Rhetorical Analysis Of Alfred M. Green's Address

The author extends his gratitude toward them through the use of figurative language, particularly imagery. For instance, he claims that these religious leaders have “carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment” (43). This image of light in the midst of darkness appeals to emotion. By creating this sense of hope, King inspires the audience to join him in his fight for desegregation. Though it is undoubtedly disappointing that there is a lack of support from the majority of clergymen, King conveys his faith in them through this image and shifts his focus from disappointment to

In the 1960s the African Americans were freed, but did they really have all the rights they were promised? Racial conflicts were everywhere. Lyndon B. Johnson was current president and was trying to encourage congress to pass a bill called The Voting Rights Act. To influence the vote he gave the speech “We Shall Overcome.” In “We Shall Overcome” President Lyndon Johnson used ethos, pathos, logos, and other rhetorical devices such as allusions, repetition and appeals to authority to persuade congress to pass the act.

White abolitionist, Wendell Phillips, in his speech spoken near the beginning of the civil war, expresses his appreciation towards Toussaint-Louverture, but also explains the importance of allowing African Americans to willingly join their army. Phillips’s purpose is to show that utilizing African Americans willingly, and not forcefully, would be useful. He expresses an appreciative tone because he know other countries and states are listening, so he wants to be respectful yet grateful for his opportunity to be heard.

In April of 1861, the first month of the Civil War, an African American man named Alfred M. Green delivered a speech in favor of African American men joining the Union army. During this time period, African American men were still not able to enlist in the army. However, Green believed that it was still essential towards the Union army’s victory, and towards their freedom and rights as African American individuals. By using the rhetorical strategies logos, ethos, and pathos, he notifies the audience of what they can accomplish, creates trust and unity, and inspires them by describing the possibility of change for the future.

Alfred M. Green delivered his speech in Philadelphia in April of 1861, the first month of the Civil War. The Union and Confederate were fighting, North against South, to abolish slavery. Green wanted his fellow African Americans to join the fight, even though they weren’t allowed to. He was a very religious and educated man who was able to turn words into grand speeches. The audience are African American males who don’t have the right to vote, but are now free men. Alfred M. Green uses the methods of a passionate tone and word choices of brethren to persuade African Americans to join the Union forces.

As the states realized the corruption of enslaving other human beings, a major division was created on the belief on whether or not to maintain or end their oppression. Alfred Green, a former abolitionist, attempts to influence the free African Americans to enlist in the Union forces by delivering a speech in 1861. Throughout his presentation, he formally addresses the difficulties they have endured, and motivates them to pursue in the war to establish the feeling of patriotism and unity among the people. In order to influence such a crowd, Green utilizes appeals to emotion to instill the idea of partnership in order to put an end to enslavement.

African Americans, not able to yet fight in the union army, are being motivated by Alfred M. Green to join when the opportunity arises. Using the Revolutionary war as a reference Green relates the possible freedoms of post Civil War to the freedoms of post Revolution. Using rhetoric the author attempts to motivate his audience to join the fight.

In 1776, on July 4th, the 13 English colonies officially declared their freedom from England. However, as the years progressed, slavery became incorporated into everyday American life. In 1852, former slave Frederick Douglass gave a speech to celebrate America’s independence; however, instead of praising the country, he censured Americans for saying they were a “country of the free”. In the speech, Hypocrisy of American Slavery, Frederick Douglass declares that Americans should not be celebrating their freedom when there are slaves living in the country. To convince his audience that Americans are wrong celebrating freedom on the 4th of July when slavery exists in their country, he uses emotional appeal, ethical appeal, and rhetorical questions.

Dr. Patrick Miller gave an amazing and interesting speech on the issue of the Confederate flag and monuments. The presenter went through the history of what the Confederate flag once stood for and how it became a symbol that affects minorities today. I really like how he was able to relate everything that was occurring in modern times. Something that surprised me is the vast amount of monuments that are still stand to this very day. Dr. Miller told the audience the great lengths people have gone to remove anything that is related to the Confederacy, for example, the many schools in the south were renamed after Obama since they were originally named after Confederate fugues, such as: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis. Another

One of Douglass’s main claims is that the slaves cannot celebrate that which is not theirs. The “blessings in which” the whites celebrate are “shared by [them], not by [the slaves]” (Douglass). Frederick Douglass’s antithesis and parallelism prove that the slaves cannot celebrate freedom on the Fourth of July because they are not free. In order for all Americans to be able to celebrate independence, the injustices must be combated. The antithesis in Douglass’s claim illustrates how different the two groups are; the white celebrate an invalid freedom while the slaves mourn the absence of their freedom. Parallelism highlights the number of different ways the slaves feel oppressed in contrast to the white Americans. White men and women live in a place where they can celebrate freedom, but black men and women yearn for a place of their own, away from the bondage of slavery. The author’s allusion to the “rivers of Babylon” and the people’s cries from “[remembering] Zion,” or the free land, emphasizes the slaves’ need for freedom (Douglass). As aforementioned, the slaves wept over their need for their own personal Zion where they could be free. If the injustice of slavery was defeated, then America would be the Zion where the former slaves would be free. The allusion serves to express in biblical terms what the slaves felt in order to make Douglass’s argument be understood

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gill Scott-Heron was a witty spoken word for not only the black community but for the white community as well. This spoken word emphasized some of the problems in “White America” without actually saying anything about it. Scott-Heron used metaphorical speech to make African-Americans think and really understand the current state of the country. This tool of metaphors can be very useful when trying to catch the attention of such a broad audience.

“To infinity and beyond” wasn’t always so joyful. On January 28, 1986, seven astronauts died from the space shuttle Challenger explosion. Ronald Reagan was given the daunting task of addressing the accident to the nation and bringing comfort to them. He made a decision to postpone his state of the union speech so he could help the nation cope with this tragedy. His speech had to acknowledge every group of people from the school children watching on tv, to the families of the victim, and NASA too. His speech had to acknowledge the accident and help the entire nation mourn and to do this he used rhetorical strategies like pathos. Ronald Reagan managed to bring the nation together, mourn with them, and explain this tragedy through his speech after

“The miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life.” Dwight D. Eisenhower summed up his entire speech in just these few words because he wanted to be short and to the point. In his mind nuclear warfare needed to be repurposed and he used strong effective writing skills to get his point across and convince people to side with his view on the subject.

During the era of the civil rights movements in the 60s, among the segregation, racism, and injustice against the blacks, Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial to deliver one of the greatest public speeches for freedom in that decade. In Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech he effectively uses ethos, diction and powerful metaphors to express the brutality endured by African American people. Yet his most important method of reaching his audience, and conveying his enduring message of equality and freedom for the whole nation was his appeal to pathos. With these devices, King was able to move thousands of hearts and inspire the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

closes his speech by suggesting that love will overcome and encouraging his African American audience to engage in nonviolent protest. He references a very relatable text by quoting the Bible to support his ideals of love and change through nonviolent protest. He encourages his audience by saying, “it is always difficult to get out of Egypt, for the Red Sea always stands before you with discouraging dimensions”. (4) The audience knows the story of the Hebrews escaping Egypt through the sea and that makes them believe their dreams are also attainable. King also argues for unconditional love by reminding his audience to “love the person who does the evil deed while hating the deed that the person does”. (3) Using these bible references reminds the crowd of King’s background as a preacher. It also appeals to ethos by showing the character of the speaker and assuring the audience that he is qualified to be speaking about the power of love and nonviolent protest. These Bible references from King remind the audience of the importance and usefulness of love as well as encourage them to continue fighting for their rights. The bible references reassure the audience that the use of nonviolent protest is the optimal way for them to go about working to correct injustice in society.