainty and confidence in the government. The coalition also had great effect on the prime minister’s power when appointing ministers. Instead of choosing ministers at his own discretion, Cameron had to consult Clegg about it.

The government in many countries rarely proves itself useful and that obtains most of its power from the majority because they are the strongest group, and will always obey the government and its laws, not because they hold the most legitimate viewpoint. People's first obligation is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law ordered by the greater mass. When a government is one that is unjust meaning, it does not have the best interests of the people, provides instability in the aid of the people, and would sacrifice its own people for economic or political gain some examples would be Nazi Germany, people should refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from that kind of government (Thoreau, 1849). Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws of governmental systems solely since you want a change in legislation or government policy, this is all done through nonviolent techniques such as boycotting. Martin Luther King says, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” If people feel as if though a certain law is infringing on their rights, they have the responsibility to ask their government for change, in a civil manner.

In the history textbook, it sounds like our nation is the best and the greatest, but when you find the truth about of our nation, it makes a total difference. You might think, “Why am I here?” “Is it safe for me to stay in this nation?” Everything starts from the government. Because their duty is to rule the nation, so they get the credit or the blame. Although some people disagree with this idea because people are not perfect and they make the mistakes, but this is above the limit line of mistakes. It is intentionally done for it.